Pasta Salad with Feta Cheese and Walnuts – Ellie Krieger

This is an Ellie Krieger recipe which means it has the odds on its side for being a success. It is uncanny how almost all her recipes are right, for my family. Whether it is an appetizer or dessert, we almost always like the dish. This is yet, another success.

Pasta Salad with Feta Cheese and Walnuts (adapted from – Ellie Krieger)

I made this gluten-free. It called for whole wheat pasta and I substituted a gluten-free pasta.

Ingredients

1/2 pound gluten-free fusilli or other spiral shaped pasta
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain the pasta, rinse it under cold water, and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

In a dry saute pan toast the walnuts over a medium-high flame until they are fragrant, about 2 minutes. Set the walnuts aside to cool then chop them coarsely.

In a large bowl, toss together the chilled pasta, walnuts, feta cheese, onion, and spinach. In a small bowl whisk the oil, vinegar, garlic and mustard. Pour the dressing over the pasta salad and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

For us, this salad was used as a main dish. We loved the addition of the crunch of the walnuts and the competing taste of the feta. I would prefer this in the warmer weather. I ended up, serving it warm and that worked out. (I added the cheese, at the table and left that cold.)