3 quick and easy cold pasta recipes you can make for lunch
Prepare all the ingredients in advance and put them together when you're ready to eat.
By Simply Her -
By Andrea Scarpa, group executive chef of Da Paolo
Pictured anti-clockwise from top left
All recipes serve 4
Tagliolini & Spicy Gazpacho with Prawns
INGREDIENTS
For the gazpacho sauce:
700g Roma tomatoes, halved
1 Japanese cucumber, peeled and seeds removed
3 stalks spring onions
2 cloves garlic
1 red capsicum
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme, rosemary or sage
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200g cocktail shrimp
4 tbsp Tabasco sauce
400g tagliolini, cooked until al dente and chilled
4 tsp chopped chives
DIRECTIONS
1 Blend all the ingredients for the gazpacho sauce until smooth. Strain and chill the sauce. It keeps for up to three days.
2 Cook the cocktail shrimp in a pot of boiling water until they turn orange. Cool and marinate in Tabasco sauce for 2 hours.
3 To serve, toss the cooked pasta with the gazpacho sauce and top with the marinated shrimp and chives.
Linguine with Brown Butter, Dill & Scallop Ceviche
INGREDIENTS
100g butter
Juice of 1/2 lemon, strained
100g dill, chopped
400g linguine, cooked until al dente and chilled
4 frozen Hokkaido scallops, thawed and thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS
1 Heat the butter in a frying pan over medium heat until it is golden-brown and caramelised. Remove from heat and separate the caramelised bits from the liquid butter (this is clarified butter that can be used to cook other dishes).
2 Mix the caramelised butter bits with the lemon juice and dill.
3 To serve, mix the cooked pasta with this sauce and top with the scallops.
Tortellini & Fresh Pesto
INGREDIENTS
250g Italian basil
42g parsley
85g bottled grated parmesan
40g pine nuts
300g extra virgin olive oil
400g ricotta spinach tortellini*, cooked until al dente and chilled
DIRECTIONS
1 Place the basil, parsley, parmesan and pine nuts into the blender. Add the olive oil slowly to the mixture and blend until all the oil is incorporated. Transfer to an airtight jar and chill. It keeps for up to 3 days.
2 To serve, mix the tortellini with the pesto and mix well.
*Dried and fresh tortellini with different fillings are available at most major supermarkets. Cook according to packet instructions.
TIP: To season your pasta, add 2 tbsp of salt to the pot of boiling water that you are cooking it in.
This article was originally published in Simply Her September 2014.