Italians will tell you that pasta is best eaten as soon as it’s cooked, but it’s perfectly fine to make it ahead of time for a cold pasta salad — and you can cook in stages. When you're in the kitchen anyway, put some pasta on to boil. Then use it the next day to make a pasta salad for a picnic dinner, packed lunch, or last-minute meal with friends. Cold pasta salads are also a great alternative to pizza for kids’ parties. The recipe is simple — add a few ingredients of your choice to cooked pasta along with some olive oil, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.
A classic combination of summer tomatoes and fresh basil is fresh and light, and you'll find more variations after the recipes.
Fresh basil
Cherry tomatoes
Penne pasta or pasta of your choice
Extra virgin olive oil
Cook the pasta reducing the cooking time on the package by 1 1/2 to 2 minutes to cook the pasta al dente. Don't rinse the pasta.
Toss the pasta with a lot of fresh basil and cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in half (or any other ripe tomatoes).
Toss with olive oil and salt & pepper before serving.
This can be made ahead and stored in the fridge.
