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Mediterranean pasta salad with pasta, olives, fresh mozzarella, shrimp, sauteed asparagus and carrots, sun dried tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, and more.

Best Mediterranean Pasta Salad


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  • Author: Kelly
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 8 to 12 people depending hunger level

Description

This delicious pasta salad recipe uses some of our favorite pasta shapes and the best of what’s currently in season here in Italy — a variety of both raw and pan-seared vegetables (for extra flavor), prosciutto cotto (cooked ham), shrimp, and fresh mozzarella, plus a few of our favorite pickled and cured items to round it all out. It’s perfect for midweek lunches or dinners, or even summer BBQs and picnics. As with most pasta salad recipes, this one can be customized with any ingredients you already have on hand, or with ingredients your family loves. 


Ingredients

  • 10 ounces pasta (trottole, mini farfalle, orecchiete, mini pipe rigata pasta) (285g)
  • 6 ounces fresh asparagus (8 spears), washed and trimmed (170g)
  • 1 large carrot, julienned (3 1/2 ounces) (100g)
  • 1 cucumber, peeled, cut in half, seeds scooped out and sliced (5 ounces) (150g)
  • 1 stalk of celery, washed and diced
  • 5 cornichons pickles, diced
  • 1/2 cup frozen or fresh sweet peas (150g)
  • 1/3 cup red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 of a bell pepper) (85g)
  • 1 shallot, diced (or scallions) (30g)
  • 1/3 cup artichokes in oil, sliced into quarters (85g)
  • 1/2 cup prosciutto cotto or deli ham, diced (4 ounces) (125g)
  • 1/3 cup pitted black olives (3 ounces) (85g)
  • 1 ounce sun-dried cherry tomatoes, sliced (about 2 tablespoons) (30g)
  • 1/2 cup mini shrimp (or other shrimp), shells removed and deveined (125g)
  • 1 ball of fresh mozzarella, cubed (1/2 cup) (100g)

Red Wine Vinaigrette Pasta Salad Dressing

  • 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar (8g)*
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30g)
  • freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste
  • 6 to 8 sprigs of fresh oregano, or dried Italian spice blend to taste
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more or less to taste (4g)
  • freshly cracked black pepper to taste (optional)

*This dressing provides just enough brightness to the pasta salad without it being overwhelmingly vinegary. The lemon juice helps to achieve a good balance of acidity and compliments all of the vegetables in this dish. If you love a vinegary pasta salad, feel free to increase the vinegar amount to suit your taste. 


Instructions

  1. Pan-sear the asparagus and carrots. Working in batches, heat a skillet to medium-high heat, drizzle a little olive oil in it, and just before it begins to smoke, add the asparagus in a single layer, season with salt, and cook without moving the spears until golden brown (about 3 minutes). Turn the spears over, add salt to taste, and cook until golden brown on the second side and bright green (about 3 to 4 minutes). Remove the spears to a plate. Drizzle the skillet with a little more olive oil and add the carrots in a single layer and cook until golden brown on the first side (about 2 minutes), toss them, cook for another 2 minutes and add them to the plate with the asparagus.
  2. Pan-sear the shrimp. To the same hot skillet with a little olive oil drizzled in it, add the shrimp in a single layer and cook for about 2 minutes, or just until cooked through. Remove shrimp to the plate with the asparagus and carrots to cool. 
  3. Make the simple dressing. Add the vinegar, lemon juice, and salt to a small bowl and stir to dissolve the salt. Add the olive oil and set aside. There’s no need to whisk or emulsify the dressing because it all gets tossed into the salad anyway, so save yourself the work. 
  4. Cook the pasta and the peas. To a pot of lightly salted boiling water, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. During the last 4 minutes of cooking time, add the peas and cook until bright green and tender. Strain the pasta and peas and run them under cold tap water to cool them off and keep them from cooking further and add them to a large bowl. 
  5. Assemble the pasta salad. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the pasta and toss everything well to combine. You may serve it immediately, or allow it to chill in the refrigerator for a few hours and up to overnight, Enjoy!

Notes

  • Add up to 1/4 cup grated Grana Padano or Parm cheese (25g), for even more flavor. I like to add it to pasta salad sometimes, but this version is so good on its own that I didn’t even think to add it.
  • Store pasta salad covered in the refrigerator and consume within a couple of days (because of the shrimp). If you’re not adding shrimp to the recipe, you may store the salad for a few more days.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Pasta
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American & Italian Combo

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cup
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