Ina Garten's Pasta Salad Ratio For A More Balanced, Refreshing Dish

When it comes to side dishes, pasta salad is one of the easiest to make. The cold pasta dish essentially acts as a catch-all in which there are no rules for what — or how many — ingredients you can mix in. Tomatoes, feta or mozzarella cheese, cucumbers, and olives are all fair game, as are lemons, zucchini, and whatever else you have in your refrigerator. The key to a great, well-balanced pasta salad therefore isn't what you mix in, but in how much pasta you use. For Ina Garten, the best pasta salad leans less on the noodles and more on the salad. 

To make a well-rounded fusilli-based salad, Garten uses half a pound of pasta, per her Food Network recipe. For comparison, standard pasta salad iterations — such as Tasting Table's summer BLT pasta salad — tend to use an entire pound of pasta. By halving the amount of pasta, Garten leaves more room in the bowl for other ingredients to shine. This change-up makes the dish less pasta-heavy, resulting in a lighter side that embraces the salad components.

As for how to utilize this trick? You can pare down on your pasta across recipe varieties, whether you make your pasta salad with chicken or Southwest-inspired flavors. You can likewise halve your amount of pasta regardless of the pasta variety you choose. Sure, Garten's recipe calls for fusilli, but just as pasta salad invites a variety of ingredients, the pasta itself leaves room for experimentation. 

Pasta salad knows no limits. That is, so long as you heed Garten's advice and use a little less pasta than normal. To make a well-rounded and well-balanced pasta salad, boil, then chill, your choice of pasta. Although many recipes use short, compact noodles, such as fusilli or penne, you can use any pasta shape your heart desires. Garten, for instance, also loves angel hair pasta salad, which results in a lighter outcome and works especially well in oil-based pasta salads. For an equally non-traditional noodle choice, you can use spaghetti, though, whenever in doubt, farfalle makes for a great, fail-safe option.

Once you choose your favorite pasta shape, you can experiment with mix-in ingredients. In general, you'll want to utilize something salty to add flavor, whether you're using feta cheese, olive brine, or capers – or all of the options. Fresh vegetables and equally fresh herbs likewise brighten any pasta salad — and, luckily, complement pasta of all shapes and ratios.