Easy pasta salad
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- less than 10 mins
- Serve
- Serves 1
This easy pasta salad is packed with Mediterranean flavours. Perfect for lunch or as a barbecue side dish as it keeps really well, so it's ideal to make ahead and keep in the fridge.
To make it vegan, omit the feta.
Each serving provides 567 kcal, 22g protein, 70g carbohydrates (of which 10g sugars), 20g fat (of which 9g saturates), 7g fibre and 2.5g salt.
Ingredients
- 85g/3oz pasta, such as penne or conchiglie
- ½ unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest and juice
- ¼ red onion, finely chopped
- ½ tbsp olive oil, ideally extra virgin
- ¼ cucumber, peeled and cubed
- 100g/3½oz cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 15g/½oz fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 60g/2¼oz feta, crumbled (optional)
- handful pitted black olives (optional)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Cook the pasta in a saucepan of boiling, salted water as per the packet instructions.
Whisk together the lemon zest and juice, red onion, oil and a generous amount of pepper.
Drain the pasta in a colander and run it under a cold tap until cooled.
Stir the dressing, cucumber, tomatoes, basil, feta and olives, if using, into the pasta and serve.
Recipe tips
Fresh oregano or flatleaf parsley can be used instead of basil.
Basil leaves do discolour quite quickly after chopping, so it's best to add them just before eating if you are making the recipe in advance. If you are meal prepping, you can add a stalk of basil to each portion ready to tear into the pasta later.
