Mediterranean Chickpea Pasta Salad
Chickpea pasta is a nutritional gluten free substitute for wheat pasta. The dressing is made from Greek yogurt blended with sweet green peas. Feta, basil and toasted pine nuts add color, salty flavor and texture.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- large pot
- Colander
- Food processor
- Small skillet
- Chef's knife
- Large serving bowl
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Greek yogurt
- 2 cups frozen green peas, thawed
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 16 oz chickpea pasta shells
- 8 cups water
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 8 oz Feta
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
MAKE THE YOGURT SAUCE
- Add Greek yogurt, 6 tbsps. extra virgin olive oil, 1 ½ cups green peas, garlic, salt and lemon juice to the bowl of the food processor. Process ingredients until a smooth sauce is achieved. Place into a container and set aside.
TOAST PINE NUTS
- Add pine nuts to a dry heated skillet. For about a minute, shake the pan over the heat to keep the nuts moving around in the pan. As soon as they begin to brown, immediately remove them from the skillet into a bowl and let cool.
MAKE CHILI OIL
- Add the remaining extra virgin olive oil to the skillet and the red pepper flakes. Use medium heat to bring the oil to a high enough temperature to extract some color from the red pepper flakes. Do not allow the oil to smoke. Remove the oil from the skillet and set aside to cool.
CHIFFONADE THE BASIL
- Wash and dry the basil. Stack several leaves together and then roll the stack into a cigar shape. Cutting across the roll, slice the basil into thin strips. Separate the strips and set aside. Reserve a few basil tips for garnish.
CUBE THE FETA
- Cut the block of cheese into uniform medium sized chunks. If you do not have a block of feta, crumbled feta works just as well.
MAKE THE CHICKPEA PASTA
- Add 8 cups water to a large pot and bring to a boil.
- Add chickpea pasta shells. 3 minutes before the manufacturer's recommended time, test a few pieces. The shells should be al dente. Cook longer if necessary. Don't overcook. Remove the pasta from the cooking water and set aside to cool.
- NOTE: Al dente is an Italian term and means “to the tooth”. The pasta is taken out of the water as soon as it absorbs the moisture but still has some uncooked starch at the core/center. It has a “bite” or firm texture. Every pasta brand has a recommendation for cooking time, so it is hard to make a precise determination for when al dente is achieved. About 3 minutes before the recommended cooking time ends, remove a piece of pasta from the cooking water. Bite or cut into it and examine the center. The starchy core should be visible but not dominant. The pasta should not be hard to chew but have some texture. Overcooked pasta will be gummy or mushy.
ASSEMBLE THE SALAD
- Place the chickpea pasta into a large bowl. Pour the yogurt sauce over the pasta. Add the basil leaves and gently toss until all the pasta is covered. Season with some lemon juice or salt if needed.
- In each serving bowl, place the yogurt infused pasta. Add feta chunks and toasted pine nuts. Pour a tbsp. of the chili oil over the top. Garnish with basil.
Notes
