Sausage and Eggplant Greek Pasta Salad
This Greek Pasta Salad combines the flavors of Italian turkey sausage, roasted eggplant, black olives, fresh herbs, olive oil, lemon juice, and bowtie pasta for a hearty and delicious pasta salad you can make a meal out of!
I have the most delicious pasta salad recipe to share with y’all today! Now, I love a good pasta salad.- I always have and I most likely always will. The recipe that I’m sharing with you today is in my top 5 of favorite pasta salads ever, and I’m so excited to be sharing it with y’all.
This Sausage and Eggplant Greek Pasta Salad’s combination of flavors make my taste buds instantly happy. It’s crazy how something so simple can taste this dang good.
One of my favorite things about this particular pasta salad is that it can be a meal in itself. Most pasta salads end up being side items, but this one is pretty hearty with the addition of the sausage and vegetables to the pasta. It’s a good sturdy pasta salad that will definitely fill you up, and I just love that.
How do I make this Sausage and Eggplant Greek Pasta Salad?
To make this recipe, you will need: (exact measurements in the printable recipe at the bottom of the page)
- bowtie pasta
- eggplant
- Italian turkey sausage
- grape tomatoes, halved
- olives
- minced garlic
- olive oil
- basil
- parsley
- feta cheese
- lemon
- salt & pepper to taste
You’ll want to preheat your oven to 400 degrees so that you can roast your eggplant in a little olive oil, salt and pepper for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
While the eggplant is roasting, boil your water to cook the pasta & drain once it’s cooked to al dente. Set aside. Also – heat up a skillet to cook your turkey Italian sausage. Once the sausage is almost cooked through, about 6-7 minutes, add the halved cherry tomatoes and minced garlic to the pan.
Cook for a couple more minutes, until the tomatoes have just started to soften.
In a large bowl, add the drained and slightly cooled pasta. Drizzle with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and toss to combine.
Add the cooked sausage, tomato, and garlic mixture to the bowl of pasta.
Now, add in the roasted eggplant along with the sliced black olives, parsley, basil, and lemon juice…
Gently toss it all together to combine.
Top with feta cheese.
Serve at room temperature. You can refrigerate this for a couple days before using it too. I swear it tastes even better the second day after the flavors have had some time to get to know each other a little bit!
Sausage and Eggplant Greek Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound bowtie pasta
- 1/3 cup olive oil divided (1/4 cup for one use, the rest for the other)
- 1 medium eggplant cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3/4 pound Italian turkey sausage casings removed
- 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
- 4-6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 large lemon juiced
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves torn
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Add the eggplant to a prepared baking sheet; drizzle with the 1/4 cup olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and toss it together to mix. Roast until golden, tender and caramelized, about 30 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the bowtie pasta until it is al dente. Drain in a colander and let it cool for a bit before transferring the pasta to a large bowl. Drizzle with the remainder of the olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and toss to combine.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the Italian turkey sausage and saute until cooked through, using the back of a wooden spoon to crumble the sausage, 6 to 7 minutes. Add in the halved tomatoes along with the minced garlic. Cook until heated through and starting to soften a bit, about 2 minutes. Add the sausage mixture to the pasta bowl. Then add the lemon juice, basil, parsley, olives and roasted eggplant to the bowl and toss together. Top with the feta cheese. Serve at room temperature. Refrigerate up to 3-5 days.
Notes
You may also like this BLT Pasta Salad recipe!
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it!Â