Greek Style Pasta Salad
Greek Style Pasta Salad
Bright and easy, this Greek-style pasta salad combines rotini with feta, grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, fresh parsley and lemon zest. The dressing is a creamy lemon-dill blend made by pulsing cucumber, garlic and dill, then mixing in mayonnaise, whole milk Greek yogurt and lemon juice. It’s a simple, make-ahead-friendly salad that pairs well with picnics, potlucks, or a light lunch.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Cook your pasta to box directions. Please make sure you salt the boiling water before you add your pasta. I like to say that the water should taste like the sea. I use a small palmful of kosher salt. This is the only chance you really get to season the pasta.
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain and immediately rinse in cold water. This will stop the cooking process.
- Using a food processor, add your garlic, dill and cucumber. Give this a few pulses. Now, add your mayonnaise, yogurt, and lemon juice along with a pinch of kosher salt. Blend till all mixed well.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your pasta, feta, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, tomatoes, lemon zest, parsley, kosher salt and your sauce. Mix it all together and enjoy!
- This is so delicious! It’s even better the next day.
- Note: If your pasta absorbs your sauce and it becomes a bit dry, just add a bit more yogurt and a squeeze of lemon to perk it up.
Video
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Let us know how it was!What makes this a Greek-style pasta salad?
The “Greek-style” character comes from a combination of flavor cues rather than a strict, traditional formula. Salty, tangy feta and briny Kalamata olives bring the familiar savory notes of Greek salads. Lemon zest and lemon juice add bright citrus lift, while fresh herbs (dill in the dressing and parsley in the salad) and cucumber in the dressing keep the overall flavor fresh and herbaceous. Together these elements create the Mediterranean balance of salty, bright, and herbaceous associated with Greek-style dishes.
Notes on technique and flavor melding
- Salting the pasta water: Adding kosher salt to the boiling water seasons the pasta itself; this is the primary opportunity to add savory flavor to the noodles before they’re mixed with the dressing.
- Rinsing the pasta: Rinsing cooked pasta in cold water stops the cooking immediately and cools the noodles so they’re ready to combine with cold ingredients and the dressing.
- Pulsing the cucumber: The method calls for pulsing cucumber, garlic, and dill in a food processor. Brief pulses break down the cucumber enough to blend into a creamy dressing while helping limit the amount of released liquid; over-blending can extract more water from the cucumber.
Watch Dr. J Make Greek Style Pasta Salad
Watch Dr. J make Greek Style Pasta Salad and see how it comes together.
