Pasta Salad with Snap Peas, Tomatoes and Mint

With summer around the corner, I’ve been looking for recipes that work well for barbecues, picnics and afternoons at the pool. Naturally, pasta salad is one of those recipes — plus, it happens to be my daughter’s latest favorite food.

As I was poking around the internet for pasta salad ideas, I came across Yotam Ottolenghi’s Pasta Salad with Spring Vegetables and Tomatoes on Epicurious. And I have to say: I’m sure his pasta salad is amazing. Roasted tomatoes in an orange-ginger glaze,  peas and spring onions each charred to perfection in separate batches, everything gently tossed and beautiful. But the recipe is so time-consuming! I’m just not going to spend an hour roasting tomatoes before I can even start assembling the final dish.

So instead, I’ve made a simplified pasta salad inspired by some of the flavors and ingredients in Ottolenghi’s version. I think it’s just as pretty as the original, and pretty tasty too.

Serves 6 

Ingredients

12 oz farfalle pasta (or your favorite shape)
8 oz sugar snap peas
4 stalks green onions, chopped
3 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (red and yellow are nice)
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped fine
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
olive oil
salt
pepper

Cook pasta in salted water, according to package directions. Drain, then transfer to a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil to keep from sticking. Let cool to room temperature.

Blanch the snap peas by immersing in boiling water for about 30 seconds and then plunging in an ice water bath. Trim the ends and slice in half diagnonally.

Add the snap peas, green onions, tomatoes, lemon juice, mint and parsley to the pasta and stir gently until evenly mixed. Season with salt, pepper, olive oil and more lemon juice to taste.

Pictured: Pyrex Yellow 404 Round Mixing Bowl