Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Chickpeas

Name: Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Chickpeas
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 Cup Penne Pasta (cooked); 1 Cup Chickpeas (Cooked); ¼ Cup Green Bell-Peppers; ¼ Cup Red Onions (cut in half-moon); ¼ Cup Cherry Tomatoes; ¼ Cup Black Olives (sliced); 5-6 Leaves Fresh Basil; ½ Cup Mozzarella Cheese (Shredded); 1 Tbsp Olive Oil; 1 Tbsp White Vinegar; ¼ Cup Water; ½ Tsp Sea-Salt; 1 Tbsp Sugar (granulated); 1 Tbsp Garlic Cloves; ½ Tbsp Crushed Dried Basil; ½ Tbsp Dried Oregano; ½ Tsp Pepper

Anjali

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20 minutes

Creamy, Crunchy and Cheesy Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Chickpeas and Penne Pasta feel like an ultimate bowl of summery Goodness!

I just love this Pasta Salad recipe. It has got everything that my taste buds desire. The sweetness, the crunch, the creaminess, the cheesiness, and a tad bit of sourness to put it all together. You'll also love this Cucumber Onion Salad, this Classic Deli-Style Macaroni Style, Onion Cucumber Tomato Corn Salad, Healthy Chickpea Salad

Every single ingredient in this recipe is like a super-star in itself. No, seriously. They are! From the sweetness of the onions to the crunch of the chickpeas to the creaminess of pasta and the cheesiness of Mozzarella, this Pasta Salad recipe is seriously GOOD.

Let’s talk about the Dressing for this Mediterranean Pasta Salad

We make the dressing for this Salad with Olive Oil, vinegar, some water, Sea Salt, Sugar, and dried crushed basil, dried Oregano, and some pepper. You can guess from the ingredients that the dressing will be exceptionally GOOD. It will have the sweetness of sugar, the sourness of vinegar, and the perfect seasoning of Oregano and Basil to give spruce up the spice!

Have a quick look at the video to see how I made this Mediterranean Chickpea Pasta Salad

Let’s Talk about Taste

What I love about this Pasta Salad recipe is how everything single ingredient contributes to its own distinctive taste. The olives provide a sour texture whereas the Penne pasta has its own distinctive sweetness and creaminess.

On the other hand, the bell peppers have their own bit of spice and the chickpeas have got their authentic nuttiness that leaves an after-taste of sweetness.

Finally, the juicy tomatoes and crunchy onions help in balancing out the sourness and sweetness of the salad. So, if you see from a wide-angle, you will see that every single ingredient is providing a perfect base in terms of taste for this Salad.

And, lastly, the fresh basil leaves and Mozzarella Cheese contributes their part in making the salad taste fresher and cheesier.

What does this Salad Go well with?

Well, I would pair this salad with some sizzling hot spicy barbequed chicken or pork. I am also curious to pair this with some barbequed pineapples.

Once, I try, I will definitely tell you how that tastes like. Besides that, I think I would love to use this salad as a side of some Hamburgers. I am sure they would taste magnificent.

Is this Pasta Salad Filling?

Of course. I have been wanting to tell you this since the time I began writing this post. This salad is so so so filling. I mean, you could not eat more than 5-6 spoons at one go. There are so many veggies. So many ingredients and so many flavors that it takes your taste palate about 10 more minutes to sit back and feel it all. This brings me to my next question which is –

Can we store this Mediterreanean Salad?

The answer is YES! You definitely can store this Salad. But what happens when you store it in the fridge is that the dressing sits at the bottom of the bowl making the top layers of the salad taste dull and dry. So, I would recommend that you keep the dressing separately and pour it only when you are about to eat it. That way you will enjoy the Salad just the way you are supposed to.