Spring cooking has always been about finding a balance between the hearty meals of winter and fresh cooking with help from all the beautiful spring produce. As such, pasta plays a pivotal role in my traditional dishes and delightful pasta salads. This arugula pasta salad comes together quickly and is a great way to use a few handfuls of greens.
Greens!
Every time I turn around in spring, I feel like I have an abundance of greens. Kale! Chard! Arugula! I add them to everything. This arugula pasta salad, however, shows just how easy the tender arugula can be to add to a meal.
Why mixing things hot
While I’ll gladly eat arugula fresh, the peppery flavor can occasionally overpower or feel too heavy. A little heat can help with that! Using residual heat from the pasta and the oil is a great way to mellow the arugula while leaving a bit of bite.
If you’d prefer a fresh arugula, let everything cool down before combining it all together.
Keep it vegan
Like the arugula, using the residual heat with the feta allows the cheese to impart a small creamy addition to the arugula pasta salad. If you would prefer to keep the recipe vegan, I recommend adding a small spoonful of tahini to the oil mix or non-dairy yogurt right before tossing everything to lend a creamy element to the meal.
- 4 ounces (114 g) small-shape pasta
- 1 ounce (28 g) crumbled feta cheese
- 2-3 large handfuls arugula
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup sliced spring onion (or see note for alternatives)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon medium-heat ground chile (or see note for other options)
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Cook the pasta in salted water until tender, timing it so that it is still quite warm when everything else is ready.
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Place the crumbled feta in a medium bowl. Gather the arugula into a rough bundle and run your knife through it a few times to create strips. Place the strips in the bowl with the feta.
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Once you’re basically ready to assemble, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and salt. Cook until the onion is translucent–it’s okay if it browns in a few spots. Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest, juice, and ground chile.
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Drain and add the hot pasta to the bowl with the arugula. Drizzle with the hot olive oil/onion mix. Using tongs, toss until everything is well combined. Taste and add more salt if needed. Eat warm or let cool to room temperature before serving.
Ground Chile: I really adore Diaspora Co’s Guntur Sannam Chilli when I reference medium-heat ground chile. However, if you have a ground chile you prefer- go with it! You can swap the ground chile for ground black pepper if heat isn’t your thing.
No Wilted Greens: If you prefer your arugula to maintain the fresh green quality, let the pasta and oil cool before tossing everything together.
Lemon: If you have preserved lemons on hand, you can swap out the zest/juice for the preserved lemon. I like to add a teaspoon or so of rice vinegar to the preserved lemon to give it a bit of zing as well.
