Description

This Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad is perfect for warm spring and summer days. Penne pasta, rich smoked salmon, verdant green peas, crisp English cucumber, and bright cherry tomatoes are tossed in a light and creamy dressing enhanced with a splash of Champagne vinegar, garlic-infused olive oil, Dijon mustard, and fresh chives and dill. This pasta salad is lovely served chilled on a warm day as a main course and also works beautifully prepped and chilled a day in advance for an outdoor bbq or gathering as well.

Ingredients

Scale

12 oz penne pasta (or your preferred pasta, gluten-free if needed)
8 oz cold-smoked salmon, chopped
218 g (about 1 1/2 cups) frozen green peas
212 g (about 1 1/2 cups) English cucumber, sliced into thin coins
200 g (about 1 cup) cherry tomatoes, halved

For the dressing:

125 g (about 1/2 cup) Greek yogurt
112 g (about 1/2 cup) mayo
2 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil - OR - olive oil + 2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp Champagne vinegar (may sub for white wine vinegar)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice + zest of one lemon
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tsp Kosher salt
Cracked black pepper, to taste

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Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil over medium-high heat with a generous pinch of salt. Cook pasta to al dente, according to package directions (generally about 10 minutes). In the last minute of cooking, add the frozen peas directly to the pot with the boiling pasta to defrost. Once the pasta is cooked through and the peas are no longer frozen, drain the pasta in a colander and give it a good rinse under cold water to remove excess starch and help cool the pasta down quicker. Reserve drained pasta and peas to the side.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, mayo, garlic-infused olive oil (or olive oil + minced garlic cloves), Champagne vinegar, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and zest, chives, dill, Kosher salt, and a few cracks of black pepper to taste with a silicone spatula until well-combined.
Transfer the cooled pasta and peas to a large bowl and top with the dressing, scraping the bowl with the silicone spatula to empty. Gently toss the dressing with the pasta and peas until well-combined.
Add the smoked salmon, cucumber, and tomatoes to the bowl and gently toss to combine. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust if needed. Serve immediately or, if preferred, this dish does well prepped up to one day in advance and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge to chill until ready to use.

Notes

Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 362
Sugar: 5 g
Sodium: 640 mg
Fat: 17 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Carbohydrates: 38 g
Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 14 g
Cholesterol: 21 mg