Cured Manchego & Tomato Pasta Salad

This is a salad that we have had in my family for a long time. It is very tasty with bold flavours yet quite light, perfect for a nice sunny day.

I like to use cured manchego cheese because as it is available here and in Spanish supermarkets, it has a spicy and intense flavour. However if you cannot find cured manchego cheese then any hard cheese of choice will also work very well.

The intensity of the cheese and raw garlic contrasts with the sweetness of the tomatoes and pepperiness of the rocket leaves giving an all round burst of flavour with minimum effort.

Cured Manchego & Tomato Pasta Salad
Yield: 2 Servings
Difficulty: Easy
Cooking time:
Metric
US/Cups

Ingredients

  • 200 g pasta
  • 40 g cured manchego cheese
  • 150 g cherry tomato
  • 2 medium cloves of garlic
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • 2 handfuls of rocket leaves
  • pinch of thyme
  • 2 cups of pasta
  • 1½ oz cured manchego cheese
  • 5 oz cherry tomato
  • 2 medium cloves of garlic
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • 2 handfuls of rocket leaves
  • pinch of thyme

Instructions

  1. Boil the pasta in boiling water.
  2. While the pasta is boiling, dice very finely the garlic cloves and add to a bowl.
  3. Chop the cherry tomatoes into quarters and add to the bowl with a pinch of thyme. You can use dried thyme or oregano if you don’t have fresh.
  4. Grate the manchego cheese with a fine grater. If you don’t have manchego you can always use parmesan or grana padano, which also work quite well.
  5. Drain the pasta and rinse under the tap with cold water. When all the pasta has drained transfer to the bowl and mix well.
  6. Add the rocket leaves olive oil and seasoning, mix well and serve immediately.

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