Hi guys, I'm Laura Vitale and today I wanted to just share with you, a really quick recipe
on something I call my Mediterranean Pasta Salad.
Now, by all means, use whatever floats your boat in this recipe, this is just a combination
of flavors I really do enjoy, and I tend to keep on hand quite a lot, so it's really easy
for me to throw this together, and it really is just a huge crowd pleaser, which is why
I wanted to share it with you since it is summertime, it is time for the get togethers,
the barbecues, the parties and all that.
This is a great one to bring and it's mayo-free, it does have some feta in it, but you can
completely omit it, sometimes I put mozzarella, sometimes I put feta, it depends.
But it's really easy to make, and the ingredients are things I always have on hand, I've got
some sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil that I have chopped, I've got some pitted Kalamata
olives that I've chopped as well, green onions, parsley, these are some marinated artichoke
hearts that I've given a rough chop to.
I've got some cooked pasta, these are little wheel-shaped, but by all means, use whatever
you've got.
I have got some extra virgin olive oil in here, some coarse mustard, or whole grain
mustard, I've got some crumbled feta, salt and pepper and lemon.
That is really it!
Now, you really - I mean, there are so many different things you can do with this recipe
to change it up, it's completely up to you, sometimes I put in roasted peppers, sometimes
I put in mozzarella, sometimes I put in regular tomatoes instead of the sun dried tomatoes.
I wanted to just share this with you, because it is such a good combination of flavors.
I am just squeezing my lemon in my little jug here that I've got olive oil in.
And I'm going to just actually add this to a little jar and shake it all together to
kind of emulsify everything with mustard, just want to get all the juice out of here,
then take out the little pits with my itty bitty spoon.
Just giving it a good grinding of black pepper, and a pinch of salt, now I did cook my pasta
ahead of time, and I just cooked it in some salted boiling water for about eight minutes
or until it was nice and al dente, drained it, rinsed it under really cold water and
then just to stop it from sticking, I drizzled a teaspoon of olive oil and mixed it together.
I'm going to just take my lemon juice and olive oil, and I'm going to pour it in here.
You could just take a fork and whisk it together, but I really have been enjoying this little
shaking method I've been doing.
A little bit of mustard.
Lid on!
I always take a kitchen towel and wrap it up because if it explodes it doesn't go all
over me. And then just shake it, shake it, shake it and everything gets blended really
beautifully, and it takes no time at all.
Now, I've got everything pretty much prepped and ready to go, this is more like an assembly
job and it really could not be easier, but I was just dying to share this with you because,
who doesn't have one of those recipes that you absolutely have to share with a friend
because they are so good? A crowd pleaser and everyone loves them - and I am making
this recipe for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's big house warming party, so we're really excited
about that. And since I think of you guys as friends, I wanted to share with you!
I'm going to just pour my dressing - look at that!
That looks gorgeous!
I don't like to over-dress things and make them swim in oil and vinegar or oil and lemon
juice, so I think this is the perfect amount, especially since the artichokes were already
sort of a marinade and the olives are in a brine, and it's just - I think it's perfect
this way.
Going to give everything a really good stir.
Just going to give this a quick taste.
Mmm.
Mmm!
That is lovely.
Very lovely!
You could leave it just like this, so good!
I'm going to fold in some crumbled feta, now I - you can see that I haven't seasoned the
veggies, I only seasoned a little bit of the dressing. I only seasoned the dressing a little
bit, and I did cook the pasta in salted - oops! - in salted boiling water, so I didn't want
to dress the - season the veggies because they were already in a brine, or in a marinade
and they didn't need to be, it didn't need to be, this is prefect!
But that is it!
You could serve it just like this or pop it in the fridge for a half hour so that those
flavors could really blend together. But that is absolutely gorgeous and a total, total
crowd pleaser.
Now, what I want to know is:what is your go-to sort of barbecue, cookout, Summer side dish?
Because this is the thing: I think that I'm lacking in sharing with you more side dishes
and easy 'to bring somewhere' kind of dishes, so I want to know from you, what your favorite
side dishes are that you would like to see me make here on Laura in the Kitchen because
Summer just got here, and I want to really do as many of these as I possibly can.
So leave your suggestions down below, don't forget to give me a thumbs up if you do enjoy
these quick little ideas - kinds of recipes.
That's it!
The written recipe will be on LauraintheKitchen.com. Hope you have enjoyed spending time with me
and I will see you in the next one!
Bye!