Oriental Pasta Salad

This is an unapologetic East-meets-West pasta salad: cheese tortellini treated like cold sesame noodles. Rice vinegar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, Chinese five spice, and sesame oil whisk into a dressing that coats the warm pasta and gets absorbed as it cools.

Crisp raw snow peas, julienned carrot, diced red pepper, and scallion bring texture and color against the soft tortellini. A bed of shredded cabbage underneath keeps it looking like a proper salad rather than a plain pasta bowl, and adds crunch with every bite.

Kitchen Tips

• Toss the dressing with warm tortellini straight from the pot. Warm pasta absorbs dressing the way cold pasta cannot, and this is what carries the flavor into every fold of the tortellini.
• Blanch the snow peas 30 seconds in the pasta cooking water as you pull the pasta, then plunge in cold water. Raw peas can be slightly tough; flash-cooked ones stay snappy but tender.
• Whisk the sesame oil in last and gradually. It is the most pungent element and integrating it slowly gives a more balanced dressing than dumping it all at once.
• Serve at room temperature, not cold straight from the fridge. Chilled sesame oil turns waxy and flavors go flat. Pull the salad 20 minutes before serving.

Variations

• Add cubed cooked chicken or tofu to turn the salad into a lunch main course.
• Toss in a handful of toasted sesame seeds or chopped peanuts for nutty crunch.
• Swap the tortellini for cold soba or ramen noodles for a more traditional Asian cold-noodle dish.