Lemon Capellini Salad Recipe (With Tomatoes And Capers)
Lemon Capellini Salad (With Tomatoes And Capers) is a light pasta salad that is super easy to make using minimal ingredients. Serve it hot or cold.
You may like some more salad recipes: Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad, Thai Watermelon Salad, Cajun Potato Salad, Malaysian Mango Salad, and Thai Green Papaya Salad.
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We went on a short weekend vacation to Hot Springs National Park. When we reached back home yesterday evening, everyone wanted to eat something light for dinner. I had capellini and capers in the pantry, so I thought to make this quick lemon capellini pasta dish.
Mohit made a quick run to the nearby Walmart to grab the fresh ingredients, and in the meantime, my prep was done. This pasta salad is our family’s favorite, and it comes together so quickly that it’s hardly any work. Do try it.
About Lemon Capellini Salad
Lemon Capellini Salad is a refreshing pasta salad made with capellini (or angel hair) pasta, cherry tomatoes, capers, and other simple ingredients.
It is great as a light meal or as a side dish with meat or veggies. It is also a great dish to serve at BBQs, picnics, parties, or potlucks.
The best thing about this dish is that it can be made and refrigerated before you are ready to serve it.
Ingredients
Capellini Pasta – Good-quality pasta is the key to making a great lemon capellini salad. I like to use Capellini because it is a very thin pasta that absorbs the dressing’s flavors well. You can also use angel hair pasta or thin spaghetti noodles.
You can also use other types of pasta, such as farfalle or rotini.
Others – You will also need a few other basic ingredients, such as extra-virgin olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic cloves, salt, freshly cracked black pepper, baby capers, lemon zest, freshly squeezed lemon juice, cherry tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil leaves.
I used regular spinach, but you can use baby spinach as well.
Replace parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast or any vegan cheese to make a vegan recipe.
How To Make Lemon Capellini Salad
Cook The Pasta
Step 1: Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil over high heat.
Step 2: Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add 2 tablespoon salt and 9 oz (250 g) capellini pasta. Cook until Al Dente (just cooked).
Make The Sauce
Step 3: While the pasta cooks, heat ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Step 4: Add the following ingredients and saute for 8-10 seconds.
- ⅓ cup baby capers (drained)
- 2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoon lemon zest
Note – Reserve the brine when you drain the capers. You will need some of it while making the recipe.
Step 5: Now add the following ingredients and saute for a minute.
- 2 cups of halved cherry tomatoes
- 2 cups packed spinach
- 1 cup of chopped basil leaves
Step 6: Drain the cooked pasta (reserving some water), then add it to the skillet and toss well.
Step 7: Add the following ingredients and toss well to coat the pasta.
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Step 8: Add ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese and mix well.
Step 9: Check for salt and add more if needed.
Step 10: Add some reserved pasta water if the pasta looks dry.
Step 11: Serve as a hot pasta salad or refrigerate for a few hours and serve as a cold pasta salad. You can also serve it at room temperature.
Variations
There are several delicious variations that you can try with your Lemon Capellini Salad. Some of my favorites include:
Add nuts like pine nuts, almonds, and pecans for extra flavor and texture.
Use chopped sun-dried tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes for a more intense tomato flavor.
Switch up the types of vegetables used in the salad, such as swapping fresh spinach with arugula or adding roasted red peppers for a pop of color and flavor.
You can replace cherry tomatoes with grape tomatoes or regular tomatoes cut into bite-sized pieces.
You can also replace spinach with peppery arugula.
Basil leaves can be replaced with fresh oregano or any other herb.
Pro Tips By Neha
Cook the pasta in salted water according to the package directions. This will ensure that the pasta is properly cooked and seasoned.
Be sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice for this salad. Bottled lemon juice will not have the same flavor.
You can experiment with different types of pasta and vegetables in this salad. There are many delicious possibilities!
Reserve 2 tablespoon of the brine from the capers, then add it to the pasta recipe for a nice tangy flavor.
Storage Suggestions
This salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. If you are making this pasta dish ahead of time, wait to add the cherry tomatoes until just before serving so they do not get mushy.
Serve cold or heat in a microwave or pan until hot or at room temperature.
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Lemon Capellini Salad Recipe (With Tomatoes And Capers)
Ingredients
- 9 ounces capellini pasta (250 g, or angel hair pasta, thin spaghetti noodles)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup baby capers (drained, reserve 2 tablespoon brine (optional))
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes)
- 2 cup spinach (packed)
- 1 cup chopped basil leaves
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Cook The Pasta
- Put a large pot of water on your stove to boil over high heat.
- Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add 2 tablespoons of salt, and then add capellini pasta.
- Cook until Al Dente (just cooked).
Make The Sauce
- While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Added capers, red pepper flakes, garlic, and lemon zest and saute for 8-10 seconds.
- Now add cherry tomatoes, spinach, and basil leaves, and saute for a minute.
- Drain the cooked pasta (reserve ½ cup of the cooking water) and add it to the skillet and toss well.
- Add lemon juice, salt, and black pepper and toss well to coat the pasta.
- Add parmesan cheese and mix well.
- Check for salt and add more if needed.
- Add the reserved pasta water if the pasta looks dry.
- Serve as hot pasta salad or refrigerate for a few hours and serve as a cold pasta salad. You can also serve it at room temperature.
What do you do with the reserved brine? It cost for 2 tablespoons of reserved brine, but it’s nowhere in the instructions…. thought about making this as a side dish for a wedding buffet.
You are using capers in the recipe and the brine is from it. I have clearly mentioned both in the recipe card and in the post above to reserve some of the brine when you drain the capers to use in the recipe.
Have made this numerous times but use cavatelli pasta (just my personal preference). Delicious!
Thanks for your feedback Pamela
superb and wonderful and tasty
Thanks Fa
I have loved buying this salad at Kroger in Indiana. Love it and will have to try this recipe.
Love this sals especially during the summer. Very refreshing.
Thanks Carol.
I like and will do again. I did cut the tomatoes in smaller pieces and reduced by half the amount of red pepper and served cold.
Delicious Lemon capellini
Thanks Barbara!
Deeelicious!! loved the addition of chili flakes and caper brine. Added some fresh chopped parsley as was kind of short on fresh basil and also a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts. Yummy
Been wanting to make this, but unable to because of price at Safeway! So decided to make my own. Ran across this recipe, and it hit it out of the ballpark! YUMMY!