Easy Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Pasta salad with Mediterranean elements such as basil, roasted red pepper and feta cheese.
Ingredients
Pasta
- 16 oz tri-color rotini pasta
- 10 cups cold water
Veggies
- 1 roasted red pepper sliced
- 1 yellow pepper sliced
- 1 green pepper sliced
- ¾ of half of a red onion sliced (or ⅛ cup sliced red onion)
- 1 cucumber sliced into quarter pieces
- 10 Kalamata olives roughly chopped
- 10 black olives roughly chopped
- ¾ cup feta cheese
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
Dressing & Seasonings
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- salt and fresh black pepper to taste
- ¼ teaspoon white sugar
Fresh Herbs
- ¼ cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 4-5 basil leaves roughly teared
Instructions
- Bring your cold water to a boil and cook your pasta for roughly 7-9 minutes or until it's just past the al-dente stage by a couple of minutes. Should be tender, but still slightly firm. We don't want it too mushy. Once your pasta is cooked, drain the water and pour your pasta into a large mixing bowl.
- Chop your veggies and begin adding them to your pasta in no particular order.
- Add in your feta and parmesan next. You can use crumbled or blocked feta.
- Pour your olive oil and red wine vinegar into a big measuring cup. Add in your seasonings to this cup and mix as best as you can.
- Pour this dressing over the pasta and mix thoroughly. Add in your fresh herbs at the end and mix it all again. Cover and refrigerate for at least six hours or ideally up to 24 or 48 hours. If you refrigerate it for a day or two, the flavors will really meld well. The pasta will soak up your dressing so if you'd like to add more for rehydration once you serve it, you can do that as well. I typically just add more oil and vinegar and skip the seasoning for the rehydration but this is optional. Serve cold and enjoy!