Riccioli Salad With Grilled Chicken, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Red Onions and Pesto
This Riccioli Salad With Grilled Chicken, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Red Onions and Pesto is great if you have lots of hungry teenagers. It is nutritious, well balanced and easy to serve as a salad at a picnic or barbecue. The use of sun-dried tomatoes and pesto compliments the rather plain chicken flavour. Chilli gives it that real Italian kick. Riccioli are the perfect pasta for this recipe as they ensure that the sauce sits well in the pasta shapes; the chicken provides an ideal source of protein to complement the pasta salad recipe.
➤ Serves 4 ➤ Cooking Time 15 minutes ➤ Easy
Ingredients
300g Garofalo Riccioli
40g thinly sliced red onion – previously soaked in water and a splash of vinegar*
300g chicken fillets, skinned and grilled, cut in strips
80g sliced sun dried tomatoes
2 tbsp. pesto
½ tsp chilli
4 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method
Boil a copious amount of water (at least one litre per 100 g of pasta), and when the water boils add roughly 2 tbsp. of rock salt. The right al dente time for Riccioli is 11 minutes, so to enjoy fully the Garofalo flavour and “bite”, stick to the advised cooking time! Drain well and chill; add a couple of tbsp. extra virgin olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking. Set aside.
Mix the above ingredients together, ensuring the pesto is runny enough to coat al the pasta.
Add the pasta to the sauce, mix well and enjoy at leisure.
*This is to keep the onions more mellow and more digestible.