Christmas Pasta Salad Recipes

CHRISTMAS PASTA

Steps:

• Heat a deep pot over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, bay, and pancetta bits and brown for 1 minute. Add meats and brown and crumble them for 5 minutes.
• Chop carrot, celery, and onions near the stove and add to the pot as you work. Cook vegetables with meat 5 minutes and add wine. Cook for 1 minute; add stock and tomatoes to the pot.
• Stir in parsley, allspice, or cinnamon and season sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cook 10 to 15 minutes minimum before serving. Reheated sauce only improves.
• Toss pasta (cook off only as much pasta as you need at the time: half a pound for every 3 people) with a couple of ladles of sauce to coat, then top bowl with extra sauce. Top pasta with lots of cheese and pass bread at the table.

CHRISTMAS PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook orzo in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
• Add pesto and lemon juice to the orzo; toss to coat. Mix in tomatoes, mozzarella cheese balls, and pepperoni strips. Refrigerate for 8 hours to overnight.
• Mix in basil right before serving.

CHRISTMAS PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Drop the broccoli into the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender and bright green, about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into the cold water to stop the cooking. Let sit until cool, then drain and set aside.
• Return the water in the pot to a boil and cook the rigatoni according to the package directions for al dente. Drain in a colander and transfer to a large bowl. Toss the pasta with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to coat evenly and refrigerate until cooled completely, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil to a blender with the spinach, Parmesan, almonds, basil, lemon juice, chives and 1/4 cup water and puree until completely smooth. Pour the pesto over top of the pasta and add the reserved broccoli, red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss gently until well combined. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with more chopped chives. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 4 hours.

CHRISTMAS PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Add the pasta and cook to al dente, with a bite to it.
• While the water and pasta work, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon EVOO (1 turn of the pan). Add the pancetta to one half of the pan, the sausage, both hot and sweet, to the other. Break up the sausage into bits and brown while the pancetta renders, then combine and cook together another minute or so. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add the remaining tablespoon of EVOO, then the beef and veal. Brown and crumble the meat into tiny bits and season with allspice, salt, and pepper. Add the carrots, onions, and garlic and cook another 5 to 6 minutes to soften the vegetables, then add sausage and pancetta back into the pan, draining away some of the fat. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up all the good bits with a wooden spoon. Stir in the stock, then the tomatoes. Check the seasoning. Simmer over low heat until ready to serve, at least 10 minutes. Stir in half the parsley to finish.
• Drain the pasta and add back to the hot pot. Ladle a few spoonfuls of the sauce over the pasta and add a couple of handfuls of cheese to the pot. Stir to coat the pasta evenly. Transfer to a large serving dish or individual bowls and top with the remaining sauce and parsley. Pass plenty of extra cheese at the table.

CHRISTMAS PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Drain artichokes, reserving liquid and quarter them.
• Place pasta in boiling water and cook according to package directions.
• Drain.
• Mix pasta with liquid from artichokes.
• Add lemon juice, artichokes, beans, olives, green onions, celery, bell peppers and oregano.
• Mix gently and chill.
• One hour before serving, add feta and Italian dressing.
• Mix to coat.
• Serve cool.

SEVEN-LAYER HOLIDAY PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Cook and drain pasta as directed on package. Place broccoli in boiling water. Cover and cook 1 minute; drain. Immediately rinse with cold water; drain.
• While pasta is cooking, layer tomatoes, broccoli, bell pepper and onion in 2-quart glass serving bowl.
• In medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, yogurt, sugar and curry powder. Stir in pasta. Layer pasta evenly over onion in serving bowl.
• Sprinkle with cheese. Top with bacon bits and parsley. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving but no longer than 24 hours.