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Recipes · Starters & salads

Pasta Salad with Vegetables and Feta

AI-written · not yet kitchen-tested

Pasta salad only gets good after it has marinated, because the pasta soaks up the dressing. That is why it is dressed while still warm, the dressing can be boldly seasoned, and the salad is tasted once more before serving. The cucumber is seeded, otherwise the salad turns watery.

  • Serves 4
  • Prep 20 min
  • Cook 10 min
  • Rest 30 min
  • Total 60 min
  • easy
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This recipe was written with AI assistance and has not yet been kitchen-tested. Check quantities and times as you cook, and follow safe core temperatures for meat, poultry, fish and eggs.

Ingredients

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  • 300 g (10.5 oz) fusilli
  • 4 tbsp pasta cooking water scooped out before draining
  • 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard medium-hot
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt level
  • 1 tsp dried oregano dried
  • black pepper to taste
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 0.5 English cucumber halved lengthwise, seeded, sliced into half moons
  • 250 g (8.8 oz) cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1 yellow bell pepper diced 1/2 inch (1 cm)
  • 3 scallions sliced
  • 0.5 bunch fresh basil leaves torn
  • 150 g (5.3 oz) feta cheese crumbled

Method

  1. Cook the fusilli in plenty of salted water for 1 minute less than the package says, usually about 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Before draining, scoop out 4 tablespoons of pasta water. Drain the pasta without rinsing and let it drain well.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, oregano and pepper, beat in the olive oil and stir in the pasta water.
  3. Toss the still-warm pasta in the dressing and let it cool for 10 minutes. Warm pasta absorbs dressing better.
  4. Meanwhile, halve the cucumber lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon and slice it into half moons. Halve the tomatoes, dice the bell pepper 1/2 inch (1 cm), slice the scallions and tear the basil.
  5. Fold the vegetables and basil into the cooled pasta, crumble the feta over the top and fold it in gently.
  6. Cover the salad and chill for at least 30 minutes. Taste before serving and loosen with a little olive oil, vinegar or water if needed, because the pasta has soaked up dressing.

Tip: Very cold pasta absorbs dressing poorly. If you make the salad the day before, take it out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before serving.

Tip: If the salad has to sit for more than 2 hours, fold in the cucumber and tomatoes just before serving, otherwise they release a lot of water.