I love this salad. It's like a burst of freshness in your mouth and it brings thoughts of early summer to mind. It's so simple to put together and can either compliment a main dish (I think BBQ and picnic foods) or add grilled chicken, beef or fish to make it into a meal.
Tomatoes are the feature of this dish. I love a good bruschetta bread, it's a great addition to a meal. Sitting out in the summer on a patio somewhere, eating bruschetta bread. Bring that same feeling with this salad.
Timing can work out quite well with this recipe, since you want to give the tomato mixture time to allow the flavours to mix, start with dicing your tomatoes. Pull out all your ingredients so they are close by, along with your measuring tools. I always fill a pot up with water standing by on the stove waiting to be turned on. By the time I'm done getting the tomato diced, I'll turn the water on to start boiling and then add the remaining ingredients.
The tomato mixture should be assembled around the time your water comes to a boil. Toss in your noodles, then toss your tomato mixture around to keep the flavours mixing. While your noodles cook (up to 10 minutes for some gluten free noodles), your tomato mixture can just sit on the counter. Make sure to stir around often to allow the juices at the bottom to soak into all those tomatoes.
Make sure your noodles are cooked to al dente, since you want them to stay firm. After they are cooked rinse them in cold water well to avoid them continuing to cook.
Once the noodles have drained well from their cold water bath, add them into the tomato mixture and stir well for a few minutes. This allows the juices to evenly coat the noodles.
*If you are looking for dairy free option, I found that the Earth Island Parmesan was a great replacement for this salad.
Then serve! Sit back and enjoy this beautiful dish.
Bruschetta Pasta Salad - recipe
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