Tahini and Parmesan, an unlikely pasta salad

Name: Tahini and Parmesan, an unlikely pasta salad
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian, Middle Eastern
Ingredients: kosher salt and black pepper; 1 lb ridged or curly pasta, such as fusilli or gemelli; 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for serving); 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes (about 1¼ lb); ⅓ cup tahini; ¾ cup finely grated Parmesan (plus ¼ cup chopped or shaved, to finish); ½ cup packed mint leaves (torn if large); 3 scallions, thinly sliced; 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

A pasta salad with sesame where the mayonnaise should be, blistered tomatoes through it.

At a Glance

Time

45 min

Serves

Story

Tahini and Parmesan read like a typo and taste like a secret. It works because tahini is only sesame ground to a paste, and that deep toasted note happens to sing in the same key as a well-aged Parmesan, so rather than squabbling the two egg each other on into something richer than either could be alone, no heavy mayonnaise required. Blister the tomatoes hard before they join in, too, which boils off their water and leaves you little concentrated bombs of sweet and sour.

Ingredients

kosher salt and black pepper
1 lb ridged or curly pastasuch as fusilli or gemelli
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oilplus more for serving
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoesabout 1¼ lb
⅓ cup tahini
¾ cup finely grated Parmesanplus ¼ cup chopped or shaved, to finish
½ cup packed mint leavestorn if large
3 scallionsthinly sliced
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

The kind of pasta salad that makes people abandon their own plates to come ask about yours. Make it up to three hours ahead and dress it in two stages so it never dries out.

Bring a big pot of well salted water to the boil, cook the pasta to package directions, then scoop out a mug of the starchy water before you drain.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and cook, shaking the pan now and then, until they blister, char and wrinkle, 4 to 6 minutes. Tip them into a big bowl to cool.
In a measuring cup, stir the tahini and grated Parmesan together with salt and pepper. It will seize up thick and alarming, do not panic: beat in about ½ cup of the hot pasta water and it loosens into a glossy cream. Add the pasta to the tomatoes, then stir through just enough dressing to coat and hold the rest back. Let it sit 15 minutes, or up to 3 hours at room temperature.
When you are ready to eat, stir in the remaining dressing, loosening with a splash more water until every piece is creamy and glossed. Fold through the mint, scallions, sesame seeds and the chopped Parmesan, saving a little to shower over the top.

Season one last time with salt, pepper and a thread of olive oil. Pasta salad forgives a bold hand at the end far more than a timid one.

For a crowd

12-16 people

Potluck royalty, so scale it without flinching. Boil 3 to 4 pounds of pasta in your biggest pot, and blister the tomatoes in batches so a crowded skillet steams them instead of charring. The two-stage dressing is what saves you, hold half back and stir it through the moment before you carry the bowl out.

On the pass