Quick & Easy Summer Pasta Salad Recipe

Savor the summer with this deliciously fresh pasta salad!

Summer is officially in full swing! With busy schedules, picnics galore, and scorching heat, cooking may seem like a thorn in your side.

I’d like to share a delicious easy summer pasta salad recipe from my kitchen to yours. This recipe is easy to prepare, light, and perfect for summertime. My name is Adrian, and I am an intern with Kitchen Kettle Village for this gorgeous 2018 summer season! I have worked at the Jam & Relish Kitchen since 2015, so the Village holds a special place in my heart. That’s enough about me, lets dive right into crafting this pasta salad!

I used balsamic vinegar and olive oil from the Olive Basin, here in the Village as the dressing tying this whole salad together. This recipe can be gluten free, as I prepared it by using gluten free pasta. Also, you can leave out the feta cheese for a vegan dish! I’m a vegetarian, hence the lack of meat in this salad!

Here’s the recipe…

Adrian’s Summer Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 1 box (16 oz.) Fusilli pasta of your choice (I use organic gluten free corn and rice pasta for a lighter, GF option!)
• 1 large red union minced
• 1 cucumber sliced into halves
• 1/2  a lemon
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes

Dressing (items added to taste)

• Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from the Olive Basin
• Basil Olive Oil from the Olive Basin
• Freshly ground sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Feta cheese

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta to your liking, and rinse with cool water. Set aside pasta in large mixing bowl.
2. Cut red union, cucumber, and tomatoes.
3. Add and toss into pasta.
4. Stir in Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from the Olive Basin and Basil Olive Oil from the Olive Basin.
5. Squeeze lemon over pasta and mix in gently.
6. Add feta cheese immediately before serving (if feta is mixed into the whole batch it will lose its proper consistency and flavor). Garnish with fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to liking.

Written By- Adrian Madonna, Summer Marketing Intern