Strawberry Balsamic Pasta Salad

Strawberries, in a pasta salad? Yup, you read that right. News flash: Strawberries aren’t just for dessert; their sweet and slightly tart flavor lends itself perfectly to savory dishes. We took the building blocks of the ever popular strawberry spinach salad, threw in some spiral pasta, and added creamy goat cheese, crunchy toasted almonds, delicate shallots, and fresh mint and basil to make it a real party.

The salad:
Strawberries and balsamic vinegar are culinary BFFs, so tossing the pasta salad in a balsamic vinaigrette made perfect sense. The vinaigrette is lightly sweetened with maple syrup to bring the sweet, savory, and tart notes of the salad into perfect harmony.

The balsamic glaze:
We finish the pasta salad with a balsamic glaze for color and flavor. If you can’t get your hands on a bottle, you can easily make it yourself at home. Take a cup of balsamic vinegar and simmer it in a small saucepan over medium heat until it’s thickened and reduced by about half.

Serving ideas:
This pasta salad is hearty enough to serve on its own as an entrée, but if you want to go all out, it’s perfect for the spring or summer served with lamb burgers or honey-garlic glazed salmon, or make it a fruity affair and pair it with peach balsamic grilled chicken. 

Did you try this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments!