Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Olive Oil Vinaigrette
This post is sponsored by Barilla Canada and Covenant House Toronto.
It’s wonderful and reassuring to know Barilla pasta is made with the highest quality natural ingredients
and their variety of pasta shapes enables you to let your creativity flourish. Not to mention, preparing
premium pasta for yourself or the special people in your life is a beautiful sign of love.
This pasta salad recipe is inspired by the Mediterranean diet, which is a way of eating and preparing
dishes inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of the Mediterranean region. It incorporates a variety of
quality food groups that should be eaten often in reasonable amounts, including pasta.
I wanted to use this pasta salad recipe to also show how simple, healthy and accessible ingredients can
be combined to make something beautiful. As a food stylist and photographer, I try to keep things simple
when it comes to creating a scene. Here is the full recipe and some tips to help you get started with food
styling!
Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Olive Oil Vinaigrette
Prep time: 6 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Serves: 3
Ingredients
3 cups Barilla Rotini or Farfalle
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
¼ cup cucumbers, halved or diced
¼ cup red onions, thinly sliced
½ cup feta, crumbled
½ cup Kalamata or green olives, pitted
1 ½ cups baby spinach
Olive Oil Vinaigrette
1 ½ tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp fresh or dried oregano
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
½ cup olive oil
Instructions:
1. Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions.
2. As pasta cooks, prep salad ingredients; cut cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, crumble
feta. You can use the pitted kalamata olives whole or cut in half. Set aside.
3. Once pasta is cooked, drain and set aside to cool.
4. Place the olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder salt and black pepper
in a jar with a lid. Put the lid on and shake vigorously to mix.
5. Transfer the salad ingredients to a large serving bowl and add spinach.
6. Drizzle dressing over the top, toss and serve.
Tip to Style This Pasta Salad:
Tip #1: Tell A Story
I see food styling as a form of storytelling, therefore having a few extra ingredients you can use to style
your scene gives more life to the image. It can be as simple as having fresh herbs and spices placed
around the main subject or some cheese partly grated in the background. These elements tell the viewer
what the scene is about and draws their focus. Even adding a human element to your scene goes a long
way too.
Tip #2: Use a source of natural light
Playing with natural light in food photography will help highlight a scene in a spectacular way. The use of
natural light will allow for depths in shadows and softness in highlights. I find that this type of lighting
brings realism to your dish and allows it to be showcased authentically.
Tip #3: Add textures and layers
As you set up your scene, think about different textures and layers you can include. Fabrics, and props
make a big difference and add so much more to your storytelling. Placing fabrics or linen under a plate or
bowl adds more texture to the scene.
Tip #4: Try different angles
Depending on what you intend to style and photograph, it’s a good idea to get several different angles for
each shot. It makes your images more dynamic and allows the hero dish to be seen from a variety of
angles and also gives you more options to choose from.
