Pasta, sautéed chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella and bold blue cheese come together in a hearty salad full of different flavors and textures. Everything is brought together by a simple dressing made from the tomato marinade and lemon juice.
This salad is easy to prepare and makes use of the marinade from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes. All you need to do is cook, fry or chop the individual ingredients and gently mix them together at the end. It works well as a main dish, and thanks to the cold pasta, you can serve it immediately after finishing or let it rest for a while to develop the flavors.
What You’ll Need
For the pasta salad:
- pasta,
- mozzarella,
- 1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes,
- chicken breast,
- blue cheese,
- gyros seasoning,
- chives,
- a small amount of fat for frying.
For the dressing:
- marinade from the sun-dried tomatoes,
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
The original recipe, apart from the lemon juice and the jar of sun-dried tomatoes, does not specify exact quantities, so adjust according to the number of servings and your preferred ratio of pasta, meat and cheese.
Step-by-Step Preparation:
1. Cutting the chicken: Cut the chicken breasts into smaller cubes so they cook evenly and mix well with the pasta later. Season the meat all over with gyros seasoning.
2. Sautéing the chicken: Heat a small amount of fat in a pan, add the seasoned chicken cubes and sauté them. The meat should be cooked through even inside. Set it aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.
3. Cooking the pasta: Cook the pasta in salted water according to the instructions on the package. Drain, rinse with cold water and let it drain thoroughly so there is no excess water in the salad.
4. Preparing the sun-dried tomatoes: Drain the sun-dried tomatoes, but keep the marinade as you will use it for the dressing. Cut the drained tomatoes into smaller pieces so they are easy to distribute among the other ingredients.
5. Cutting the cheese: Remove the mozzarella from its liquid, let it drain and cut into cubes. Do the same with the blue cheese. The pieces don’t need to be perfectly even, but they should be small enough for easy mixing and serving.
6. Preparing the chives: Rinse the chives, let them dry and chop finely. Add them only when combining all the ingredients at the end so they are evenly distributed in the salad.
7. Mixing the dressing: Combine the marinade from the sun-dried tomatoes with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix the dressing well so the lemon juice blends with the seasoned marinade.
8. Finishing the salad: In a large enough bowl, add the sautéed chicken, drained pasta, mozzarella, blue cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped chives. Add the prepared dressing and gently mix everything together, being careful not to mash the soft mozzarella and blue cheese pieces.
9. Serving: The finished pasta salad can be served right after mixing. Before portioning, toss it gently again, as some of the dressing may have settled at the bottom of the bowl.
Why Rinse Pasta with Cold Water
Rinsing the pasta with cold water quickly cools it and stops it from softening further. It also helps remove some of the starch from the surface, so the pieces stick together less when making a cold salad.
After rinsing, it’s important to let the pasta drain well. Excess water would dilute the dressing made from the tomato marinade and lemon juice, and the finished salad could end up watery.
How to Mix the Salad Properly
Put all the ingredients in a large bowl that gives you enough space to gently toss everything together. Add the dressing only when the pasta is drained and the other ingredients are chopped.
Mix the salad gently from the bottom up. This way, the chives, cheese, chicken and sun-dried tomatoes are evenly distributed, and you keep the mozzarella and blue cheese cubes in nice shape.
Final Tip
Set aside the marinade from the sun-dried tomatoes right after draining them so you don’t accidentally pour it out. This liquid, together with the lemon juice, replaces a more complicated sauce and brings together the pasta, meat and both types of cheese. Before serving, you can gently toss the salad again to taste.
