Make Creamy Pesto Pasta Salad for your next backyard barbecue! This simple pasta salad combines cooked pasta, sautéed cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a creamy pesto sauce. So delicious and full of flavor!
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American, Italian
Keyword creamy pesto pasta salad
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 35 minutesminutes
Servings 8servings
Calories 392kcal
Author Sue Ringsdorf
Ingredients
1poundorecchiette pasta- cooked
2cupscherry tomatoes- halved
8oz.pearl mozzarella
3/4cuppesto sauce- or more
fresh basil and extra parmesan cheese- to serve
Instructions
Make pesto. Use my Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce recipe to make your pesto. I recommend making a large batch, if you have the ingredients, and freezing some for later.
Cook pasta. Cook your pasta according to package directions. Use plenty of salt in the water because that’s the best time to add flavor. Strain the pasta and keep a little bit of pasta water in case you need it to thin the sauce. Let cool.
Sauté tomatoes. Heat up a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil and then add the halved tomatoes, cooking to soften. You should see some juices release as well, and they’ll be used in the salad. Let the tomatoes cool.
Combine ingredients. In a salad bowl, combine the cooked pasta, the sautéed tomatoes, the pearl mozzarella, and the pesto sauce. Stir to combine. Add some pasta water if needed to thin the pesto sauce a bit.
Serve. Serve pasta salad with some shaved parmesan cheese, and some extra freshly ground black pepper. You may also need to add some extra pesto sauce.
Notes
Pro-Tip #1: Buy your pine nuts at Trader Joe's (if available to you). Such a great deal, because as you may know, pine nuts can break the bank.Pro-Tip #2: Always save some pasta water. You never know when you'll need it when you're making any pasta recipe. Trust me!