Late Summer Pasta Salad with Curried Tahini Yogurt Sauce
I made Peter Berley’s pasta salad with sesame yogurt sauce a few years ago. Derek and I both enjoyed it, but thought it needed a few changes. Then I forgot about it, until last week when I was looking for a recipe to use the broccoli, green beans, and tomatoes I bought at the farmer’s market. This pasta salad makes a tasty, one-dish dinner, and the leftovers make a great lunch to bring to work. The sauce is creamy without being greasy or overly rich, and subtly flavored with curry spices without being overpowering.
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp. aleppo pepper (or use chili flakes)
- 1/4 tsp. fine salt + salt for the pasta water
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt
- 1/3 cup tahini (maybe 1/2 cup would be better?)
- 3 Tbs. water
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 head broccoli, stems sliced thinly, tops cut into small florets
- 3 cups string beans, snapped and halved (about 3/4 pound?)
- 8 ounces whole wheat chunky pasta, like penne, rigatoni, medium shells, etc. (for a bigger group 10 ounces would also work)
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes or coarsely chopped tomatoes
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro or mint (I think I prefer mint, or a mix)
- fresh black pepper
- Bring a large pot of water to boil (ideally a 6 to 12 quart pot).
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium high heat, warm the oil. Add the garlic, cumin, corinader, cayenne, and turmeric and saute for 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a small mixing bowl. Mix in the aleppo pepper, salt, yogurt, tahini, water, and lemon juice.
- When the water comes to a boil add 2 Tbs. salt. When the water returns to a boil add the broccoli and then the string beans and blanch for 3 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but still crisp. Use a slotted spoon or sieve to move the vegetables to a very large serving bowl.
- When the water returns to a boil add the pasta. Cook until al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, chop the tomatoes and herbs and add them to the serving bowl with the sauce and fresh pepper. When the pasta is done, drain in a colander, and then add it to the serving bowl. Toss and serve immediately.
Other raw and cooked veggies would go with this sauce as well: cauliflower, raw cucumber and radishes come to mind. In the original recipe the amount of sauce was excessive, so I’ve decreased the sauce amounts while upping the vegetables slightly. I also reduced the amount of water and added more lemon juice and herbs, and simplified the process a tad. I still think it needs something to give that last bit of pizzazz, but I haven’t yet figured out what that could be. This should make about 4 to 6 dinner servings, about 12 cups of pasta salad I think. Each cup of salad has about 150 calories.
When I reduced the amount of sauce I changed all the spices to 1/3 tsp., but that’s a pain, and I think the spices could be a bit stronger, so I changed them back to 1/2 tsp.
Dan said,
September 12, 2008 at 8:16 am
Thanks for the recipe! It fit this week’s Kretschmann’s box pretty well. But I substituted more string beans and some chickpeas for the broccoli, corn/quinoa elbows for the pasta (Katrina isn’t eating wheat), parsley for the cilantro, and coconut milk for the yogurt (both because we didn’t have any yogurt, and because, well, bitter dairy, you know). (When I put it that way, it doesn’t sound like I followed the recipe at all, but I felt like I was following it exactly while I was cooking!
) It was tasty. If I made it again, I’d do an even higher veggie-to-pasta ratio.
captious said,
September 12, 2008 at 8:26 am
Glad you liked it. Even with the substitutions I bet the basic tahini/curry flavors came through. I’m not positive on the veggie/pasta ratio, as I kind of just eye-balled all my veggies, didn’t actually measure. How large is “one head of broccoli” anyway?
austingardener said,
September 12, 2008 at 10:45 am
As a gardener I can honestly say that one head of broccoli can vary between 2- 8 cups. One head means nothing.
Jeff York said,
August 2, 2009 at 10:28 am
I concur with austingardener. I’m online now trying to find an empirical equivalent to a “head of broccoli” and finding it’s about as nebulous as it gets.