Description
Delightful Tuscan pasta salad brings Mediterranean flavors dancing across your plate with fresh ingredients that whisper summer memories. Crisp vegetables, tangy dressing, and hearty pasta create a refreshing meal perfect for picnics or quick dinners you’ll savor to the last bite.
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 oz (225 g) rotini or penne pasta
- ½ cup cubed mozzarella or crumbled feta cheese (optional)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- ½ cup marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
- ½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
- 1 cup baby spinach, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pasta Preparation: Submerge pasta in a generously salted, rapidly boiling water, cooking until perfectly tender yet firm. Immediately shock in ice-cold water to halt cooking process and preserve ideal texture.
- Flavor Fusion: Craft a vibrant dressing by vigorously whisking olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, golden honey, crushed garlic, aromatic Italian seasoning, delicate salt, and cracked pepper until smoothly emulsified.
- Ingredient Symphony: In a spacious mixing vessel, gracefully combine al dente pasta, burst-of-sunshine cherry tomatoes, verdant spinach leaves, tender artichoke hearts, briny Mediterranean olives, intensely flavored sun-dried tomatoes, sharp red onion slivers, optional crumbled cheese, and fragrant fresh basil.
- Dressing Integration: Cascade the meticulously prepared dressing over the composed salad, gently tumbling ingredients to ensure each morsel becomes luxuriously coated with the zesty vinaigrette.
- Flavor Development: Allow salad to rest and mingle in the refrigerator for a minimum of half an hour, permitting ingredients to harmonize and develop complex flavor profiles. Serve chilled or at ambient temperature for optimal enjoyment.
Notes
- Cook pasta al dente and immediately rinse with cold water to stop cooking process, ensuring perfect texture and preventing soggy salad.
- Let salad chill for minimum 30 minutes before serving, allowing ingredients to marinate and develop richer, more complex taste profile.
- Easily adapt recipe by substituting cheese with vegan alternatives or removing it completely for dairy-free version; use gluten-free pasta for celiac-friendly option.
- Prepare dressing separately and add just before serving to maintain crisp vegetable texture and prevent wilting of delicate ingredients like spinach.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Dinner, Appetizer
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 7
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 300 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg