Cucumber and tomato pasta salad recipe

Make a cheap cucumber and tomato pasta salad like our mummy blogger Anneliese, who says: 'We eat a lot of pasta in our house, so thank goodness you can buy it at a very reasonable price. We tend to buy a big bag at the beginning of the month and eat it in a variety of meals. Sometimes it makes a nice change to have a simple pasta salad for lunch or perhaps for an evening meal during the warm summer months. I often make a big batch before I head up to bed. I then separate it out, so that there is some for my husband to take to work, a helping for my son's lunchbox and enough for me and my toddler to eat at home. I just have to remember to take them out of the fridge in the morning!'

Ingredients

• 250g pasta, such as penne
• 2 eggs
• Half a cucumber, chopped
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3-4tbsp mayonnaise

Method

1. First of all place your pasta and eggs in a large saucepan and cover in water from the tap. This means you can cook your pasta and eggs together and save on a bit on your gas or electricity bill!
2. Place the saucepan on the hob over a moderate heat and bring to a rolling boil. Follow the instructions on the packet of pasta to predict cooking time but both the pasta and eggs should be cooked in about 10 minutes.
3. Once both ingredients are cooked through, it's time to drain the pasta and eggs into a colander, then pour over some cold water to cool things down. The cold water will help stop the pasta sticking together. Tip the cold pasta back into the saucepan.
4. When the eggs are cool enough to touch, peel away the shell then slice into chunks and add to the pasta in the pan.
5. Now add the chopped cucumber and halved cherry tomatoes.
6. Measure in the mayonnaise and give the mixture a good stir. Tuck in straight away or store in the fridge until ready to serve.