This mouthwatering Mediterranean Pasta Salad has it ALL! This delicious salad is chockfull of all good stuff: pasta, roasted asparagus, sun dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, prosciutto, pine nuts, basil and finished with lemon zest, olive oil and some salty Pecorino Romano cheese. This salad hits all the notes and you will LOVE it.
Don’t be intimidated by the lengthy list of ingredients, this salad comes together in about 30 minutes or less.
First, start by roasting the asparagus. The taste of roasted versus blanched is vastly different. Asparagus tends to soften in taste when roasted. This is my preferred way of eating asparagus. I roast or grill many of the vegetables we eat here at home, the flavor is just better overall.
Roasting Asparagus
Place Asparagus on rimmed baking sheet. Add olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes. Tender, roasted Asparagus.
While the asparagus is roasting, start the pasta water and cook your pasta to package directions. I recommend tubular pasta for this salad. I used Cavatappi, (take a peek at DeCecco’s site for the amazing array of shapes and sizes) but Penne or Fusilli work fine. Once cooked, rinse in cold water. Drain well and place in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix with a fork or small whisk. Set aside.
Sun dried tomatoes are typically available julienned or whole. Buy julienned if you can find them. If you can only find whole, then you will need to chop them. Drain sun dried tomatoes, reserving 1 tablespoon of the oil.
By this time, your asparagus will be cool enough to handle. Chop the spears into 1 1/2 inch size pieces. Add to pasta. Add sun dried tomatoes, chopped prosciutto, sliced Kalamata olives and pine nuts. Toss to combine.
Now add, the reserved sun dried tomato oil, and the olive oil, lemon juice and zest mixture, chopped basil and pecorino cheese. Toss gently until fully combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.
I prefer to serve this Mediterranean Pasta Salad at room temperature rather than chilled. Keeps well for about 2 days in the fridge if you have anything left!
Enjoy!
Looking more salad ideas? You will love our Lemon Arugula Pasta Salad, Hearts Salad with Prosciutto, Sweet Kale Quinoa Salad with Feta, and Greek Wedge Salad with Yogurt Dill Dressing!
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Equipment
- Large bowl
- rimmed baking sheet
- parchment (optional)
- microplane for zesting lemon
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta cavatappi, penne or fusilli
- 1 bunch asparagus roasted, cut into 1 inch pieces, see notes
- 1 8oz sun dried tomatoes, jar, julienned in oil, drained, with 1 tbsp of oil reserved
- 1 cup pecorino romano grated
- 3/4 cup prosciutto chopped
- 1/2 cup pine nuts raw
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives sliced
- 3 tbsp basil chopped
- 1/3 cup olive oil extra virgin
- 2 tsp lemon zest zest of two lemons
- 3 tbsp lemon juice fresh
Instructions
Dressing
- In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest. Set aside.
For Asparagus
- Place asapargus on parchment lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Add olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Roast for 20 minutes.
For Salad
- Cook pasta to package directions. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well and add to large bowl.
- Drain sun dried tomatoes, reserving 1 tablespoon of the oil.
- By this time, your asparagus will be cool enough to handle. Chop the spears into 1 1/2 inch size pieces.(Remove rough bottom ends if necessary.)
- Add to pasta. Add sun dried tomatoes, chopped prosciutto, sliced Kalamata olives and pine nuts. Toss to combine.
- Now add, the reserved sun dried tomato oil, and the olive oil, lemon juice and zest mixture, chopped basil and pecorino cheese. Toss gently until fully combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
All content and photographs ©Claudia’s Table and claudiastable.com
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