One of my favorite dishes to make for lunch when I am not in the mood for a lot of cooking is pasta salad. I’ve become obsessed with making Tonnato sauce, a tuna based Italian sauce regularly served over veal, but great tossed in pasta salad and one of the stars in this dish.
And honestly, pasta salad does NOT have to be boring. It can be a world of textures and contrast of flavors, satisfying and delicious! The use of different dressings make this salad a simple meal that can be made with whatever you have in your fridge and pantry. Lately, I’ve been using Eden Foods Ume Plum Vinegar, which I received a complimentary bottle of, alongside some of their oils.
What’s Ume Plum Vinegar? It’s flavor. It’s balance. It’s bright! It’s what every pasta salad needs in order to stand out from the usual suspects. Here’s what Eden Foods has to say about it:
Treasured by-product from traditional pickling of EDEN Umeboshi Plums with sea salt and shiso (beefsteak) leaf. Ruby red, tangy, very salty. Sprinkle over cooked or steamed vegetables, add to salad dressings and dips, and use for pickling.
Added to this pasta salad, it makes the raw vegetables stand out, slightly pickling them as the salad settles and the flavors mingle. Bacon adds that needed salty element and tuna pulls it all together. The Ume Plum Vinegar has brighten up my cooking, were I’ve also tried my hand in quick pickling some radishes with it. The radishes pickle nicely when sliced thinly and turned a lovely pink color, thanks to the Ume Plum Vinegar.
Tuna Pasta Salad
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ pound dry pasta cooked
- 4 strips of bacon diced
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Eden Selected Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Eden Selected Ume Plum Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha
- 1 can canned tuna
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- ½ stalk celery diced
- ¼ of a small red cabbage thinly sliced
Instructions
- Reserve cooked pasta to the side and in a hot saute pan, cook bacon until crisp. Save bacon fat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, olive oil, vinegar, Sriracha and mustard. Incorporate tuna, red bell pepper, celery, and red cabbage.
- Drizzle in bacon fat and bacon pieces.
- Toss together with pasta and adjust seasoning by adding salt and pepper.
Looks SO delicious! I love tuna, especially with bacon!
I never thought of adding cabbage. So clever. Will try for sure.
It’s been quite awhile since I made some tuna pasta salad. I think it’s about time for me to make some again but this time with your recipe. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
“Spice it Up”
I just made a pesto tuna salad yesterday, which I absolutely loved, but yours looks 10x better! I have to get my hands on that ume plum vinegar!
I have never made tuna pasta salad likes this but I think I need to try it. looks delicious!
Oh this looks gorgeous – I dig a tuna pasta salad in the summer. It just makes every BBQ a real BBQ.
Hmmm, this is a good idea! I have to find Ume plum vinegar now…very curious as how it tastes!
Gorgeous salad!!Lots of different flavors and textures mixed together!Have never tried the Plum Vinegar before.Have to get it 🙂
It’s perfect just as it is! (okay I’d toss in some fresh peas or some thawed ones because I can’t leave anything alone!)
It’s beautiful.
marne luce deliciosa, me encanta la ensalada de tun , pero por algun motivo nunca me motivo a prepararla, tu me haz dado una buena idea de que mas agregarle para hacerla diferente y deliciosa como todo lo que preparas, te quiero. tu mami
Let me just say that I love Tuna Salad, I love Pasta Salad and I just love how you co-mingled them into this dish! Sound delicious. I also admire your incorporation of the different flavors, including the bacon, makes lunch time a fun time. Thank you for sharing this with me. I’ll admit I want to come visit you, but I’ll settle for “borrowing” your recipes and sharing them with my family. You’re becoming an inspiration to my cooking! Thank you Marnley!