Pesto Pasta Salad

This easy pesto pasta salad has just a few ingredients and is incredibly easy to make. There is no doubt, this recipe will be added to your regular pasta salad recipe line up!

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This dish is great any time of the year but it is the PERFECT summer BBQ side dish!

If you are making this dish ahead of time, do not mix in the pasta until you are ready to eat. This will prevent it from getting dried out. If it does happen to get a little dried out, simply add a little more pesto or mayonnaise and stir to combine.

I like to leave it layered in the serving dish (sauce on bottom, then grilled vegetables, pasta on top) until ready to eat. When it is time to serve, just give the ingredients a quick toss to combine.

To make this a complete meal, stir in some bocconcini and top the pasta salad with a piece of grilled chicken!

What You Will Need

1 lb. box gemelli pasta

1 lb. asparagus

2 ears corn

1/2 cup pesto (click here for recipe)

3/4 cup mayonnaise

salt & pepper to taste

I love the crunch of fresh corn but if you can’t find any, frozen corn works well too. Simply grill kernels in a grill pan to get some nice grill marks!

How to Make

Grill asparagus and corn for about 10 minutes or until you have nice grill marks. Place on cutting board and allow to cool.

Cook gemelli pasta according to packaging. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In large mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise and pesto. Stir to smooth.

Once corn and asparagus have cooled to room temperature, cut the asparagus into bite size pieces and cut the corn off of the cob. Add to bowl with sauce mixture.

Add cooled pasta into mixing bowl. Stir until the pasta is evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed this fresh & easy pesto pasta salad!