Description
An elevated Italian pasta salad with a zesty Italian vinaigrette, salami, fresh Mozzarella, and plenty of veggies. The perfect make-ahead salad to bring to summer parties, or for meal prep.
Ingredients
Italian Dressing
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 to 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (or sub 2 teaspoons fresh oregano)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or sub 2 teaspoons fresh thyme)
- optional: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
Pasta Salad
- 8 ounces short cut pasta (see notes)
- 2 to 3 mini cucumbers, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
- 8 ounces grape (or cherry) tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 15 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts
- 4 ounce can sliced, black olives
- 6 ounces fresh mozzarella pearls (the mini mozzarella balls)
- 1 cup salami, cubed, or cut into quarters (see notes)
Optional garnishes
- Fresh herbs: basil, extra thyme, extra oregano, parsley
- extra parmesan cheese
- extra red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Boil some water: Fill a medium, to a large pot of water 3/4 of the way with water, cover with a lid, and place the pot of water on a burner. Turn the heat onto high. Allow the water to come to a boil.
- Make the Italian dressing: While the water comes to a boil, make the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients into a large mixing bowl, and whisk until well combined. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Keep in mind that Italian dressing is usually on the tangier side, and not as sweet. Set the bowl aside.
- Cook the pasta: Once the water has reached a boil add about 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Add your pasta, and follow the package directions to cook it until al dente (usually about 2 to 3 minutes less than the suggested cooking time), drain the pasta, and rinse with cool water, until it’s cooled.
- Toss the pasta in the dressing: Add the drained, and cooled pasta to the bowl with the dressing, toss to combine. I like to do this so that the dressing starts to flavor the pasta.
- Prepare the remaining ingredients: chop all the veggies, and add them to the bowl with the pasta. Also, add in the canned artichoke hearts, olives, mozzarella cheese, and salami. (See notes below on suggestions for making this salad in advance).
- Toss: Toss the salad together until everything is coated in the dressing, and the salad is well mixed together.
- Chill: You can eat the salad right away, but like any pasta salad, this one is best eaten when it has chilled for a few hours. I highly recommend chilling the salad if you’re planning to serve it to guests, or bring to a party – makes it the perfect salad for parties. Cover, and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours (up to 6 hours).
- Serve: Give the salad one more toss, and top it with extra parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, or fresh herbs, such as basil, thyme, oregano, and parsley – if desired.
- Store leftovers: Leftovers will keep in an air tight container, in the fridge for up to 3 days. The tomatoes do tend to get a little soggy, so keep that in mind, if you don’t like soggy tomatoes. But, everything else gets nice and flavorful, and almost pickled from the dressing. So good.
Notes
Parmesan cheese – I highly recommend using a good quality Parmesan from the deli/cheese counter, not from the aisles. You can find a finely shaven variety in the deli section.
Gluten free pasta option – You can easily make this recipe gluten free by using any gluten free pasta you prefer. We love chickpea pasta.
salami – I recommend using the highest quality salami you can find, it really elevates this dish. I used a mix of sliced salami: caprese salami, Italian dry salami genoa salami, sopressata salami.
Vegetarian option – you can easily omit the salami to make this a vegetarian salad, or to serve it as a side salad, instead of an entrée salad.
To make in advance – This salad is great leftover. Everything gets more flavorful as it sits, and the veggies get almost pickled from the dressing. However, the tomatoes do get a little bit soggy. If that bothers you, then I suggest leaving out the tomatoes, and adding them fresh, right before serving. Or, adding a handful to the individual bowl you plan to eat.
Fresh herbs vs dried herbs – You can sub many of the dried herbs for fresh herbs in the dressing (oregano and thyme), except for the basil. The basil will get slimly as it sits. If you want to add fresh basil, you can easily add it to the dish as a garnish, just before serving, which I highly recommend.
Serving size – Serving size will vary depending on if you are serving this salad as a side salad, or an entrée salad. We ate it as a entrée salad, and it gave us about 6 servings. You will get more servings out of it if it’s a side salad that is served alongside other dishes.
