Spicy Tomato Sauce Pasta Salad Recipe – Quick, Easy & Delicious

My mother-in-law recently brought over a delightful tomato sauce pasta salad for our dinner. It was so delicious that I asked her for the recipe, and it turns out, it’s incredibly simple to make! Although, I was quite surprised by the amount of sugar it contains. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

• 500g pack of pasta screws
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup olive oil and red wine vinegar (mix equal parts)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 onion
• 1 bell pepper

Method:

• Mix the tomato sauce, sugar, olive oil and red wine vinegar mix, and curry powder together. Give it a good stir and let it sit for at least an hour so that the sugar fully dissolves.
• Chop the onion and bell pepper as finely as possible. Add it to the tomato sauce mixture once the sugar has fully dissolved and mix together.
• Cook the pasta screws al dente and leave to cool before adding the sauce and mix well.
• Refrigerate for a few hours at least before serving, preferably overnight.

The pasta salad tastes even better as it sits longer, so it’s best to prepare it a day ahead to let the flavours develop. While my mother-in-law’s recipe suggests using green peppers, I opted for yellow peppers as my preference. Although I usually favour red peppers, I chose yellow to add a vibrant touch to the dish. I’ve encountered versions of this recipe that incorporate garlic, and you can also adjust the quantity of curry powder to suit your taste. I used Rajah Flavourful & Mild curry powder as I prefer spicy rather than hot flavours. Feel free to experiment and discover your ideal blend of flavours.

I made it with All Gold tomato sauce the first time I made it and the colour was a lot more red, this time I made it with Wellington’s tomato sauce and the colour was a lot more pale.

This spicy tomato sauce pasta salad is great to serve with a braai, add to the kids’ lunch boxes, and have as a versatile side dish for any dinner.