This pasta salad with basil aioli is summery and fresh, with chicken, peaches, and blueberries and a tasty homemade aioli (shortcut included).
I feel like there is a box that Southern cooking is supposed to fit into. That has been frustrating me lately…Southern food is my niche and I’ve really been trying to focus on Southern food and studying well-known Southern food writers lately. As I’ve planned my posts recently I’ve found myself irritated at what I feel that Southern food is “supposed” to be – fried, cheesy, etc. Of course, I myself have complained about these stereotypes, so it’s really ridiculous for me to pigeonhole myself like that.
The truth is that Southern food is whatever people from the South want it to be. Sure, we have our standard bearers. Fried chicken, White Lily biscuits, decidedly unsweetened cornbread, and banana pudding will always be symbols of Southern cooking. Every Southern cook worth his or her salt has a version of these foods. However, Southern food from where I sit is simply the food that I want to eat. To me, it’s from scratch (most of the time, anyway), simple, fresh food. Seasonal if possible, though we all know that when winter hits you’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
Summer around here brings peaches and blueberries. I have two blueberry bushes in my front yard, which yield handfuls of nearly black, round berries every night (though this year the birds seem to be feasting on them before I can get to them more than in the past). They go straight into my freezer to be used year-round. I have a peach tree too, but even though we’ve had it for five years (maybe more, I don’t really remember), it’s still producing duds, pits with fuzzy peach skin. For now, I’ll have to continue to buy my peaches at the produce stand down the street. I’m okay with that, though. It’s a small family business and I’m happy to give them my business (even though I always feel old because the son who works most of the time when I visit – and who is in his mid to late twenties – was in my class when I taught at a child care center during the summers in college).
I mentioned last week that I have become obsessed with dry-brining chicken, and I’ll put it into anything that I think it will work in. When I considered how I could combine perfectly brown, juicy chicken with peaches, blueberries, and mozzarella, I first thought of a hot pasta dish. Then, realizing that it’s nearly July and so hot here, plus the fruit would stand up in cold pasta better, a pasta salad with basil aioli kept popping into my head.
My basil aioli is so simple; I mix it with my immersion blender and it takes all of 30 seconds to mix. However, if you aren’t feeling brave enough, you can just blend mayonnaise with basil and get a similar flavor. I created a free-form salad with the aioli mixed into the pasta and the other components on top, but you can mix everything together if you’d prefer. That would probably be the best way to take this pasta salad with basil aioli to a picnic or cookout.
However you decide to serve it, this pasta salad with basil aioli, chicken, peaches, and blueberries is sure to be a crowdpleaser. And I’m claiming it as Southern food.
Mary
Yield: 4 servings
20 minPrep Time:
25 minCook Time:
45 minTotal Time:
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Ingredients
- 1 recipe dry-brined chicken thighs , cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 ounces small pasta shapes, like shells, elbow macaroni, or rotini, cooked according to package directions and drained
- 2 medium peaches, peeled if desired, sliced
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 4 ounces (1 cup) mozzarella pearls or diced mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup julienned basil
- 1/4 cup roasted, salted pepitas
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- zest of 1 lime
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup torn basil
- 1 cup extra-virgin or regular olive oil
- OR
- 1 cup high-quality mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup torn basil
- zest of 1 lime
- juice of 1/2 lime
Instructions
- Make the basil aioli: place the egg in a cup or small bowl wide enough for immersion blender. Add the mustard, zest, lime juice, salt, and basil, then pour the olive oil over the top. Place an immersion blender into the container and turn it to the lowest speed. Slowly increase the speed while moving the blender around to fully blend the aioli. Alternately, you can blend the ingredients in a regular blender or a food processor, or use an immersion blender, blender, or food processor to blend mayonnaise, lime zest, and lime juice. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Combine enough aioli with the pasta to coat according to your preferences. Combine with remaining ingredients or divide among bowls and top with the remaining ingredients. Serve cold or at room temperature. Refrigerate any remaining basil aioli.
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