This 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.
A super easy salad made with delicate capellini pasta, tangy capers, chilli & herbs all tossed in in a zesty lemon dressing.
What is Capellini?
Capellini 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 in rods as they are easier to handle without breaking that way.
Some Serving Ideas
This is a great salad for summer barbecues as it pairs beautifully with grilled meats, a great side for Italian Meatballs or Chicken Cacciatore.
Let’s talk 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 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.
You Will Need:
How to Make It
1PREPARE INGREDIENTS
Put a big pot of water on your stove to boil, add some salt once boiled then add your pasta and cook according to packet directions (approximately 10-15 minutes)
In the meantime wash your chilli and remove the seeds and dice finely, remove the papery skin from your garlic and mince with a garlic press.
Drain and rinse the capers then pat dry.
Wash your basil, shake and pat dry, pick the basil leaves from the stems and then roughly chop.
REMOVE SEEDS FROM CHILLI 
FINELY DICE CHILLI 
PICK BASIL LEAVES FROM STEMS CHOP BASIL LEAVES
2HEAT THE AROMATICS & DRAIN PASTA
Heat the olive oil on medium heat until it heats up, first add your capers, then the diced chilli, the minced garlic, and the lemon zest.
Stir until cooked and aromatic.
Your pasta should be done by now so take it off the stove and drain well under cold running water
ADD ZEST, CAPERS, GARLIC & CHILLI TO PAN COOK UNTIL AROMATIC
3ASSEMBLE YOUR SALAD
Add the cooked pasta, caper/chilli mix, the chopped basil to a large mixing bowl.
Pour over the lemon juice, season with some sea salt and cracked black pepper and mix well to combine.
Add the grated parmesan cheese and mix through again.
Arrange in a salad bowl and some sliced chilli slices on top to garnish and serve when you are ready.
ADD INGREDIENTS TO BOWL POUR OVER LEMON JUICE MIX LEMON CAPELLINI SALAD ADD GRATED PARMESAN STIR THROUGH PARMESAN 
ARRANGE IN A SALAD BOWL & SERVE
Can I make it ahead and meal prep?
- Absolutely, make it one or even two days before you want to serve it, just leave out the basil leaves to stir through just before serving.
- To meal prep for lunches leave out the basil, portion into your containers and add some very dry chopped fresh basil on top.
Some more Italian style salads to make:
Equipment
- Non-stick pan
Ingredients
- 250 grams angel hair pasta
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 long red chilli (or diced capsicum if you don’t like it spicy)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup baby capers drained
- 2 tbsps lemon zest from 2 lemons
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 bunch basil (1 ½ cups chopped leaves)
Instructions
- Put a big pot of water on your stove to boil, add some salt once boiled then add your pasta and cook according to packet directions (approximately 10-15 minutes)
- In the meantime wash your chilli and remove the seeds and dice finely, remove the papery skin from your garlic and mince with a garlic press.
- Drain and rinse the capers then pat dry.
- Wash your basil, shake and pat dry, pick the basil leaves from the stems and then roughly chop.
- Heat the olive oil on medium heat until it heats up, first add your capers, then the diced chilli, the minced garlic, and the lemon zest.
- Stir until cooked and aromatic.
- Your pasta should be done by now so take it off the stove and drain well under cold running water
- Add the cooked pasta, caper/chilli mix, the chopped basil to a large mixing bowl.
- Pour over the lemon juice, season with some sea salt and cracked black pepper and mix well to combine.
- Add the grated parmesan cheese and mix through again.
- Arrange in a salad bowl and some sliced chilli slices on top to garnish and serve when you are ready.
Video
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
PIN & SAVE FOR LATER
Turned out delicious! Thank you for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it Silvia, thank you for letting me know!
Sounds divine. Going to make tonight to go with steak for tomorrow. Can hardly wait.
This is one of my favourites as well!
Quick but wonderful. So many different flavors that work perfectly together. I made this for a last minute luncheon and it was a big hit.
Thank you Carl!