Stupid question about pasta

[TulipTuesday]

I’ve regularly eaten pasta hot with sauce. I’ve eaten it cold in ready done salads or perhaps at a buffet, however I’ve never done my own cold pasta.

I’m going on a picnic tomorrow so fancied a cold tomatoey pasta salad. I was in the big Tesco deciding on tea tonight and figured tomato pasta for tea (pasta in a ready made tomato sauce, Finest, natch) is a good idea.

Now to the stupid question, can I just have the same pasta cold tomorrow? Is that ‘pasta salad’? Or is leftover pasta in a ready made sauce going to be bogging?

Help, please! TIA

Bogging?

It will be fine but it's not really pasta salad unless it has salad in it?

Bogging is like minging, or gross. Perhaps just used around these parts.

I was thinking of adding extra bits to it but didn’t want to waste my time if was going to be inedible. Good to know that it should be ok 👍🏻

Pasta salad really is that easy!

I would just call that cold pasta, not pasta salad. Being cold doesn't make something a salad 😅 But I think it'll be tasty!

It'll be fine. Cold pasta needs to be coated in something otherwise it's a claggy starchy mess.

Maybe add a splash of vinaigrette dressing or something similar for a bit of flavour!

Add black Olives and some feta!

I can’t imagine it would be very nice cold tomorrow but I might be wrong! I do a really easy pasta salads for work lunches/picnics - it’s just fusilli, then smoked bacon, chicken breast (just the ready cooked stuff!) cucumber, tomato, red pepper and spring onion all diced up really small - then a couple of big tbsps of mayo. I use low fat but doesn’t make a difference. Save a cup full of pasta water to loosen it up. Salt and pepper job done.

Thanks for the replies guys, it’s really helpful! 🙌🏻

I’m now concerned that it will be all stuck together and just ‘cold pasta’ rather than pasta salad.

Another question then if I may. If I was to keep some sauce aside tonight and add it tomorrow to the then cold salad and add some extras to it, would that be more likely to end up ok?

I reckon that would be fine. Are you sure there would be enough pasta left to take as a dish to share?

I also agree that putting a salad dressing on tomorrow (think I’d go with an Italian one) for Uber easy and chuck whatever other salad veg you like in with it.

Just reread your post, definitely mix it with the sauce and let it cool before you put it in the fridge. Don’t leave it till tomorrow. As others have the said the pasta will go weird without a sauce.

I often take cold pasta to work, my tip would be to run the pasta under cold water as soon as you take it off the boil. Then stir through the sauce cold and put in the fridge. It never sticks together doing it like this but it does if I allow to just cool on its own.

If you make hot pasta tonight tomorrow it will be cold claggy pasta.

the key to a good pasta salad is that you immediately cool the pasta once it’s cooked then add cold ingrediants and dressing. This stops it clumping

I would cook the pasta and not add the sauce, cool the pasta with cold water, drain it and then add some chopped sundried tomatoes with a bit of the herby, tomato flavoured oil they come in, some black olives, feta and perhaps some salady stuff like chopped cucumber or diced peppers and spring onions.

I used to make a pasta salad with Lloyd Grossman's tomato & basil sauce and sliced black olives and a few fresh basil leaves. I cooked the pasta the night before, ran it under the cold tap and then stirred in some extra virgin olive oil to stop it clumping together. I added the sauce and olives the next day. Everyone raved about it.

yes but before cooling down cooked pasta, toss it in some olive oil

Is that ‘pasta salad’?
No, it's really not.

Someone will be along shortly to tell you you’re risking your life by eating cold pasta and that it’s worse than cold rice.

My Italian mother in law taught me to make “pizza pasta” with it. Cook your tomato pasta, in the morning mix in a 1-3 eggs depending on how much you have left. Then heat a little oil in the fry pan and cook it like a frittat, once the bottom starts to go crispy you put on a plate and then turn it. Once cooked you leave to cool and then cut into slices and eat cold. It’s delicious!

Immediately after cooking the pasta which you want to eat tomorrow, run it under cold water.
Then toss it in olive oil or it'll just drink all the sauce.
Ideally keep the sauce and pasta separate until tomorrow and toss it together before you leave.

Yes, it will be bogging, and what you're describing isn't pasta salad. It's cold leftover pasta amd sauce. Bleurrrgh.

A pasta salad is boiled and drained pasta, tossed when cool with a vinaigrette or lemon dressing (French, Italian, Greek) and various vegetables (for example, red onions/ scallions, cooked green beans, red/ green bell peppers, sugar snap peas, tomatoes/ sun dried tomatoes, little mozzarella balls, olives, to taste). You can add shredded cooked chicken or chopped up bits of bacon too, if you want.

Chopped fresh basil is lovely in a pasta salad too.