When I hear the words pasta salad, I don’t typically jump for joy. I’ve had — and made — my fair share of mushy pasta, soaked in astringent Italian dressing and tossed with raw, flavorless veggies and cubes of bland cheese.
Oddly enough, I do get excited when cold peanut or sesame noodles pop up on my radar. For some reason, those are usually delicious, and proof that a good, even great, pasta salad is possible. Welcome to this week’s recipe, Tahini Noodle Salad with Roasted Tomatoes, Chickpeas and Feta.
After testing this recipe more than a few times, here’s what I’ve learned.
First, roasting the vegetables, in this case cherry tomatoes, intensified their flavor and reduced their moisture, which helped keep them from watering down the salad. While I had the oven going, I also tossed in some chickpeas, which became crispy during the roasting process, adding a nice crunch to the noodles.
Swapping out bottled Italian dressing for a homemade creamy, lemony tahini dressing meant that it wouldn’t immediately be absorbed into the noodles. Tahini is a sesame paste, easily found in most grocery stores. The sesame flavor profile might be reminiscent of Asian cold noodles, but that’s where the resemblance ends. The addition of fresh lemon juice and garlic to the dressing takes it in a Middle Eastern direction.
Another pro tip is to only toss the salad with some of the dressing beforehand, reserving a portion to toss with the pasta just before serving. This keeps the noodles from being too dry.
Speaking of the noodles, I found that rinsing them in cold water after cooking and tossing them with a little sesame oil helped to keep them from getting too mushy, and also reinforced the sesame flavor.
Adding a generous amount of crumbly feta cheese and plenty of julienne fresh basil upped the flavor ante even more.
