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.