Our Lemon Capellini Salad will blow you away with its tastebud-awakening flavours; as an added bonus, it is quick and easy to prepare, so you will be out of your kitchen in no time. P.S. This is a potluck favourite!

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Lemon capellini salad in a black bowl with red. chillies and basil sprigs on the top.

This capellini pasta salad is super easy to make with delicate capellini pasta, tangy capers, chilli and herbs that are all tossed in a zesty lemon dressing.

If you need a few more grain-style salads, why not try our Mediterranean Couscous Salad, our Asian Wild Rice Salad or our Bulgur Wheat Salad?

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Capellini – forms the base of our salad but you could really use any pasta that takes your fancy.
Red chilli – for some bright colour and some fiery heat, if you don’t like spicy food you can replace it with half a diced red pepper instead.
Garlic – for some pungent aroma, you can always leave it out if you prefer, but I just love it here and heating it slightly will diminish some of its odour.
Baby capers – for their tangy sour taste, you can try sliced olives instead if you prefer.
Lemon zest and juice – this adds some lemony aroma and a citrusy hit.
Parmesan cheese – to add some creaminess and fruity nutty taste, the best are Reggiano. You can also replace it with pecorino or Romano or for something completely different you could try some crumbled feta cheese instead.
Basil – for its wonderful aroma you can try replacing it with fresh oregano (use half oregano & half parsley), fresh parsley or fresh tarragon instead.

Consider Adding - some cherry or mini Roma tomatoes for sweetness or some toasted pine nuts for some added crunch.

Labelled ingredients needed to make lemon capellini salad.

How to Make It

1BOIL WATER
Put a big pot of water on your stove to boil, and add some salt once boiled to make your pasta tastier.
Add your pasta with a few drops of olive oil and cook one minute less than the packet directions (approximately 3-5 minutes). Stir your pasta occasionally to stop it from sticking.
(Detailed instructions on how to cook your capellini pasta to perfection are in our tips and questions section below).

2 PREPARE AROMATICS
In the meantime, wash your chilli, remove the seeds and dice finely; remove the papery skin from your garlic then mince with a garlic press.

💡TOP TIP: Wear gloves when you are cutting the chillies to avoid chilli burn, there is nothing worse than rubbing your eyes with chilli hands- ouch!

HANDS WEARING GLOVES REMOVING THE SEEDS FROM CHILLIS

Finely dice your chillis.

FINELY DICING CHILLI WITH A KNIFE ON WOODEN BOARD

Drain and rinse the capers, then pat dry. If you haven’t already prepped your lemons then wash, dry them then zest two tablespoons and juice to get a quarter of a cup. Check on your pasta.

3 CUT BASIL
Wash your basil carefully so you don’t bruise it, shake and pat dry, and pick the basil leaves from the stems.

Picking basil, Vietnamese mint & coriander leaves from stems on a wooden board with a white bowl in the background from stems.

Roughly chop your basil leaves.

CLOSE UP OF CHOPPING DILL, CILANTRO, BASIL ON WOODEN BOARD WITH KNIFE

4WHEN YOUR PASTA IS DONE
When your pasta is done by, do a taste test and if it is cooked al dente (more details in tips and questions section below). Take it off the stove and drain it well under cold running water to stop the cooking process.

5HEAT THE AROMATICS
Heat the olive oil on medium heat until it just heats up; not too hot though, as we want to gently heat the ingredients to flavour the oil and not fry them.

First, add your capers, then the diced chilli, the minced garlic, and the lemon zest.

Stir until cooked and aromatic.

6ASSEMBLE YOUR LEMON CAPELLINI SALAD
Add the cooked pasta, caper/chilli mix, the chopped basil to a large mixing bowl.

First, pour over the lemon juice.

Season with some sea salt and cracked black pepper and mix well to combine.

We add the grated parmesan cheese last, so it doesn’t clump together with the other ingredients.

Stir through the parmesan.

Arrange in a salad bowl, garnish with some chillis. Serve and Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions 🍽

Lemon Capellini Salad is great for summer barbecues or to take to a potluck. It pairs beautifully with grilled meats, an excellent side for Italian Meatballs or Chicken Cacciatore.

Tips & Questions

Capellini vs Angel Hair

So, what is capellini, you ask? It is Italian for “little hair”, it is a very thin spaghetti very similar to angel hair pasta. The difference between capellini and angel hair pasta is in their diameter:

Capellini is between 0.85 mm and 0.92 mm thick
Angel hair is between 0.78 and 0.88 mm thick

They both can be bought in nests rather than in rods because it makes them easier to handle without breaking them.

Can I Use Any Pasta?

You can use whatever pasta happens to be lurking in your pantry.
However, it works best with shaped pasta such as spaghetti, fettucini, linguine, etc., as it makes it easier to stir the ingredients through it.
You will also need to adjust the cooking time as the thicker the pasta, the longer it will take to cook.

Detailed Instructions on How to Boil Angel Hair Pasta

While I love how quick capellini and angel hair pasta is to cook, it is quite notorious for turning into a congealed mess if you overcook it.

Never fear; follow our easy step-by-step instructions, and you won’t get it wrong.

Take out one of your large pots so that the pasta has room to move around while it is cooking and won’t stick together, then fill it with water and bring it to a boil.
Once it starts to boil, add some salt to the water (I like to add the salt after the water has boiled, so it doesn’t evaporate completely and leave me with bland-tasting pasta.
Then add your pasta and a few drops of olive oil to the pot; the oil will stick to the pasta and stop it from clumping together (have you ever tried to pick up something oily, doesn’t it just slip, slip away?)
Stir the pot occasionally and check after 2-3 minutes. Use a fork to pull out a string of pasta, cool it under some cold water, taste it, and if it is tender but with a bit of a bite, this is called “al dente”, then it is done. However, if it is still crunchy, then it may still need a minute or so.
When your pasta is cooked al dente, drain it in a strainer; for this recipe, we will rinse it under some cold water to completely stop the cooking process as it is a salad. If you are using it with a sauce then drop the pasta in the sauce and give it a good stir through.

Make Ahead and Storage Tips!

Lemon Capellini Salad can be made one or even two days before you want to serve it; just leave out the basil leaves to stir through just before serving otherwise they will brown.
Store it in an airtight container in the fridge, and it should last three or four days.
Just keep in mind that as basil is a soft herb it may go a bit brown.

How Can I Meal Prep This Angel Hair Pasta Salad?

To meal prep for lunches, make up the salad without the basil, portion it into your containers and add some very dry chopped fresh basil leaves on top just before taking it for your lunch.
Alternatively, replace the fresh basil with some fresh parsley as it keeps better once cut.