Olive Pasta Salad

A veganized version of a muffuletta pasta salad. A pickled cauliflower, carrot, capers, and pepperoncini coated with a zippy vinaigrette for the ultimate experience.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Cook Time 30

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 652

Author Timothy Pakron

Ingredients

Pasta

16 ounces pennoni or penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil

Olive salad

½ cup sliced garlic stuffed green olives
½ cup sliced kalamata olives
½ cup sliced castlevetrano olives
⅓ cup chopped pickled carrots
⅓ cup chopped pickled cauliflower
⅓ cup sliced pepperoncini peppers
1 cup sliced celery hearts
½ cup chopped roasted red peppers
¼ cup Peruvian pickled cherry peppers plus some to garnish (optional)
2 tablespoons capers
1 cup chopped carrots
⅓ fresh chopped dill plus some to garnish
⅓ cup fresh chopped parsley plus some to garnish
2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano plus some to garnish
⅓ cup diced red onion
¼ cup shredded vegan parmesan cheese
4 ounces chopped vegan smoked provolone cheese

Vinaigrette

⅓ cup quality olive oil Italian or Greek, cold pressed
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons tamari
2 cloves garlic finely minced
⅓ cup sesame seeds toasted

Instructions

Fill a large pasta pot with water, add a healthy sprinkling of sea salt, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the pasta noodles and boil until al dente. (While the pasta boils, you can start preparing the olive salad ingredients or making the vinaigrette.) Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse it with cold water. Return back to the pot and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil. Toss and set aside.
Chop and gather all of the olive salad ingredients and add them to the pot of cooked pasta.
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan or skillet over medium heat, moving them around so they don’t burn. Toast for just a few minutes, until they smell fragrant and are just barely golden. Add them to the pot of pasta and olive salad.
Combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients together into a small bowl. Whisk until smooth and pour over the pasta mixture. Stir everything until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
To serve, divide pasta into bowls and garnish with reserved fresh herbs.

Notes

For the pasta, I found some fancy noodles that look like oversize penne. You could use the normal penne pasta shape. Or the squiggly kind. Or even bow tie pasta- whatever you are feeling. Just don’t use spaghetti noodles, that would be a little weird. You're looking for something bite-sized, no need to overthink it!

For the olives and pickled vegetables, you have two options: The olive bar(!) or the pickled section of your grocery store. If you haven’t noticed, olive bars have a large assortment of ingredients other than just olives, so check them out. If you can find some Peruvian peppers, they make a great garnish.

For the cheese I recommend using smoked gouda or provolone variety. If you can’t find those, go with a regular provolone or sliced mozzarella cheese, as long as they are vegan. If they aren’t vegan the recipe won’t work. 😉

To make this salad extra pretty when serving, make sure to grab any tidbits from the bottom of the bowl and sprinkle them on top. Or set some of the chopped ingredients aside until ready to serve. Basically, you want to see all of the ingredients on top of the salad so each person knows what they're eating and it also looks super appetizing.

Nutrition