Vegan Pasta Salad
This vegan pasta salad is guaranteed to impress at all your summer BBQs and picnics! Pasta is coated in a creamy and dreamy roasted red pepper sauce and topped with a herby bread crumb topping for extra fresh flavor for an exquisite, grown-up pasta salad.
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 10 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 pound fusilli, (rotini, or penne rigate (a ridged pasta))
- 1 cup (112g) raw walnuts
- 5 ounces (140g) sourdough loaf, (baguette, or country-style bread, sliced)
- 1 (12-ounce/340g) jar of roasted red bell peppers**, (drained from the liquid in the jar)
- 3 garlic cloves, (roughly chopped)
- 1 medium lemon, (zested and juiced (3 tablespoons juice; save the zest for the Topping))
- ½ to 1 teaspoon smoked paprika ((use 1 teaspoon for prominent smokiness))
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, (plus more to taste)
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup (75g) extra virgin olive oil
- Reserved bread crumbs from Sauce
- Reserved lemon zest from Topping
- 1 cup (16g) flat-leaf parsley, (finely chopped)
- 1 ½ cups (24g) fresh basil, (finely chopped)
- 3 tablespoons capers***, (chopped)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes ((optional) )
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 3 cups (60g) baby arugula, (chopped)
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC. Place bread slices on a rimmed sheet pan. Spread out walnuts in the empty spaces on the pan. Toast both in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, tossing the walnuts and flipping the bread slices over halfway through, until the walnuts are toasty and lightly browned and the bread is also a bit toasty. Allow to cool a bit.
- 2
Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, 4 quarts/liters or 128 ounces. Once boiling, season with 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Add the pasta and, once it comes back to a boil, set a timer for 2 minutes longer than the upper range of the cook time for al dente pasta on the box instructions.***Before draining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain pasta in a colander. Rinse the pasta with cold water to bring to room temperature and shake off the excess water.
- 3
Make the bread crumbs: Tear the toasted bread into small pieces. Add them to a food processor and pulse repeatedly until you get bread crumbs, but don’t blend continuously—this helps retain some texture. It'll take a couple minutes. Take out half of the bread crumbs and set aside in a medium bowl for the Topping.
- 4
Make the roasted red pepper sauce****. To the remaining bread crumbs in the food processor, add the toasted walnuts, roasted bell peppers, garlic, lemon juice (save the zest for the topping), smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and several cracks of pepper. Process until a thick paste forms. With the motor running, stream in the olive oil until a sauce forms, and blend until smooth and thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper as needed, but don’t add too much salt, as there’s also salt in the Topping.
- 5
Make the Herby Bread Crumb Topping: In a bowl, combine the reserved bread crumbs, reserved lemon zest, chopped parsley and basil, chopped capers, red pepper flakes if using, and flaky salt. Stir well to combine.
- 6
Assemble the pasta: toss the pasta with the roasted red pepper sauce until well coated. Add about ¾ cup (180 mL) of pasta water and toss to coat. Add more pasta water until it’s sufficiently saucy. Add the arugula and any other desired mix-ins***** and toss to combine. Add the Herby Bread Crumb Topping and gently toss just to combine.