Creamy Pasta Salad

This creamy pasta salad is packed with flavor and the ultimate summer dish. It can be made with regular or gluten-free pasta, and t's incredibly flavorful with smoked sausage, cheddar cheese, fresh veggies, and it's all wrapped up in a creamy basil dressing.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Total Time30

Author : Kari Peters

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 664kcal

Ingredients

12 ounces pasta see notes
1 pound smoked sausage links or Italian sausage, cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups aged sharp cheddar cheese cubed, 5 ounces
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes cut into bite sized pieces, 12 ounces

Creamy Basil Dressing:

1 farm fresh egg see notes
1/3 cup white wine vinegar see notes for 1 pound pasta
1/2 cup basil leaves packed, 1 ounce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil or avocado oil
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper or to taste

Instructions

Preheat a grill over high heat, (you can also pan fry or oven roast the sausages if you'd like). When the grill has reached 400ºF, place the sausages on the grill and turn the heat down to medium. Cook until the sausages are completely done, mine come pre-cooked so it only takes 5 minutes.
If you're using gluten free pasta, cook it just a tiny bit past al dente, (it's important to use salted water for flavor in the pasta). You can test the pasta's doneness by taking a piece out and running it under cold water, when it's no longer unpleasantly chewy, it's ready. If you use regular pasta, cook to al dente. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, and run the pasta under cold water until it's cooled.
While the pasta and sausages cook, prep the cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and cubed cheese.
When the sausage is done, let it sit until it's cool enough to handle. Cut the links into quarters lengthwise, and then slice them crosswise to make thin triangular pieces.
Place the cooked & cooled pasta, sausage, cheddar cheese, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes into a large serving bowl.
For the dressing, place everything but the oil into a blender and blend until it's mostly smooth with small pieces of green basil floating around.
With the blender running on low, slowly add the oil in, increasing the speed as you go until all the oil has been added and the dressing is creamy.
Toss the pasta salad mixture with the dressing. This salad is best if it's allowed to sit for an hour or so in the refrigerator so that the flavors can sink in, but it's also good served right away.

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Notes

I use 100% brown rice Jovial pasta, penne, fusilli, or farfalle all work great. Regular semolina pasta works well here, too, and keeps better as well.

Gluten-free pasta always comes in 12-ounce packages where we live, but if you're using regular pasta, it will come in a 1-pound package. To adapt the recipe for 1 pound of pasta, add just a bit more cheese and tomatoes. For the dressing, use 1/2 cup white wine vinegar to 1 1/2 cups olive oil. I also increased the basil to 3/4 cup packed leaves, but the rest of the dressing stays the same.

I've been using Organic Smoked Beef Sausage links from Kiolbassa.

Instead of the egg you can try 1/4 cup hemp hearts, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, or 1/3 cup sour cream.

Nutrition