2019-08-01 Cook\'s Country

26 COOK’S COUNTRY • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

ONE POT

PASTA SALAD IS a summertime
staple. It’s perfect for those blistering
days and sticky nights when you need a
quick, cool meal that is light but satis-
fying. I wanted to make a hearty, tasty
version that functioned as a complete
meal, but it had to be easy—both to
make and to clean up.
For many of us, a meal isn’t
complete without a protein, and
quick-cooking chicken breasts made
sense here. I started by gently poaching
three boneless, skinless breasts in water
in a Dutch oven; when the chicken was
just cooked through, I transferred it to
a plate to cool. Shallow-poaching the
chicken in just 2 cups of water (fl ipping
it halfway through) saved time and
cooked it quickly yet gently. I then
tried cooking the pasta in the poaching
water, but the chicken had made the
water a little cloudy and funky and it
just didn’t look right. So I dumped that
idea (and the murky poaching water)
and cooked 2 cups of fusilli in fresh
water that I salted as usual to season
the pasta.
One important step was to overcook
the pasta. I know what you’re thinking:
Overcook it on purpose? Yes, because
cooked pasta fi rms up and dries out
when it cools. Overcooking it ensures
that its texture will be just right once
it’s cool (see “Yes, Overcook It”).
Knowing that I wanted a nice
variety of vegetables in the dish—it’s
a salad, after all—I threw some fresh
green beans into the pot with the pasta
for the last 5 minutes of cooking. In
addition to the perfectly crisp-tender
green beans, I tossed a few handfuls of
peppery arugula and a heap of halved
grape tomatoes into the mix once the
pasta had cooled, providing a burst of
fresh, summery fl avor and bright color.
Now I needed a punchy dressing
to add deep seasoning and tie all the
elements together. Using extra-virgin
olive oil as a base, I tested various
vinegars; my tasters preferred the
bold, clear tang of red wine vinegar.

Red pepper fl akes turned up the heat,

and fresh garlic and minced anchovies

provided depth and complexity. A per-

sonal favorite ingredient—pickled hot

Italian peppers, chopped fi ne so they’d

integrate seamlessly—added another

level of liveliness and interest.

The salad was tasting pretty good,

but I wanted something with salty

punch to take it over the top. “Feta,”

suggested one colleague. “Olives,”

lobbied another. Why not both? Deli-

cious. A few fi nal details: So that the

recipe would come together quickly,

I made the dressing while the chicken

was cooling and the pasta was cooking.

Seeing an opportunity to deepen the

fl avors, I tossed the halved grape to-

matoes, olives, and pepperoncini right

into the dressing to marinate while the

pasta cooked.

This spicy, savory, and bright pasta

salad has it all. Plus, it’s a fast and easy

enough meal for even the hottest sum-

mer night.

A happy jumble of potent ingredients makes this hearty salad sing.

Pasta

Salad

Brightly seasoned

chicken, pasta, cheese,

and vegetables—all

cooked in one pot for

easy cleanup.

by Cecelia Jenkins

ONE-POT PASTA SALAD

WITH CHICKEN

Serves 4 to 6

Poaching the chicken in a very small

amount of water reduces the cooking

time and yields better chicken fl avor.

The pasta fi rms as it cools; overcooking

it ensures the proper texture. If the salad

is not being eaten right away, don’t add

the arugula until right before serving.

Table salt for cooking chicken

and pasta

3 (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless

chicken breasts, trimmed

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

2 anchovy fi llets, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ teaspoon red pepper fl akes

10 ounces grape tomatoes or 12 ounces

cherry tomatoes, halved

½ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

½ cup fi nely chopped pepperoncini

6 ounces (2 cups) fusilli

8 ounces green beans, trimmed

and cut into 2-inch lengths

2 ounces (2 cups) baby arugula

4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (1 cup)

1. Bring 2 cups water to boil in Dutch
   oven. Stir in 2 tablespoons salt. Add
   chicken, reduce heat to medium, cover,
   and simmer until chicken registers
   160 degrees, 12 to 15 minutes, fl ipping
   chicken halfway through cooking.
   Transfer chicken to platter and tent
   with aluminum foil. Discard cooking
   water. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in
   now-empty pot.


2. Meanwhile, whisk oil, vinegar,
   anchovies, garlic, and pepper fl akes
   together in large bowl. Add tomatoes,
   olives, and pepperoncini to dressing
   and toss to combine; set aside.


3. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to
   boiling water and cook, stirring occa-
   sionally, until pasta is tender, about
   12 minutes (do not drain). Add green
   beans to boiling pasta and continue to
   cook until pasta is very soft and green
   beans are bright green and just tender,
   about 5 minutes longer. Drain pasta
   and green beans in colander and rinse
   under cold water until chilled. Drain
   well and transfer to bowl with dress-
   ing mixture.


4. Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Add
   chicken, arugula, and feta to pasta mix-
   ture and toss to combine. Season with
   salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

TO MAKE AHEAD

Salad can be made without arugula

and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Add

arugula and toss just before serving.

Yes, Overcook It

If you cook pasta according to the

package directions—only until it is

al dente—the resulting chilled pasta

salad will be tough and rubbery. This

is because as pasta cools, it goes

through a process called retrogra-

dation, in which the water in the

pasta becomes bound up in starch

crystals, making the pasta fi rm and

dry. To combat this, we boil the pasta

for an extra 3 minutes or so, until

it’s supersoft; during cooling, the

retrogradation tightens up the pasta

to the proper soft, but pleasantly

chewy, texture.