Pasta Salad

On the same episode of "The Sandwich King" as the veggie sandwich inspiration, Jeff Mauro made an absolutely delicious pasta salad to pair with another sandwich. We made this one pretty much exactly like his recipe. We forgot to add the peas the first time around. We added the peas later and it was even better! We also omitted the shallot and used a fresh yellow pepper in place of the roasted red peppers.


Here's what you need:
Pasta:
1 box fusilli pasta
1 bundle of asparagus
1 box of frozen peas (or about half a bag of frozen peas)
1 yellow pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh dill


Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
Kosher salt & black pepper to taste


Here's what you do:
Put your water on to boil. Be sure to salt the water well. You're going to first blanch your asparagus in the water for about a minute. It will turn a bright green and still have a nice bite to it.

Pull the asparagus and rinse under cold water (or have an ice bath standing by).

Once the asparagus is done, drop the pasta in the boiling water. Cook according to package directions, then drain and cool with cold water to stop the cooking process.


Slice the tomatoes in half and chop up the yellow pepper. Slice the asparagus on the bias. And finally, chop up the dill. Put everything in a large bowl. (The pasta is underneath, we promise!)

Now, for the dressing, combine the Dijon mustard, honey, minced garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl. You can whisk it, or you can just put a lid on the bowl and shake it up really well.

Pour over the top of the salad.

Give that a good stir to combine everything.

Let the pasta salad sit in the fridge for bit to let all the flavors meld together.

Enjoy!