Triple Tomato Pasta Salad

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Total Time 25

Servings

Author Margaret Bose Johnson

Ingredients

For the Salad:

340 grams (12oz) rotini pasta, or other corkscrew pasta, gluten free if necessary (6 cups cooked pasta)
1 pint (2 cups/300gms) cherry tomatoes
½ cup (70gms) diced sweet onion
½ cup (85gms) drained sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil with herbs
½ cup (50gms) pitted black olives, sliced or chopped
½ cup chopped fresh parsley (a good handful)
1 cup (130gms) crumbled feta cheese

For the Tomato Dressing:

2 tablespoons (30ml) red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons (90ml) mild olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon honey or 2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions

Cook the pasta in unsalted water according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process, and drain again.
Put the cooled, cooked pasta in a large bowl. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves and add them to the pasta.
Finely dice the sweet onion, coarsely chop the sun-dried tomatoes, chop the parsley, and slice or chop the olives and add them all to the pasta.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a bowl or jar. Pour the dressing over the pasta and vegetables. Toss to combine and coat everything with the dressing.
Add the feta cheese, if using, and toss again gently to mix it into the salad. It is best if you can leave the salad for about 20 minutes to meld the flavours before serving it.
Makes 10 cups of pasta salad, serving 8 to 10. Leftover salad keeps well in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days.

Notes

You can freeze leftover tomato paste by putting 1 tablespoon into each well of an ice cube tray and freezing them until solid. Pop the frozen cubes out of the tray and store them in a sealed bag in the refrigerator. It's easy to remove and defrost tablespoons of paste as you need them.

Or keep a tube of tomato paste (available in import stores, large supermarkets, and some deli shops) in the fridge to use a bit of paste whenever you need it. The tubes keep for months in the fridge.

To make this salad dairy-free (or to lower the sodium content), omit the feta cheese or substitute it with 2 or 3 chopped hard-boiled eggs.

A NOTE if using gluten free pasta - when chilled, some types of gluten free pasta can become quite firm. So depending on the kind you use, either serve the salad at room temperature, or warm it slightly in the microwave before serving so the noodles stay soft. (This won't be a problem with regular wheat flour pasta.)