Description
Mediterranean pasta delight combines sun-kissed ingredients from Greece and Italy into a quick, flavorful meal. Crisp herbs, tangy olives, and fresh tomatoes make this dish something you’ll crave again and again.
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 oz (226 g) fusilli pasta
- ½ cup (75 g) crumbled feta cheese
- ¼ cup (40 g) kalamata olives, halved
- 1 pint (473 ml) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 English cucumber, diced
- ½ red onion, sliced
- 1 cup (30 g) baby spinach
- ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
- 3 tbsps (45 ml) red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp dried mint
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preparation: Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Submerge fusilli pasta and cook until achieving a perfect al dente consistency, typically 8-10 minutes.
- Pasta Cooling: Drain pasta completely in a colander, rinsing with cold water to cease cooking. Allow pasta to cool and drain thoroughly, eliminating excess moisture.
- Dressing Creation: Whisk extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, crumbled dried mint, minced garlic, kosher salt, and black pepper in a large mixing bowl until ingredients blend seamlessly.
- Pasta Coating: Gently fold cooled pasta into the dressing, ensuring each strand becomes evenly and luxuriously coated with the aromatic mixture.
- Ingredient Integration: Combine diced cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, baby spinach leaves, sliced red onion, crumbled feta cheese, and kalamata olives with the dressed pasta, creating a vibrant Mediterranean medley.
- Final Preparation: Delicately toss all components to distribute dressing and vegetables uniformly throughout the pasta salad. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld and intensify before serving.
Notes
- Pasta Perfection: Cook fusilli exactly 8-10 minutes for ideal al dente texture, preventing soggy or undercooked pasta.
- Cooling Strategy: Rinse pasta with cold water immediately after cooking to stop residual heat and prevent overcooking.
- Dressing Technique: Whisk Mediterranean dressing ingredients thoroughly to ensure seamless flavor integration and balanced taste profile.
- Chilling Wisdom: Refrigerate salad for 30 minutes before serving to allow ingredients to marinate and develop deep, rich Mediterranean flavors.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Dinner
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 600mg
- Fat: 25g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 20g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 10g
- Cholesterol: 15mg