Farfalle with watermelon

This pasta is certainly not traditional, but it is tasty and it's a great way to use up any extra watermelon you've got sitting around!


I read somewhere that you can use watermelon pretty much anywhere you would use tomato. While watermelon is clearly no tomato substitue, the idea of using watermelon in a savory dish intrigued me, and as I have a gigantic watermelon sitting in my fridge, now seemed like a good time to try it out!

I did use the watermelon pretty much as I would use cherry tomatoes, though I probably put more thought into the other elements of the dish that I would have if I were using tomatoes. I wanted to combine the watermelon with something salty to highlight its sweetness, so I chose black olives, which worked perfectly. I imagine feta would also be delicious here, but I'll have to try that one another time.

Ingredients:
75 g. farfalle per person
1 large slice of watermelon per person
A handful of kalamata olives
Several leaves of basil
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and, in the meantime, cut the watermelon into small chunks. Rinse and pit the olives, slice them in half, and add them to the watermelon. Wash the basil leaves and chop them up.

When the water is boiling, add lots of salt, and then the farfalle. Let cook until al dente, drain, and run under cold water. Drain the farfalle again, and mix them with the watermelon, olives, and basil. Drizzle with olive oil, and add the pepper (I didn't add any more salt because I had used a lot when cooking the farfalle, but if you think the dish needs it, go ahead and add some more).

Serve immediately or after refrigerating - this is a great dish for a hot day!

Insalata di farfalle with avocado and emmenthaler

I love the combination of avocado and emmenthaler in a sandwich, so I decided to try it in an insalata di pasta (pasta salad), and it worked just as well!


I call this insalata di pasta instead of pasta salad because to me, "pasta salad" conjures up images of elbow maccheroni smothered in some gooey mayonnaise sauce with a few sorry peas or carrot bits peeping out here and there. Since I can't stand mayonnaise, this is not a pretty image for me, and so I much prefer the term "insalata di pasta" which is really just a name for any type of pasta served cold with various accompaniments.

It's a great dish for summer, when it's too hot for a warm dish, and you can make it with pretty much any ingredients that appeal to you. I sometimes like to add bits of lettuce, peas, mozzarella, green olives - really almost anything will work. The one thing I advise against, however, is serving cold pasta with sauce, gooey mayonnaise or otherwise. The sauce will simply overwhelm the pasta; a light sprinkling of olive oil with perhaps some lemon juice or vinegar is all that's needed.

Ingredients:
75 g. of farfalle (bowtie pasta) per person
50 g. of emmenthaler
1 ripe avocado
A spoonful of fresh lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt, and then the farfalle. Let them cook until they are al dente (done, but still firm), then drain them and run them under cold water while they are still in the colander.

Chop the emmenthaler and avocado into cubes, and combine with the farfalle in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a very small pinch of pepper. Mix well and serve immediately or refrigerate until serving time.