Lemon Capellini Salad Recipe
This refreshing Lemon Capellini Salad is a light and flavorful pasta dish perfect for warm weather or as a bright side. Featuring delicate angel hair pasta tossed in a zesty lemon dressing with fresh tomatoes, capers, and parsley, it offers a perfect balance of tangy, savory, and herbal notes. Easy to prepare and ready in under 30 minutes, this salad is great served chilled or at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta
- 8 oz capellini pasta (or angel hair pasta)
Dressing & Mix-ins
- 2 medium lemons (juice of + 1 tsp lemon zest)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp garlic salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup diced tomatoes (seeds removed)
- 3 tbsp capers (drained)
- 1 tbsp curly leaf parsley (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Cook Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the capellini pasta. Cook until tender but still firm, which should take just a few minutes due to the thin strands. Drain the pasta and rinse thoroughly with cool water to stop the cooking process and prevent it from becoming mushy.
- Prepare Dressing: While the pasta cooks, combine the juice of 2 lemons, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoons garlic salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl. Whisk these ingredients together until fully emulsified and smooth.
- Toss Salad: Add the drained pasta, ½ cup diced (seeded) tomatoes, and 3 tablespoons drained capers into the bowl with the lemon dressing. Toss well to evenly coat all the ingredients with the dressing. Then, gently fold in 1 tablespoon finely chopped curly leaf parsley and give the salad one last toss to distribute the herbs.
- Serve or Chill: Serve the Lemon Capellini Salad immediately for the freshest flavor or cover and refrigerate it for up to 2 hours to serve chilled. This salad is best enjoyed within a few hours of preparation for optimal taste and texture.
Notes
- Removing tomato seeds helps reduce excess moisture and prevents the salad from becoming watery.
- Rinsing the pasta with cold water after cooking stops residual heat from overcooking the delicate noodles.
- You can substitute curly leaf parsley with flat-leaf parsley for a milder flavor.
- This salad can be prepared a few hours ahead but is best consumed the same day for freshness.
- Adjust garlic salt to taste or substitute with garlic powder and add salt separately to control saltiness.
Keywords: lemon capellini salad, angel hair pasta salad, lemon pasta salad, Mediterranean pasta dish, light pasta salad, summer pasta salad
Find it online: https://recipeswithmia.com/lemon-capellini-salad-recipe/
