This Mediterranean Pasta Salad is easy to make and perfect for summer barbecues or picnics. Juicy, sweet, farm fresh tomatoes are featured in this vegetarian friendly pasta salad.
Our church provides a unique community feel, despite its size. One of ways I like to serve is cooking meals for people and families who are going through a rough spot. Prepared meals can take some of the stress off of families when they are facing life’s challenges.
I made this Mediterranean Pasta Salad for a family, to go with grilled chicken, a tossed green salad, and roasted cauliflower. This recipe takes very little time to prepare, and is versatile. The key is to use the best tomatoes you can find.
This month, I signed up for a CSA box from a local farm. A CSA Box is essentially a weekly box of farm fresh produce that farms sell. Although you never know what you’ll get each week, that’s part of the fun. I’ve gotten fresh picked strawberries, beautiful tomatoes, garlic scapes, lettuce, arugula, parsley and basil so far.
This pasta salad features some of the ripe sweet tomatoes from my CSA Box. Fresh scallions, kalamata olives, fresh grated Parmesan cheese, and parsley are tossed into this pasta salad as well. Feel free to use red onion instead of scallions, feta cheese instead of Parmesan cheese, and basil instead of parsley if you like.
The balsamic dressing pairs nicely with tomatoes.
For best results, let the pasta salad marinate for a bit so it absorbs some of the dressing and juice from the tomatoes. You could definitely make this pasta salad the night before serving. Just take it out for about an hour before serving to take the chill out,
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Perfect for summer barbecues and picnics
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dry pasta
Dressing
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- fresh ground pepper to taste
Pasta Salad
- 2 scallions chopped (or substitute red onion)
- 2 cups fresh tomato chopped
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated (or crumbled feta)
- 1/2 cup parsley minced (or basil chiffonade)
- 1/4 cups kalamata olives pitted, sliced
Instructions
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Cook pasta according to package directions. When done, rinse until cold water and drain well. Meanwhile, prepare dressing.
Dressing
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Put all dressing ingredients in a jar or container with a lid. Shake until blended.
Pasta Salad
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Place pasta salad ingredients in a bowl. Add dressing and cooked pasta. Toss well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer for better flavor.
If you like this pasta salad recipe, you might also like:
Pasta Primavera with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil and Garlic
Fresh Tomato Mozzarella Pesto Pasta Salad
So colourful and summery..bet it is very tasty!
Thanks Angie! Hope you are doing well!
Delicious and fresh Mediterranean salad that presented well. It was perfect for our Memorial Day Celebration
So glad you enjoyed this salad. Thank you for letting me know!