Tuna Pasta Salad with Pimiento-Stuffed Olives
Jun 28, 2015, Updated Mar 04, 2022
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This post is sponsored by STAR Fine Foods, maker of awesome Olive Oils, Vinegars, glazes, capers, anchovies, onions, and the list goes ON and ON! Thank YOU, friends, for supporting the brands that make Diethood possible!
Tuna Pasta Salad with Pimiento-Stuffed Olives – A delicious pasta salad tossed together with chunks of tuna, pimiento-stuffed olives, cherry tomatoes and a super flavorful lemon-garlic vinaigrette.
I stand firm on my conviction that salads in Summer are the only food to have!
Thus. HELLO fellow salad freaks! Happy Sunday! How have you been?!
My Sunday MIGHT be looking better than yours. Well, unless you’re at an NKOTB concert, or your wedding… then, I would agree, your day IS better than mine.
However, as you read my rambling words today, know that I’m currently somewhere in Chicago, having a blast-of-a-time at a blog conference – I’m eating, I’m learning, I’m talking, I’m workshopping. And clothes shopping.
But before I left, I made a tub of this Tuna Pasta Salad for my little warriors at home and jetted out the door faster than they could say bye-bye-byyyyye!
The other day I whipped out my last jar of STAR’s Pimiento-Stuffed Queen Olives and stared at it for a while. I thought about opening up the jar and just “snacking” on a few, but “a few” always leads to “just a few more” and before you know it, they’re ALL gone. And it all happened while watching Secrets and Wives…
Uh huh. It kinda works like that.
Therefore, and being that my husband worships at the Church of Pasta, it didn’t take very long for me to slice up the olives, whip out the canned tuna, cook the rigatoni, and make us this dang awesome salad.
There aren’t very many ingredients in here, but I find they are all pretty necessary to bring out the flavors from everything. Having said that, please don’t skip a thing. Including the Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette because, well, do I really need to tell you that it’s SO GOOD?! It is.
Also? You know what’s pretty cool about this salad? You can also make a warm meal out of it, sans the dressing. All you have to do is grab a skillet, sautee the olives, tuna, garlic, and tomatoes in STAR’s Pure Olive Oil for a few minutes, drain the pasta, add it to the skillet, cook for another minute or so and BAM! Dinner is served! Two birds, one stone. You’re welcome, girrrrrl!
ENJOY!
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Tuna Pasta Salad with Pimiento-Stuffed Olives
Ingredients
FOR THE TUNA PASTA SALAD
- 8- ounces whole grain rigatoni
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, , halved
- 2 cans Chunk Light Tuna in water
- 1/2- cup sliced STAR Pimiento-Stuffed Queen Olives
- chopped fresh basil, , for garnish
FOR THE LEMON-GARLIC VINAIGRETTE
- 1 garlic clove, , minced
- zest of 1 lemon
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup STAR Extra Virgin Olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- salt and fresh ground pepper, , to taste
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to the directions on the package; drain and rinse with cold water.
- Set aside and let cool; about 5 minutes.
- Transfer pasta to a deep salad bowl.
- Add halved tomatoes over pasta.
- Layer tuna over tomatoes.
- Add sliced olives over tuna and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together minced garlic, lemon zest, pinch of salt, lemon juice, olive oil, water, salt and pepper; whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
- Add salad dressing to pasta; toss to combine.
- Serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
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This sounds amazing! I love olives in anything. Why have I not thought of putting it in a tuna salad??
Even though it’s winter here in Australia – a good salad never goes amiss! I love this recipe (due to those olives) and HAVE to make it.
What a delicious looking pasta salad – love the addition of the green olives.
Hahaha, “the church of pasta!” Love it! This pasta salad looks incredible!
Those STAR olives are INSANELY gorgeous on this salad Kate! What an awesome salad!
A lot of people have a revolt when it comes to tuna being on anything other than a sandwich but it is a staple in our kitchen! It goes on pasta, risotto, pizza or all by itself! Add olives and its heaven!