As I've said before, I love pasta salads. There's so much you can do with them by incorporating different ingredients and flavors. They're so versatile too. They can be a main dish or side dish, or both. They help stretch the budget and feed a crowd as well.
This pasta salad features fingerling potatoes and is kind of a take and a twist on potato salad. It goes really well with grilled meats as a side dish and would be great to take along to a potluck.
My youngest son really loves this salad. It's full of fresh flavors, like fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic and fresh dill. It's got a slight crunch with the asparagus and saltiness of shaved parmesan cheese. I love the bright purple color of the fingerling potatoes. The bag I bought was a mixture of gold, red and purple. When they cook, the color intensifies.
Check out these pasta salads: Italian Pasta Salad, Shrimp Pasta Salad, Spicy Peanut Chicken Udon Noodle Pasta Salad.
What's your favorite pasta salad?
Spring Pasta Salad with Penne, Fingerling Potatoes and Dill
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 1 pound Penne pasta
- 2 pounds Fingerling potatoes halved, boiled and cooled
- 4 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 bunch Asparagus blanched and cooled
- ½ cup shaved Parmesan cheese
- Dressing:
- 1 lemon zested
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup fresh dill minced
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Place the potato halves in a large pot and fill with cold water enough to just cover the potatoes.
- Cook over medium heat until fork-tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Drain well, spread onto a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate until cold.
- Cut the bottom fibrous portion of asparagus off and discard, about an inch.
- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, blanch the asparagus by lowering it into the boiling water and cooking for 2 minutes.
- Remove from boiling water and immediately plunge the asparagus into ice water to stop the cooking process and chill; set aside.
- Cook the penne pasta according to package directions.
- When al dente, drain and run under cold water until thoroughly cooled. Place pasta into a large mixing bowl.
- In a medium jar with a tight fitting lid, combine all dressing ingredients and shake well to combine.
- Add cooked potatoes, asparagus and green onion to the pasta and toss lightly to combine.
- Dress with desired amount of dressing and toss to coat.
- Stir in shaved parmesan.
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve at room temperature or cold.
*Nutrition information is automatically calculated based on ingredient data and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient options are provided, the first listed is used for calculation. Optional ingredients and garnishes are not included in the nutrition analysis.
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