Sunday was a fantastic day in Leiden, the sun was shining and a light breeze caressed the blue water of De Kaag. It was a great opportunity to waste no time and enjoy a day in the water sailing on De Kaag and eating an excellent pasta salad in peace and on a budget.
INGREDIENTS x 4 pers:
- 320g Dry Pasta; - 1 green pepper; - 12 sun-dried tomatoes; - 4 tablespoons of Taggiasche olives; - 1 spoon of capers; - 8 frozen shrimps; PREPARATION: STEP 1 Let's start as usual by heating up the water with a pinch of salt where you will later cook the shrimps and pasta (1L/100g pasta). Then we prepare all the ingredients on our kitchen table, Taggiasche olives, capers, diced green pepper and finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes. In a large wok pan, pour two tablespoons of Extra Virgin olive oil and heat the minced garlic over low heat. Once the smell of hot garlic starts to smell, we can add the green pepper, mix and let it cook for 5/7 minutes over medium heat.
Sear the frozen shrimp in the boiling water for 3 minutes (where the shrimp will release the taste of the sea for the pasta).
While the shrimps are cooking, the peppers should be soft enough and we can let them cool down on a plate and immediately after that do the shrimps as well.
STAP 2
At this point it is time to cook the pasta. Like me, you can use two types of pasta for this recipe, not only for the cheerful colors but also for a surprising taste and a different texture. For example, the dry Fusilli from Pasta Cecchi made with Italian durum wheat and flavored with saffron, together with the whole grain Fusilli that are rich in natural fibers and produced with stone-ground whole wheat flour from the Woerden mill "De Windhond".
Fusilli with saffron cook in 4 minutes and the whole wheat in 5 minutes. We start with the whole wheat for 1 minute and then add it to the saffron and cook for 4 minutes, so that they are ready at the same time. If you are using a different pasta, check if the cooking times are different and do the same.
STAP 3
Normally I recommend saving some cooking water to mix the sauce, but today we don't need that because we are preparing a pasta salad.
Now drain the pasta, let it cool down and cut the shrimps in half for more uniformity of flavors throughout the meal. Once all the ingredients are at room temperature, we can take a large bowl and mix them all together by adding a splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil along with a dash of fresh parsley if desired.
You can bring a pasta salad fresh on the boat or to the beach with your cooler bag and eat it cold or at room temperature. Have fun and Buon Appetito!!
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If you want to enjoy our pasta in the weekend, order max before Thursday for delivery on Friday.