This Olive, Pesto & courgette Ribbon Salad is the perfect summer salad! This is a summer go-to of mine, it looks and tastes so fresh and healthy, and compliments virtually any dish. I guarantee if you take this courgette ribbon salad to a dinner party or gathering you will get some serious kudos for it!
I have used home grown courgettes, which have so much more flavour that the supermarket ones! I love “spiralizing” or “zoodling” or “noodling” or whatever you want to call it, its such a great way to change the form of a vegetable and use it in different ways.
There are many ways you could “do” this salad, depending on the occasion, what you have in the fridge and your creativity/energy levels. My sister and I sat and discussed the bowl of healthy greens that sat before us today at lunch, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, preserved lemons, and even chorizo made an appearance- who doesn’t love chorizo! I hope you enjoy this Olive, Pesto & courgette Ribbon Salad as much we both did today.
For the salad:- 4 medium courgettes washed and “zoodled”
- ¼ cup of kalamata olives halved lengthways
- ¼ cup of lightly toasted pinenuts
- ¼ cup finely shaved parmesan cheese
- 1 cup sweet baby peas (I use frozen)
- 1 cup washed baby spinach leaves
For the dressing:- ¼ cup of basil pesto
- juice & rind of 1 large, ripe lemon
- salt & pepper
Optional:- fresh basil leaves
- Wash courgettes, chop the ends off, and put through a spiralizer to make courgette noodles, set aside on a plate lined with 4 paper towels, sprinkle a generous amount of table salt over the zoodles and set aside to rest- this will draw out the excess fluid from the courgettes.
- Wash baby spinach and fresh basil leaves if you have these, and set aside to dry.
- Bring a small pot of lightly salted water to the boil and cook baby peas for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat, discard hot water, and douse in cold water to stop them from overcooking.
- Lightly toast pinenuts until golden brown in a hot dry pan- ensure you keep a close eye on them because they can burn quickly!!
- Halve the kalamata olives lenghthways and finely shave the parmesan cheese.
- To make the dressing combine pesto, juice and rind of 1 lemon, and season to taste with salt and pepper
- Return to the zoodles and gently squeeze with a handful of paper towels, toss the noodles around and keep squeezing to encourage the water out, you may need to do this a few times and renew the paper towels with dry ones as they become damp quickly!
- Place zoodles into a salad bowl, along with baby spinach, peas, olives and pine nuts- leave a few to dress the salad with when ready to serve.
- Toss with salad dessing prepared earlier until well mixed through.
- Sprinkle over the shaved parmesan and remaining pine nuts and serve.
Again, this features haloumi (a frequent participant in my salads) and an integral part of my life. I did recently try a new brand of haloumi, courtesy of my partners mum whom I have taken to the Haloumi dark side with me, called Yolo, originating from the Netherlands, and stocked at Count Down supermarkets, I was very impressed with the taste and texture of this cheese, and it’s performance in the pan!
This salad is amazing served straight from the oven, and can also be made with Kumara which is pretty tasty also. I am lucky enough to have access to an incredible pumpkin grower, so I tend to have pumpkin on tap, which is such a treat.Enjoy this warming pumpkin salad with a glass of pinot noir and a roaring fireplace, winning.
