Prep Time: 25 min.
If you have any pasta left over, try this tasty Bacon Pasta Salad. It's an easy side dish that can be made in no time!
You only need cooked pasta (you can use any you like), creamy bocconcini (mozzarella balls), bacon, chopped San Marzano tomatoes, and red onions.
Top the salad with a zingy olive oil, white wine vinegar, and maple syrup dressing for an irresistible lunch or side salad. You can even bring it along on a picnic.
Serve this delicious pasta salad recipe hot or cold, and mix up the ingredients exactly to your liking. Feel free to swap bocconcini for chopped cheddar cheese, chopped salami for bacon, or semi-baked tomatoes for fresh tomatoes.
Ingredients
- 250 grams cooked pasta (fusilli or penne)
- 200 grams tomatoes (San Marzano)
- 150 grams bocconcini (halved)
- 240 grams bacon (or pancetta)
- half a red onion
- 8 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- handful of fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ground black pepper
- 2 mini yellow peppers
- capers
- small flower cookie cutter
Instructions
1. Fry the bacon in a dry medium-hot pan until golden and browned.
2. You can soak up the excess fat with a piece of kitchen towel if you want.
3. Leave the bacon to cool slightly in the pan.
4. Place the cooked pasta on a platter.
5. Top with chopped tomatoes, mozzarella balls, bacon, and half a red onion.
6. Mix the olive oil, white wine vinegar, maple syrup, dijon, garlic, chopped basil, sea salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.
7. Pour the dressing over the pasta salad.
8. Mix well.
9. Sprinkle with whole or chopped basil leaves.
10. Halve the mini peppers.
11. Use the cookie cutter to make the yellow pepper flowers.
12. Spread the flowers on top of the salad.
13. Add capers in the center of the flowers.
14. Serve.
