I first discovered a truly fantastic pasta salad on a stop through Detroit Metro airport while waiting for a connecting flight back to Ohio. I was on my way back from visiting family in California and had about an hour until my connecting flight. As I made my way to my gate, I came across Plum Market, a hybrid specialty foods store and restaurant. The storefront was large and inviting and there were a lot of people coming in and out of the store. I hadn’t intended to stop by the store, but when I caught a glimpse of the Zingerman’s sign from the corner of my eye, I knew I just had to make a stop at the shop. Zingerman’s holds a special place in my heart. It was one of my favorite shops to take a stroll to whenever I had some free time back in my college days. Zingerman’s was a must stop for anyone who attended college at Michigan. Even if I didn’t buy anything, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to check out the inventory of specialty foods. The shop in Ann Arbor had a wide selection of vinegars, breads, and specialty foods. The hybrid shop at the airport also did not disappoint. With my heavy bags weighing on my shoulders, I still made an effort to check out all of the aisles at the Zingerman’s within Plum Market at DTW airport. When I stepped foot into Plum Market, I was immediately drawn to the specialty food items. The store was the perfect place for foodies. On the right was a Zingerman’s bakery. In the center was a restaurant. On the left was a fresh prepared food counter. I browsed through the selection of baked treats from Zingerman’s, zoomed past the restaurant area, and headed straight for the prepared foods. There was a wide selection of prepared pastas, salads, and entrees. Everything looked great, but the cavatappi pasta salad caught my eye. I was starving by the time I walked into the store and committed to ordering the cavatappi pasta salad. The pasta salad featured small bits of sun-dried tomatoes, peppadew peppers, and cheese. It was a simple pasta salad, but it was just what I needed to satisfy my hunger. I made a note to recreate the pasta salad the moment I took a bite. It took me months to get to it, but last weekend, I finally made my own version of the pasta salad I fell in love with. My version features peppery arugula, tangy sun-dried tomatoes, spicy peppadew peppers, creamy Ciliegine mozzarella, and salty Parmigiano Reggiano all tossed together with a cavatappi pasta. The cavatappi pasta is dressed in an Italian dressing. The pasta salad turned out so good, I made another batch of this pasta salad again just today. My arugula and sundried tomatoes pasta salad has become a lunch staple for me lately. I’ve been dividing the pasta salad into lunch portions and devouring the pasta salad for lunch throughout the week. I love making pasta salad because I can prepare a large batch over the weekend and have lunch throughout the week. With the projects at work picking up over the last couple of weeks, I have been consistently meal prepping over the weekend. Preparing a large batch of my arugula and sundried tomatoes pasta salad over the weekend allowed me to satisfy my hunger with a tasty, filling lunch while I focused on completing the projects at work.
For my arugula and sundried tomatoes pasta salad:
· 4 quarts of water
· 2½ teaspoons kosher salt
· 1 package (16 ounce) cavatappi pasta
For the Italian dressing:
· ¼ cup olive oil
· ¼ cup red wine vinegar
· 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
For the rest of the pasta salad:
· 3-5 pieces of sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced
· 6 peppadew peppers, thinly sliced
· 9-10 Ciliegine mozzarella, thinly sliced
· 1-2 ounces of Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
· 2-3 ounces arugula
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
1) Bring four quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Once the water begins to boil, add the two and a half teaspoons of kosher salt. Pour in the box of cavatappi pasta. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pasta package.
2) While the pasta is cooking, prepare the Italian dressing by combining the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, kosher salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine all ingredients. Set aside.
3) When the pasta is done cooking, drain the pasta water. Scoop the pasta into a large bowl. Pour in the Italian dressing. Wrap the large bowl with plastic wrap and chill the pasta in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
4) Once the pasta has chilled for at least 30 minutes, remove the bowl from the refrigerator. Toss in the sundried tomatoes, peppadew peppers, mozzarella, grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, arugula, and freshly cracked black pepper.
5) Cover the large bowl with plastic wrap. Chill the pasta salad again for 30 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: The pasta salad tastes best when chilled prior to serving. You can also add fresh halved cherry tomatoes to help brighten up the pasta salad even more. Other than cavatappi pasta, any other pasta shapes also workl with this pasta salad. For a vegan alternative, check out my pasta salad with Italian dressing.