Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Name: Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 19 min
Total time: 29 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 200 g mozzarella balls; 250 g baby plum tomatoes; 1 bunch fresh basil; 350 g farfalle; 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 40 g Green Olives; 200 g tuna; to taste salt; to taste pepper

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Seafood recipe with Italian flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 53 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 29 min total

200 g Mozzarella Balls
250 g Baby Plum Tomatoes
1 bunch Fresh Basil
350 g Farfalle
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
40 g Green Olives
200 g Tuna
to taste Salt
to taste Pepper

Step-by-step instructions

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil Add the pasta, stir once and cook for about 10 minutes or as directed on the packet.
Meanwhile, wash the tomatoes and cut into quarters. Slice the olives. Wash the basil.
Put the tomatoes into a salad bowl and tear the basil leaves over them. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and mix.
When the pasta is ready, drain into a colander and run cold water over it to cool it quickly.
Toss the pasta into the salad bowl with the tomatoes and basil.
Add the sliced olives, drained mozzarella balls, and chunks of tuna. Mix well and let the salad rest for at least half an hour to allow the flavours to mingle.
Sprinkle the pasta with a generous grind of black pepper and drizzle with the remaining olive oil just before serving.

Why this works on a weeknight

Mediterranean Pasta Salad genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our One-Pan Pasta collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Mediterranean Pasta Salad actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍝 One-Pan Pasta Seafood Italian ⚡ 30-Min Dinner Pasta Baking