Type Salad | Serving temperature Chilled | |
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Course Appetizer or main course Main ingredients Pasta, vinegar or oil or mayonnaise Similar Potato salad, Chicken salad, Salad dressing, Pesto, Mayonnaise | ||
Cold pasta salad
Pasta salad (Pasta fredda) is a dish prepared with one or more types of pasta, usually chilled, and most often tossed in a vinegar, oil, or mayonnaise-based dressing. It is typically served as an appetizer or a main course. Pasta fredda is often regarded as a spring or summertime meal, but can be served year-round.
Contents
Pasta salad recipe
Ingredients
The ingredients used vary widely by region, restaurant, seasonal availability, and/or preference of the preparer. The salad can be as simple as cold macaroni mixed with mayonnaise (a macaroni salad), or as elaborate as several pastas tossed together with a vinaigrette and a variety of fresh, preserved or cooked ingredients. Additional types of pasta may be used, such as ditalini. These can include vegetables, legumes, cheeses, nuts, herbs, spices, meats, poultry, or seafood. Broccoli, carrots, baby corn, cucumbers, olives, onions, beans, chick peas, peppers, and parmesan or feta cheeses are all popular ingredients in versions typically found at North American salad bars.
Commercial preparations
In Australian and New Zealand cuisine, pasta salad became increasingly popular during the 1990s when commercial versions became more readily available in supermarket stores across both Australia, and New Zealand. It is made up of cooked pasta pieces (usually either shell pasta, elbow shaped pasta or Penne) covered in mayonnaise and accompanied by carrots, capsicum (bell peppers), and sometimes celery. It is similar in style to the American macaroni salad.
