Almond Cream Pasta Salad

I can offer you a recipe for a pasta salad with a creamy almond sauce that will give your dish a rich and tasty Italian touch.

Ingredients

• 200 g of short pasta (such as fusilli or farfalle)
• 100 g of peeled almonds
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• A few leaves of fresh basil
• Salt to taste
• Pasta cooking water
• Vegetables of your choice (such as cherry tomatoes, arugula, or grilled zucchini)

Prep

1. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water according to the cooking times on the package to achieve an al dente texture.
2. Meanwhile, lightly toast the almonds in a non-stick pan. Be careful not to burn them and let them cool.
3. In a mixer, finely chop the cooled almonds together with the garlic, basil, and a pinch of salt, gradually adding the olive oil until you get a smooth and homogeneous cream. If necessary, add a little pasta cooking water to make the sauce more fluid.
4. After draining the pasta, rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking and keep it fresh for the salad.
5. Cut the chosen vegetables according to your preferences (into slices, cubes, etc.) and mix them with the cooled pasta.
6. Pour the almond cream over the pasta with vegetables and mix well to combine the ingredients.
7. Let the pasta salad rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving, so that all the ingredients are well flavored.

The almond sauce is a versatile preparation and can be enriched according to your tastes. For example, you could add pepper or grated cheese for an extra touch.

Trivia

The use of almonds in cooking is very widespread in Southern Italy, especially in Sicily, where they are used for both sweet and savory condiments. This sauce slightly resembles the ‘pesto alla trapanese’, a variant of the more famous ‘pesto genovese’ that uses almonds instead of pine nuts.