This Italian style pasta salad is the perfect lunch for hot summer days and goes perfectly well with a vegetarian or vegan barbecue. You could also add grilled artichokes, grilled courgette or red peppers, and if you want to change the recipe you could use green pesto instead of sun-dried tomato pesto.
Preparation Time: 25 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
Servings: 4-6 people
Ingredients
500 g pasta
1 aubergine
100 g sundried tomato pesto
25 black olives
250 g cherry tomatoes
150 g sundried tomatoes
60 g pine nuts
1 handful rocket salad
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
3-4 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
Method
1. Cook the pasta according to instructions, drain with cold water, and drizzle with some olive oil to prevent them from sticking together.
2. Cut the aubergine into 1-2 cm thick slices, and drizzle with salt. Let sit for 10 minutes and wash off the salt. Squeeze out the rest of the liquid.
3. Finely chop the garlic. In a small bowl, mix with the red balsamic vinegar and dried oregano.
4. Heat some olive oil in a grill pan and fry the aubergines until they are golden brown. Add to the balsamic vinegar garlic mixture. Set aside.
5. Roast the pine nuts in a pan without oil until they are golden brown.
6. Cut the olives and sundried tomatoes into slices, and quarter the cherry tomatoes. Add to the pasta.
7. Cut the marinated aubergines into quarters and add to the pasta as well.
8. Add the pesto, white balsamic vinegar, rocket salad and pine nuts to the pasta. Stir well and season with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!