BY ARIANA HALVAEI

As many of you know, I’ve been kicking it in Florence, Italy for nearly two years now. In my time here, I can say only a few things with utmost confidence:

• You never really get used to the limited AC in summer
• Pineapple truly does not belong on pizza, and finally:
• The Italians eat SO. MUCH. PASTA.

And hey, look, I’m not complaining (at least not about the last two items on that list). I’ve always detested pineapple pizza (ask my sister, who loves that garbage) and under NO circumstances will I ever turn down a plate of good pasta.

But when summer comes around, trust me when I say that the LAST thing you want is a heavy plate of cheesy gnocchi or creamy Cacio e Pepe. Honestly, when you’re dealing with temperatures of 39°C and above (102°F), and an AC that feels more like a hairdryer on the “cool” setting, sometimes you just want to avoid hot food completely. 

I know you’re wondering how Italians keep up the pasta quota during the summer. That’s where a good Pasta Fredda recipe (pasta salad for Americans) comes in really handy. It’s the only thing you can eat for lunch in July that tastes great, doesn’t increase your body temperature, and allows you to still eat your daily pasta meal. Plus, a lot of the time, Pasta Fredda has lots of fresh veggies, too, keeping the meal delicate and light so that you can continue with your summer day and not feel too sluggish in the heat. 

So here’s my recipe below. My favorite part about this recipe is that I can snag all the ingredients (except the pasta and salt/pepper) from my local fruttivendolo (fruit/vegetable shop) and source most of the ingredients right here from Tuscany. I would suggest doing the same, even if you don’t live in Italy. Fresh veggies always add extra dimension and taste. Feel free to swap out some of the veggies or use a different pasta shape to change it up! Once, a friend of mine made something similar but subbed the pasta out for rice instead, and it was bomb. I figure that it would taste great with couscous, too, so play around with it and find a groove you vibe with!

Ari’s Pasta Fredda

Serves 3-4 people

*Disclaimer!! I typically eyeball this recipe, so some of the “measurements” are just rough estimates. I suggest you also eyeball it depending on which flavors you want to be more prominent.

Ingredients

• 125g of bowtie pasta
• 2 cups of Piccadilly or grape tomatoes, chopped in half or quartered
• 1 cup of black or green italian olives, preferably seasoned (they’re the best and most flavorful in my opinion, but plain black olives could also work)
• 100 – 200g (to taste) of pecorino cheese, chopped
• 3/4 cup of fresh basil, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp. of olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 tbsp. of pesto (optional)
• Salt and cracked black pepper to taste (optional)

Directions

Start with boiling water for your pasta. Once boiling, throw in the pasta and cook for 10-12 minutes until cooked. I prefer my pasta slightly al-dente so I tend to take the pasta out around the 10 (ish) minute mark, but you do your thang.

While your pasta is cooking, chop your tomatoes into halves or quarters (I like them around the same size as the olives and the cubed pecorino) and throw them into a large bowl. Throw in the olives and cubed pecorino cheese in the same bowl and mix until everything is equally distributed.

Next, roughly chop your basil and leave it to the side.

Once the pasta is ready, strain it and run it under cool water for 30 seconds or so to cool it off. Once cooled, throw the pasta in the bowl with the tomatoes, olives, and cheese. Give it a stir.

It’s important that the pasta has cooled off before putting it in the bowl so that you don’t melt the cheese.

Add the chopped basil, lemon juice, and olive oil to the bowl and mix. Add the pesto, salt, and pepper here if desired.

Bravo/brava! You made your new favorite summer lunch. Buon appetito!

Let us know what you think of the recipe by reaching out to us!

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