Arugula Pasta Salad | Naturally Ella

Spring cooking has always been about finding a balance between the hearty meals of winter and fresh cooking with help from all the beautiful spring produce. As such, pasta plays a pivotal role in my traditional dishes and delightful pasta salads. This arugula pasta salad comes together quickly and is a great way to use a few handfuls of greens.

Greens!

Every time I turn around in spring, I feel like I have an abundance of greens. Kale! Chard! Arugula! I add them to everything. This arugula pasta salad, however, shows just how easy the tender arugula can be to add to a meal.

Why mixing things hot

While I’ll gladly eat arugula fresh, the peppery flavor can occasionally overpower or feel too heavy. A little heat can help with that! Using residual heat from the pasta and the oil is a great way to mellow the arugula while leaving a bit of bite.

If you’d prefer a fresh arugula, let everything cool down before combining it all together.

Keep it vegan

Like the arugula, using the residual heat with the feta allows the cheese to impart a small creamy addition to the arugula pasta salad. If you would prefer to keep the recipe vegan, I recommend adding a small spoonful of tahini to the oil mix or non-dairy yogurt right before tossing everything to lend a creamy element to the meal.

• 4 ounces (114 g) small-shape pasta
• 1 ounce (28 g) crumbled feta cheese
• 2-3 large handfuls arugula
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup sliced spring onion (or see note for alternatives)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon medium-heat ground chile (or see note for other options)

1. Cook the pasta in salted water until tender, timing it so that it is still quite warm when everything else is ready.

2. Place the crumbled feta in a medium bowl. Gather the arugula into a rough bundle and run your knife through it a few times to create strips. Place the strips in the bowl with the feta.

3. Once you’re basically ready to assemble, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and salt. Cook until the onion is translucent–it’s okay if it browns in a few spots. Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest, juice, and ground chile.

4. Drain and add the hot pasta to the bowl with the arugula. Drizzle with the hot olive oil/onion mix. Using tongs, toss until everything is well combined. Taste and add more salt if needed. Eat warm or let cool to room temperature before serving.

Onion Alternatives: Spring onions are a favorite of mine thanks to their slightly mellow onion flavor. However, you can easily swap an allium. Go with garlic (or green garlic), shallot, scallions, or minced yellow onion.
Ground Chile: I really adore Diaspora Co’s Guntur Sannam Chilli when I reference medium-heat ground chile. However, if you have a ground chile you prefer- go with it! You can swap the ground chile for ground black pepper if heat isn’t your thing.
No Wilted Greens: If you prefer your arugula to maintain the fresh green quality, let the pasta and oil cool before tossing everything together.
Lemon: If you have preserved lemons on hand, you can swap out the zest/juice for the preserved lemon. I like to add a teaspoon or so of rice vinegar to the preserved lemon to give it a bit of zing as well.