Spring Garden Pasta Salad from With Love, Meghan

The next recipe I made to review, and the first from the show, is the Spring Garden Pasta Salad from episode 4 of With Love, Meghan, a lifestyle show hosted by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (nee Markle) on Netflix. I watched its first season on the day of its debut, keen to take advantage of its escapism and celebration of Southern California, and most of all see what the Duchess of Sussex likes to cook.

Needless to say, Meghan is among the most scrutinized women in the world, purely because she had the audacity to marry a man she loved, who happens to be a prince, and be a woman, a biracial woman, with her own career, stature and opinions. Some people are threatened by that, while others (like myself) think that's awesome. The backlash against her is unrelenting, not least because it makes her detractors a lot of money. But enough of that. We're here to talk about food.

In episode 4, Meghan hosts her friend Delfina Blaquier (Delfi), an Argentine socialite and the wife of Prince Harry's polo friend Nacho Figueras, for a day to cook and go on a hike. They enjoy a focaccia, a gorgeous cheese board, a bottle of wine, mate (South American tea drank from a straw) and this pasta salad together. Meghan also made sun tea bags, raspberry preserves and dog treats for Delfi. I'll try each of these recipes in time*, so stay tuned for that.

The Pasta Salad is not altogether complicated to assemble. There are actually two versions of the recipe, which I'll compare and contrast, and tell you how I did it. Both versions will be linked at the end of the post. The first was shared on Netflix's Tudum site, and the other in The New York Times. I made the Tudum one, not knowing about the NYT version until I went to write this post!

It's packed with seven different vegetables: Swiss chard, lacinato kale (optional), sugar snap peas, a shallot, garlic, zucchini and (NYT/show only) cherry tomatoes. Really, you can use whatever you have, and I did when I made it. On the show and in NYT, Meghan uses rigatoni, while the Tudum version calls for paccheri or fusilli. When I did it, I used fusilli. Any of these variants have grooves that catch the sauce or dressing, or ingredients you put into your pasta, so they all work.

Meghan uses the chard and kale stems in addition to the leaves, finely diced. I ground the stems for mine in the food processor to save time, and it really brought out a grassy flavor and smell. I wasn't sure if I like that or not, but it kind of grew on me. It's spring, it's fresh, I ran with it.

My mother is horrified by the amount of salt I put into my cooking water. As the chefs say, you have to make it as salty as the ocean! That's the only way the pasta itself has flavor before you put it into whatever sauce you're using. Go heavy, and then you can control how much you add in after.

The Tudum version of the recipe says it was the inspiration behind the dish cooked on With Love. I have my doubts considering how many differences there are. It adds a vinaigrette that Meghan didn't use, instead adding only olive oil and the pasta cooking water as needed. Said vinaigrette, in addition, has you add a raw shallot and garlic whereas Meghan cooked them both, and I did too, while also making the vinaigrette as I felt it needed one.

Tudum tells you to blanche the Swiss chard, kale and peas while on the show Meghan sauteed them. Both versions tell you to add sugar snap peas; I didn't have any and I also don't care for them, but I did add shelled, frozen peas. In one shot on the show, it looked like Meghan had perhaps added a bit of asparagus, although she didn't mention that. I had some cooked asparagus in the fridge when I made this and considered adding it, but forgot to.

Finally, on the show and NYT recipe, Meghan finishes the salad with shaved Manchego or Parmigiano-Reggiano, whereas Tudum says to crumble feta. I used both feta and parm because it's what I had and what I love. I do like Manchego and would have added some if I had any. She uses mint right at the end, but I didn't have any so I used basil.

Overall, I really enjoyed this! It's a healthy alternative to a lot of those mayo-heavy pasta salads you might get at the deli or make at home, and it's a great option to use fresh vegetables in season. I made a huge batch of it and had it for lunch the rest of the week. Hats off to you Meghan!

If you want to make this recipe yourself, you can get the Tudum version here, and the NYT Cooking version (which is closer to what Meghan and Delfi made on the show) here.

*I'm not going to eat the dog treats myself. I'll make them for someone's dog and see how they like it.