Extra-Green Pasta Salad
▶ Start cookingAdapted from NYT Cooking · Added 2026-05-15
This vibrant green pasta salad gets its color from a combination of spinach and basil, but you can swap the spinach for arugula for a more peppery finish. (Some of us need a little bite in our lives!). The miso in the sauce does a lot of the heavy lifting, imparting a salty, almost Parmesan-like quality. You can eat the salad immediately or chilled for a summer picnic. If making it a day ahead, don’t add the basil garnish and cheese until you’re ready to serve.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
- Source
- cooking.nytimes.com ↗
Ingredients
- Salt and pepper
- 1 poundshort-cut pasta (such as rigatoni · campanelle or fusilli)
- 3 cups/8 ounces sugar snap peas
- 1 cupfrozen English peas
- 3packed cups/3 1/2 ounces baby spinach
- 2packed cups/1 1/2 ounces basil leaves · plus more for serving
- 1/2 cupextra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoonswhite miso
- 1garlic clove · crushed
- Zest and juice from 1 lemon
- 4 ouncesParmesan (or other firm salty cheese · such as feta or aged Gouda), thinly sliced
Method
- 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then throw in a handful of salt. Add the pasta, give it a stir and cook until al dente. Just before draining, add the snap peas and English peas to the boiling water to barely soften, 20 to 30 seconds. Drain the pasta and peas, and rinse lightly with cold water; set aside.
- 2
While the pasta water comes to a boil, place the spinach, basil, oil, miso, garlic, and lemon zest and juice in a blender. Blend to a bright green purée. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and a few grinds of pepper, then blend again.
- 3
Transfer the purée to a large bowl that is big enough to toss all the pasta. Add the pasta and peas, and toss until coated. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the Parmesan and more basil leaves. Toss once more before serving.