Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Tuesday, February 7th, 2006
Oh…my…goodness! This is the best pasta salad I have ever made! Seriously! It has all of my favorite components; pasta, cheese, olives, tomatoes, garlic, and vinegar. It is sinful, but actually not too bad for you. There is some oil in it and olives are high in fat, but I used whole wheat pasta, and load of tomatoes. Trust me it is worth the splurge. Make this at the beginning of the week and you have lunch for a couple of days.
Mediterranean Pasta
1/2 pound whole wheat fusilli (spirals) pasta
Kosher salt
Olive oil
1 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced (or more!)
3/4 cup good black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and diced
1 pound fresh mozzarella, medium-diced
For the dressing:
5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons good olive oil
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 teaspoon capers, drained
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
2. For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.
3. Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan, and toss well.
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