Mediterranean pasta salad
This Mediterranean pasta salad is perfect for summer. Easy to make and kid-friendly too! And I must say that this is one of my all time favorites. I can eat it all day around. It’s delicious when it’s hot but it’s even more delicious when it is cold. Perfect for all weathers. So here you go!
Total time: 20 Minutes
Complexity: Easy
Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups Gemili pasta (I strongly recommend this one because it has unique flavor of its own but if you cannot find it you can use tricolor rotini pasta, or fusilli)
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Red Pepper flakes
- 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 1/2 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 can 14 oz. Organic Garbanzo Beans
- 1 cup canned artichoke hearts – chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley / 2 tsp. Dried parsley plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup diced shallots
- 2 garlic cloves – roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons halved Kalamata olives or black olives
- 2/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled plus more for garnish
Method:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and a Tbsp of EVOO to it. Add the pasta and cook until al dente; drain, Keep it aside. (Or just follow direction on your package).
- Meanwhile while your pasta is cooking, put 2 Tbsp of EVOO in a pan on medium heat and sauté diced shallots, season with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add chopped garlic and sauté for just 30 seconds. Do not let it cook for longer because you do not want to lose garlic flavor.
- Now add Garbanzo beans and let it cook for 5 more minutes. After 5 minutes add chopped artichoke hearts, parsley and sun-dried tomatoes. Let it cook for 7 more minutes so all the flavors from artichokes and tomatoes will get into Garbanzo beans.
- Now it’s time to add cooked pasta, 1/2 teaspoon salt (If needed) and 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Mix it nicely so it covers all the pasta, now add feta cheese, olives and mix nicely again!!
- Now time to taste and adjust salt amount!! It’s ready to serve. But remember to garnish with some feta cheese, some parsley and some freshly ground black pepper before serving.
Serve hot or cold….It’s enjoyable either way. Perfect for winter and summer!!
So including preparation and cooking time it takes about 20 minutes…not bad at all for a healthy home cooked meal!! What say?
Enjoy!
thumbs up to this yummy salad-pasta; make somethg similar, loved the addition of artichoke hearts !
Double thumbs up from my side!! It really is awesome.I can eat it all day around!
I love Mediterranean style food (can’t help it, I’m Greek!) so thanks for sharing! I’ll have to give this a try, I’ve really been craving nice healthy salad style meals. 🙂
Hey Ashley! Welcome to ZaikaZabardast. I am also a big FAN of greek food. Simple and flavorful. Baklava is my favorite though!! 🙂
Try it some time, I am sure you will enjoy it.
Lovely salad Grishma…I am loving summers now..getting to see so many light salads and drinks.
Thank u Raji! Yes, these days we get to see tons of summer recipes!! Loving it 🙂
This is an excellent pasta salad dish. Looks colorful and perfect for the weather.
Thank u very much Kankana!
Mediterranean pasta is one of my favorite things to make–good hot or cold. I don’t usually put chickpeas in it, but that’s a great idea for a better protein kick!
Hey Lesley!! Yes I agree with you on that. It really is perfect for summer/winter. We just love this salad! We can have it all day any day :))
And yes, Garbanzo beans gives it a different texture as well as good source of protein, fiber, copper and what not!!
Oh I love everything in this recipe! But especially the sun dried tomatoes… and the artichoke hearts. And kalamata olives. Is there anything I dont like? Oh wait the beans. I can’t do beans in my pasta, but everything else sounds fantastic! 😉
haha!! 🙂 Thanks Amanda! I was bit concerned as well but when I tried it I loved it. Garbanzo beans gives it nice texture plus it is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein and Copper, Also a very good source of Folate and Manganese.
I would say try it once in this salad, you might start liking it!
Cheers!
Grishma
You have a nice blog. Loved this post. Hope you’ll visit my curry blog. Looking forward to share a lot of views with you on food.
thank u very much! Welcome to ZaikaZabardast!
What a lovely blog.. and yummy recipes:)
Thanks Rumana! Welcome to my world! I hope you will enjoy the recipes!
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