Description
Dirty Martini Pasta Salad is a vibrant, tangy pasta salad featuring malfa corta pasta tossed with castelvetrano olives, blue cheese, toasted pine nuts, fresh parsley, lemon zest and juice, and a flavorful garlic dressing. It’s a refreshing and zesty dish perfect for a quick lunch or side.
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta and Herbs
- ½ lb malfa corta pasta
- ½ cup parsley, roughly chopped
Olives and Cheese
- 1 heaping cup castelvetrano olives, smashed
- ¼ cup olive brine from the olives
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
Nuts and Citrus
- 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
- 1 medium lemon, zested
- ½ lemon, juiced
Dressing
- ⅓ cup garlic expressions (garlic-infused olive oil or similar dressing)
- Pinch of flaky salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook Pasta: Prepare the malfa corta pasta al dente according to package instructions, approximately 15 minutes. Once cooked, rinse under cool water until the pasta is cool to the touch to stop the cooking process and prevent sticking.
- Combine Ingredients: In a large bowl, add the cooled pasta along with the roughly chopped parsley, smashed castelvetrano olives, olive brine, crumbled blue cheese, toasted pine nuts, lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic expressions.
- Season and Toss: Add a pinch of flaky salt and several cranks of fresh cracked black pepper to the bowl. Stir all ingredients thoroughly to combine and coat the pasta evenly with the dressing.
- Serve: Enjoy the Dirty Martini Pasta Salad immediately or chill it briefly for a refreshing dish.
Notes
- Use castelvetrano olives for their mild and buttery flavor or substitute with green olives if unavailable.
- Garlic expressions refers to garlic-infused olive oil; you can make this by gently heating olive oil with garlic cloves.
- Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
- Blue cheese can be substituted with feta for a less pungent taste.
- This salad can be made a few hours ahead and refrigerated to allow flavors to meld.
- Add additional lemon juice or olive oil if the salad seems dry before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 13 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
