I love this recipe! The Feta cheese gives it a unique flavor.
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 12 ounces bow tie pasta cooked according to package directions
- 1/3 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
- 2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper coarse
- 1 cup small black olives sliced
- 1 small purple onion
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- 1 small cucumber
- 1 8-oz block feta cheese
- Carbohydrate 29.548165 g
- Cholesterol 55.8915 mg
- Fat 22.4660420833333 g
- Fiber 1.36889168619116 g
- Protein 9.67103416666667 g
- Saturated Fat 6.51778433333333 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (181g)
- Sodium 480.634375 mg
- Sugar 28.1792733138088 g
- Trans Fat 1.13534675 g
- Calories 353 calories
Step-by-step
- Place pasta in chilled medium bowl.
- In another bowl, add olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, garlic, the dry seasonings and freshly ground black pepper.
- Whisk until well mixed.
- Pour half over pasta and stir lightly with spatula.
- Slice cucumber thinly and cut into quarters.
- Cut cherry tomatoes into quarters.
- Coarsley chop purple onion.
- Snip parsley.
- Drain can of olives.
- Add all to pasta along with the rest of the dressing.
- Cut Feta cheese with a pastry blender and add to pasta and vegetables.
- Toss lightly.
Dressing Emulsification and Absorption
Many cooks pour oil and lemon juice directly over cooked pasta without whisking, which prevents the fat and acid from binding properly. Whisking the olive oil and lemon juice vigorously with minced garlic creates a temporary emulsion that coats the starch molecules evenly rather than pooling at the bottom of the bowl. When boiling the bow tie pasta, salt the water until it tastes like seawater to season the interior of the dough before it absorbs any dressing. Allow the cooked pasta to cool to room temperature in a single layer on a sheet pan before combining it with the remaining elements, preventing the residual heat from cooking the crisp cucumber and cherry tomato quarters.
Managing Second-Day Textures
Pasta salad kept in the refrigerator often suffers from excessive dryness because the starch continues to absorb liquid for up to 48 hours. Counteract this moisture loss by reserving a quarter cup of the dressing separately before the initial toss, sealing it in an airtight container for day-two hydration. Add this extra liquid along with a fresh splash of lemon juice to revive the dish after it spends a night chilled. Keep the feta cheese incorporated from the start, though note that the block cheese broken down with a pastry blender will firm up slightly in cold temperatures and require twenty minutes at ambient room temperature to soften again.
Fresh Versus Preserved Components
Utilizing fresh lemon juice extracted from three whole lemons introduces a brighter acidity than bottled alternatives due to volatile aromatic oils found in the rind during reaming. Dried Italian seasoning and lemon pepper provide stable background notes, but substituting minced fresh oregano and fresh lemon zest changes the flavor profile entirely by introducing pungent herbal compounds. Black olives packed in brine offer a saltier profile than oil-cured varieties, requiring adjustment to the coarse black pepper and garlic quantities to maintain balance. Chop the purple onion into coarse pieces rather than fine dice so the structural integrity holds up against the weight of the heavier cheese blocks and dense pasta wings.
