For A Mediterranean-Style Pasta Salad, Reach For This Ingredient

The flexibility of a pasta salad is one of its biggest perks. Toss in anything from a dollop of green pesto and shavings of Parmesan to chunks of canned tuna and celery to create a unique dish every time. As long as you have the basic foundation of cooked noodles and a yummy dressing to pour over the top, you can experiment with a myriad of fridge and pantry ingredients. However, if you want to make a Mediterranean-style pasta salad that echoes the flavors of a Greek horiatiki or a Spanish ensalada mixta, reach for Kalamata olives.

Olives feature in many of the best Mediterranean recipes because the hot and dry climate creates the perfect conditions for olive trees to thrive. Kalamata olives in particular have a deep purple color and an almond-like shape, unlike other varieties of black olives that are round and much darker. In fact, their striking hue is one of the reasons that these olives make the perfect ingredient in a classic Mediterranean pasta salad recipe. Their eggplant-colored exteriors provide visual contrast against the other elements of the salad, such as ruby-red grape tomatoes and crisp green cucumbers. 

Kalamata olives also have a meatier texture than the black variety, and it's this toothsome interior and snappy skin that complement the softness of the cooked pasta, providing plenty of bite and structure. However, the top reason to reach for them when assembling a pasta salad is their briny personality, which adeptly captures the flavor of Southern European cuisine.

Many recipes for a Mediterranean pasta salad include crumbly feta. This salty cheese imbues the salad with an acidic tang and a sharp but bright quality. Kalamata olives provide a textural contrast against the creaminess of feta and balance out its tang, creating a nuanced salad. Aside from anchoring a pasta salad in true Mediterranean territory, it's the juxtaposition of the firm olives against the crumbly personality of the feta and al dente noodles that ensures each bite is exciting and bursting with flavor. However, if you don't have any olives on hand, you can sub them for briny capers or pepperoncini in a pinch to mimic their tang.

A Mediterranean-style dressing, made of fruity olive oil, a dash of vinegar, oregano, and salt, brings everything together. For the perfect pasta salad, play around with the oil and vinegar ratio until you create a vinaigrette with a harmonious taste. If you're after more tang, simply increase the vinegar, but just be wary that the Kalamata olives are already briny. For a mellower finish, use a larger measure of olive oil and scatter in more dried herbs for an inviting aroma.