Best Summer Party Pasta Salad

Submitted by Andi Longmeadow Farm

"The garden promises to bring so many wonderful tastes to the farm table. Every summer we behold the wonderful bright early tomatoes and fresh basil. Simply fixed with a little dressing and good wholesome whole wheat pasta is highlighted with olives and mozzarella."

 

• Ready In: 31mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 12 ounces ziti pasta (prefer whole wheat)
• 3 tomatoes, diced (medium sized)
• 5 pitted black olives, sliced
• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced on diaginol
• 2 tablespoons basil leaves, torn fresh (dried 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt (coarse ground)
• 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper
• 1⁄8 teaspoon sesame seeds

• The Dressing

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or canola oil)
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1⁄8 teaspoon celery seed
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper

• Optional Topping Additions

• 1⁄4 cup mozzarella cheese, diced
• 1 green pepper, sliced thinly
• 1⁄8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

directions

1. Cook pasta for 10-11 minutes. Darin in colander and rinse under cool water. Shake dry.
2. Make the dressing by whisking the olive oil into the vinegar and add seasonings.
3. Place pasta, mozzarella, vegetables, and olives in a large bowl. Toss together and add dressing a little at a time. Mix gently. The dressing can be added more if necessary.
4. Sprinkle additions to top.

Reviews

[flower7]

Very tasty and pretty salad. I made a couple adjustments - only 7 oz tri-color gigli pasta and double the dressing (though I only had celery salt so used 1/4 tsp with no other salt). For the additional ingredients I used red bell pepper not green and local organic pepper jack cheese (instead of the mozz and pepper flakes). I also used heirloom tomatoes and kalamata olives with fresh basil I grew myself. I am looking forward to enjoying this for lunches at work this week. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Lalaloula]

WOW, Andi, what a fantastic salad recipe! The flavours mingle so beautifully and make for a sensational taste experience! :) It was the perfect lunch to take to uni with me. Kept me going all day and was a sparkle that I kept looking forward to. :) I made a few small changes to suit my diet and what I had on hand: Used whole spelt pasta, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes instead of olives and doubled the sesame seeds for extra crunch. I added in the optional mozzarella and red pepper flakes, which were a very nice addition. Sooo yummy! THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this great keeper with us, Andi!

 

[Hill Family]

I thought this was good but not super flavorful. I think it would be better if you let it sit overnight. I used spanish olives instead of black and added some of the juice from the container. I also used 3 different cheeses, mozzarella, cheddar and montery jack. I used corkscrew pasta which worked well because it caught some of the dressing. I didn't have sesame seeds or celery seed so left that out. I also added chopped up sliced salami.

 

[White Rose Child]

First I want to say how PRETTY this is! I wish I could have contributed another photo, but our camera was out of battery power I omitted the olives and cheese, and had to use dried basil, though I know it would have been infinitely superior with the fresh stuff (what isn't? gotta start growing my own). I did find that it needed a LOT of extra dressing- like about three times as much. But it tasted so good after that, I can't complain! Perhaps best of all it really does only take 20 minutes to make! Thanks for posting Andi!

 

[bananabreadeater]

This deserves like eight stars! I love any pasta with olives and this had the perfect balance of everything. I will definitely make it again! Thanks so much for posting.