Salt your pasta water with a moderate amount of salt. I like to use Kosher salt in all my recipes, and for salting my pasta water, but any salt will do. You want the pasta water to taste as salty as the ocean. I’ve seen some folks recommend 2 tablespoons or so while others recommend a 1/4 cup. I think I fall somewhere in the middle, but feel free to test out your own amount of salt and see how you like it. Salting the pasta water is your first chance to season the pasta, so this is an important step in really boosting the flavor of the entire dish.

Cook the pasta just until al dente and not a moment longer! I like to cook my pasta for 1-2 minutes less than the lowest recommended cooking time. So if the box recommends cooking the pasta for 9-11 minutes, I start tasting it around the 7-8 minute mark. As soon as it’s al dente (tender, but still has a toothsome bite) I pull it off the heat and strain it.

I’m not into the “rinsing hot pasta with cold water” thing. But I know that a lot of people do it. Rinsing the pasta removes the starches and also just adds an extra unnecessary step. I will admit I’ve been known to rinse my pasta once in a blue moon if I’m really in a hurry and need to get my pasta salad put together super quick. But most of the time I find that while I prep the veggies and dressings, the pasta has cooled down enough anyway. You can also throw the pasta in the fridge to cool it down quickly instead of rinsing it!

You can totally get away with just making the vinaigrette, but if you have 5 minutes to spare, I highly recommend making the quick and easy yogurt sauce for this Greek chickpea pasta salad! The vinaigrette is really what’s going to cling to the noodles and veggies and give the pasta salad that signature flavor. But the yogurt sauce is seriously out of this world and is such a special touch!