Prep time: 30 minutes -- Cook time: 10 minutes -- Total time: 40 minutes -- Serving: 2 people
Description
We love this easy recipe for a delicious homemade pasta salad with crispy bacon in a creamy curry dressing. Oh. So. Good! It is the perfect side to stuff like chicken or barbecue, and you can easily make it ahead of time and let it chill in the fridge. In fact making it a day ahead only makes it better as it then gets to rest!
Aside from the creamy curry dressing and crispy bacon, this pasta salad also comes with peas, corn, red onion, bell pepper and spring onions. Just imagine the creamy sauce and soft pasta combined with the crispy bite of the bacon and vegetables. All of these ingredients compliment the curry flavor and rich bacon perfectly.
Ingredients
Filling:
1.76 (50 g) frozen peas
1.23 oz (35 g) canned corn
0.5 red bell pepper
0.5 bundle spring onion
0.5 red onion
3.53 oz (100 g) diced bacon
3.53 oz (100 g) penne pasta
Dressing:
3.53 oz (100 g) creme fraiche
1.5 tablespoon mayo
1.5 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon sweet mustard
0.5 teaspoon powdered sugar
1.5 teaspoon curry
salt/pepper
Directions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a good amount of salt. When the water boils, add your pasta and cook it according to box instructions.
- When pasta is al dente, drain water and put aside (if you wish, add just a little bit of oil and mix around to help the pasta not stick together so much).
- Fry your bacon on a dry pan until crispy. Prepare a plate with paper towel and place the bacon there when it’s done cooking. Put aside.
- Grab your trusty KUMA knife and finely chop red onion, spring onion and bell pepper. Save a little bit of spring onion as garnish in the end. Drain corn from water and add the frozen peas to a bowl of cold water until defrosted.
- In a large bowl, mix together milk, creme fraiche, mayo, mustard, powdered sugar, and curry. Taste with salt, pepper and if necessary, more curry.
- In a separate bowl, add the cold pasta, vegetables, and crispy bacon (consider saving some bacon as garnish on top), den kolde pasta sammen med grøntsagerne, sprød bacon.
- Now start by adding half your dressing to the pasta salad and mix well. Add more dressing if needed. By adding it gradually you can easily adjust how saucy you want your pasta salad as this can be very individually (me personally, bring the sauce!).
- If you saved some bacon for garnish then add that on top now along with some more spring onion.
- Serve immediately or put it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
This is such an easy and delicious recipe, and one amazing thing about pasta salad is how perfectly it goes as both lunch as well as dinner. There are many different versions of pasta salads but this curry and bacon version has to be one of our favorites. It’s also a go-to when we’re out of ideas for a solid dinner side dish.
Pasta Salad with Curry Dressing:
There’s nothing like a savory homemade curry dressing to turn this delicious pasta salad in. It’s a simple dressing with curry that is also mild flavored. As we’ve learned from the sandwich world, curry dressing and crispy bacon are pretty much made for each other! If you don’t want to turn your pasta salad in the dressing, you can also put the dressing in a separate bowl for people to add as they desire.
Can I use anything other than bacon?
If you want to change the recipe a bit, you can easily replace the bacon with crispy fried Serrano- or parma ham. This makes the salad a little less fat and you still get the crispy element and savory flavor. We often use Serrano ham as a bacon alternative. Just bake it in the oven for 5-8 minutes or fry it on the pan. Then let it cool off before breaking it in pieces. It gives you a delicious salty taste not too far off from bacon.
Can I use other vegetables?
In this recipe we use corn, peas, red onion, spring onions, and bell pepper. You can also use chives or fresh parsley. Generally fresh herbs amp up the salad and add a ton of flavor. You can easily leave out some of the veggies or add others in their place if you wish. Pasta salad is a great way to clear out your fridge leftovers, so if you’ve got carrots, radishes or any other vegetables you love, they’ll go just fine in this pasta salad.
Can I use something other than powdered sugar?
Instead of powdered sugar you can use honey, Acacia honey, or simply white sugar. The reason we use powered sugar is because it combines very easily with the dressing.
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