One of my favorite things during the warmer months is an easy pasta salad recipe, like this Penne Greek Pasta Salad recipe . You’re going to love it I know you will.
A good pasta salad recipe always makes an awesome side dish, especially for BBQ’s. With springtime in full swing, the weather is warm, birds are chirping, and many of us are lighting up the grill. Whatever you plan on throwing on the grill is up to you, but have you given much thought to the side dish? Warm weather is wonderful, but cooking in the kitchen can become a bit overbearing. So, we have come up with a great Barilla® Penne Greek Pasta Salad to serve as a side dish or however you choose.
This Barilla® Penne Greek Pasta Salad is great for any occasion, it’s one of my favorite easy pasta salad recipes because of it’s light, fresh, and bold flavors. Only having to cook the pasta is an advantage because you won’t have to heat up the kitchen by using the oven or the stove top excessively. If you’re looking for the perfect side dish for your next barbecue don’t hesitate to try this incredible Penne Greek Pasta Salad.
Penne Greek Pasta Salad Recipe The Perfect Side Dish
These are the ingredients that we gathered to start this yummy and amazing Penne Greek Pasta Salad recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 Box Barilla® Penne Pasta
- ½ package sliced pepperoni (diced if preferred)
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ tbsp. prepared horseradish
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ tsp lemon zest
- ½ tablespoon oregano
- ½ cup EVOO
- 1 cup cherry quartered cherry tomatoes
- ½ small red onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 1 cucumber diced (with skin on)
- 1 package (4oz) crumbled feta cheese
- ½ cup sliced black olives or Kalamata olives (pitted)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Let’s create this easy pasta salad recipe:
- Prepare the Barilla® Penne Pasta as directed on the box. Cook in lightly salted boiling water, uncovered until tender, but still firm to bite. About 9-11 minutes Drain pasta and rinse with cold water in a colander and set aside in the sink and let drip completely.
- In a medium bowl, mix red wine vinegar, horseradish, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and olive oil. Set aside for later.
- In a large bowl, combine the Barilla® Penne Pasta, tomatoes, onion, red and green peppers, olives, cucumbers, and feta cheese. Pour the vinegar mixture over pasta blend and stir until coated.
- Refrigerate and chill at least 3 hours before serving. Once this Barilla® Penne Greek Pasta Salad has chilled, the flavors have had time to fuse and the end entrée is amazing.
*Note: This recipe is great with shredded beef as the protein in place of pepperoni. For the shredded beef, I used some leftover pot roast butt and shredded it. Since I cooked it in the crockpot the day before, the meat was tender and already easy to tear apart. It’s great if you want to sear it a bit in some olive oil with onion and garlic cloves minced. After you sear place it in the fridge until you combine all the other ingredients.