Feta and Kalamata Olive Tortellini Pasta Salad
My husband, Curtis, is a picky eater. There are things that Curtis refuses to try, like tofu. I can’t convince him to try it for the life of me. I always joke and say when I’m looking at recipes, magazines or other blogs, before I run through the scenario of how I would make it myself, it goes through the Curtis filter. Will he like it? Do the ingredients interest him?
We recently went to a local favorite, the Green Turtle Market. We stopped in and I loaded up on some fun ingredients and stuff like ginger beer. They have a prepared foods section and without even saying a word, we both thought that we should get a snack.
I immediately looked at a tortellini pasta salad and thought, Curtis won’t eat that. It has feta cheese in it and then I saw olives and thought maybe I wouldn’t like it. But then a strange thing happened, we both looked at each other and said why don’t we get that pasta salad?
It’s funny how these things happen and because I found now that Curtis doesn’t “mind” feta cheese and that I love Kalamata olives…love them.
This tortellini pasta salad was inspired by the one we had at the Green Turtle Market. I love it because it’s so easy to throw together and can be served as a side at a party, brought to a potluck and you can even snack on it.
Feta and Kalamata Olive Tortellini Pasta Salad
Yield: Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
20 oz (1 lb 14 oz) dual or tri-color tortellini
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
salt & pepper
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup sun-dried tomates, sliced thin
1 pint grape tomatoes, rinsed and dried
1/2 cup Kalamata olives
1 tsp crushed red pepper
5-6 basil leaves, chopped
Directions:
Heat a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Cook the pasta according to instructions on the package. Drain and remove from pasta pot. Allow the pasta to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil and red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a large bowl, combine cooled pasta, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, olives and red pepper. Add olive oil and vinegar mixture and thoroughly combine. Add crushed red pepper and basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Refrigerate pasta salad for at least 2 hours before serving. Store in tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
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Hi, my name is Julie and I love to share the cooking and baking adventures from my little kitchen. Cooking and baking is in my blood, thanks to my Mom! 
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This looks absolutely fabulous! Yum!
Love the flavours in this, it’s such a great (and quick!) summer meal!
Yum!! This looks amazing!!
What a pretty summer salad! I bet it tastes as good as it looks.
My kind of salad. Looks so fresh!
Look at all those gorgeous colors. And I just love the freshness in this!
Love quick & easy meals like this one!
This looks so perfect for summer! Hubby and I have quite different tastes too…so sometimes I cook with him in mind, sometimes I just cook what I like!
Oooo…. I am SOOOOOO making this SOON! Gorgeous, Julie!
That is gorgeous darlin’!
Im so happy you & Curtis got mutually adventurous and tried the pasta salad!
for the longest time Larry & I thought we wouldn’t like Indian food, we finally tried it and now we are obsessed with it!
I love every single thing about this dish! Yum!!
I LOVE quick and easy recipes, especially when the ingredients are easy to find.
Great photo, Julie!
Love these flavors! I’m slightly obsessed with feta and olives.
My husband won’t eat tofu either. Oh well
This looks so yummy! I could easily eat this for a meal and throw a chicken breast at my husband to go along with it
I love everything in this…what a perfect summer pasta salad!
This looks so good, a perfect summer lunch!
OMG! Great minds think a like, friend! I recently made a tortellini pasta salad (much different than yours) and am blogging about it next week! Too funny. I love your version of your pasta salad and am happy to read that you now love kalamata olives! They are my absolute favorite–i could easily eat hundreds at a time!
I love this, Julie – So bright an flavorful. I love that you put Curtis doesn’t “mind” feta. lol
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I wish I could make food with olives in it for my boyfriend and I. I love them, but my bf would probably cry at the sight of them! I’ll have to make this for myself sometime soon!
JulieD replied: June 13th, 2012 @ 4:22 pm
Aww, you know what…I was like that for a long time and to be honest it’s because I think I didn’t have good olives until now!
Now I’m an olive fan.
I’m not a fan of feta but when it’s done right it’s soo good
I found this post though Pinterest. The photo was so beautiful that I just had to come here to read the recipe! Love it! And love your site
.
Tell me about it! I am in a similar situation. He will just not touch tofu and every time I cook , I have to figure out what he likes and what he doesn’t. He is not all that picky but with few things .. oh he is!
I absolutely love pasta .. any time .. made in any way. This looks lovely.
I would have went straight to this, I love feta and kalamata’s and they go so well in pasta, good for you trying it..and liking it!
Thanks,
Oh my gosh, kalamata olives are one of my favorite foods ever! But feta? Not so much.
Maybe I will have to take your word for it and give it another try!
my boyfriend is exactly the same, though I managed to get him to try tofu last week and he loved it! This meal looks so delicious!
this kind of salad i crave during the months of july & august.
so good
Mmm…this looks amazing with the sun-dried tomatoes too! Lovely!!
Sounds delicious for this pasta recipe! It’s make me hungry
i can’t wait to eat this!
maybe it’s the preparation of the tofu your husband has tried that sucked? i kinda wanna cry that he doesn’t like it!
i love the combination of feta + olives, it’s a perfect pairing.
JulieD replied: June 19th, 2012 @ 9:36 am
I know me too!
He WON’T even try it. I’ll keep working on him!
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I love a good pasta salad, and this one looks delicious. I’m pinning so I can make it for our beach trip this weekend.
I’ve absolutely just pinned this! Looks amazing.
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