Grilled Yellow Squash and Zucchini Pasta Salad
Photo: Leo Gong; Styling: Dan Becker
Here's a great way to use summer's abundant squashes. Toasted pine nuts and briny kalamata olives make this pasta salad a standout.
How to Make It
Step 1
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender to the bite, 9 to 12 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water until completely cool (see Notes).
Step 2
Prepare a gas or charcoal grill for medium heat (you can hold your hand 5 in. above cooking grate only 5 to 7 seconds). Thread squash and zucchini chunks onto 10- to 12-in. metal skewers and place on a baking sheet. Brush vegetables with 1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil on all sides and sprinkle with salt to taste. Transfer to grill and cook 10 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally, or until vegetables are very tender.
Step 3
Meanwhile, whisk together remaining olive oil, the vinegar, and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a small bowl.
Step 4
With a fork, push vegetables off skewers back onto baking sheet and toss them in oil left there. In a large bowl, toss together pasta, vegetables, oregano, pine nuts, and olives. Add dressing and salt and pepper to taste; toss. Serve warm or cold.
Step 5
Note: Nutritional analysis is per 1-cup serving.
Chef's Notes
Ingredients can be prepped and pasta cooked a day ahead of time and chilled (add 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil to the cooked pasta). Toss everything together just before serving.
lyones's Review
Extremely enjoyable!! I really loved the roasted veggie flavors!! I of course had to add a few cloves of chopped garlic to roast w/the squash. This is so versitile as well, I thought it was delish cold and warm!!
sethanrose's Review
amazing salad! So light and fresh. It has made it in to the rotation
JodiCA's Review
I made this for our open house. Because we were prepping so much food I roasted the squash the night before in the oven and put in the fridge. Added it the next morning to the cooked pasta and the rest and it was delicious. Nice change to the typical italian pasta salad with brocolli, red pepper, and olive.
Patten's Review
served this at a bbq. easy to throw together and nice presentation. i doubled the olives and still wish there were more - will add more next time.
tampa vicki's Review
EXCELLENT pasta dish -- even the kids LOVED it! Left out the olives, broiled the veggies, and didn't have champagne vinegar, so used 2T champagne and 2T white vinegar and worked like a charm! Appropriate for every day as well as for entertaining!
myzkyti's Review
Amazing summer salad, and a great way to use the abundance of squash and zucchini from the garden! I added eggplant to the mix as well, which gave it an extra layer of flavors. This is definitely a keeper - stores well for leftover lunches, too!
Momcookshealthy's Review