Download podcast. Except for the feta cheese, this salad can be made almost completely from ingredients on your cupboard shelves. So it’s great for those days when you open the fridge and it stares back at you with an empty expression, almost like “what were you expecting?†I shared this with my colleagues at work one day and everyone came back for seconds! I called it Greek pasta salad because of the olives, feta cheese and tomato which are classic ingredients for a Greek salad, but decided to leave out the onions purely because no one likes having onion breath at the office. However, in a home environment, thinly sliced red onions will add some great depth to this dish. I threw in some butter beans just to add to the protein content and give the salad some body.

500 g Screw pasta (Fusilli) 240 g packet Sundried tomato quarters from Ina Paarman 60 ml Olive oil 410 g tin Butterbeans, drained and rinsed 100 g Calamata olives 120 g Feta cheese (about 2 disks) Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Cook the pasta in salted water until cooked but firm to the touch (al dente). Drain and allow to cool down. 2. Combine the sundried tomato quarters (with its brine) and olive oil in a blender and chop finely, or use a stick blender. Add salt and plenty freshly ground black pepper and mix this dressing well into the drained screw pasta. 3. Cut the feta into small blocks or roughly crumble it into the salad. Add the drained butter beans and drained olives and mix well. Adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve the Greek pasta salad on a big platter or salad bowl.

• Great for lunch boxes and picnics. • Great as a side dish at a braai or just a light meal. • I used screw pasta because the grooves holds on to the sauce well, but any other pasta shape can be used.

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