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It was a scorcher outside. While I sat in traffic for an hour on my way home from work, the car dashboard said it was 104 degrees. No relief in sight until about October. Too bad I can’t afford to move to Alaska during the summer. Oh, but I digress.
At least I knew dinner was already made. No cooking for me tonight after work! No heating up the kitchen during 100+ degree temperatures. The Antipasto Pasta Salad was waiting in the fridge for me to get home…unless hubby beat me to it. I was hoping he would leave some for me.
This Antipasto Pasta Salad has loads of flavor. It is even better if you make it a day ahead so the flavors have time to develop. The nice thing about this salad is that it has no mayonnaise. So it is great to take to a potluck or party.
It is made with shell pasta, genoa salami, pepperoni, and my favorite, asiago cheese, as well as black olives, red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, and green onions. It makes for a very colorful dish. This is adapted from the Antipasto Pasta Salad on AllRecipes.com. However, instead of using the balsamic vinegar dressing in the recipe, I use the red wine vinaigrette on Allrecipes called Absolutely Fabulous Greek/House Dressing.” It is a long name but an outstanding vinaigrette.
Recipe
Ingredients
Pasta Salad
- 16 ounces small shell pasta
- 1/4 lb genoa salami chopped
- 1/4 lb pepperoni chopped
- 8 ounces Asiago Cheese cubed
- 1/2 cup black olives chopped
- 1/2 each red bell pepper orange bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
Red Wine Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta per package directions and drain. Place drained pasta in a large bowl. Add all the pasta salad ingredients and toss.
- For the dressing, in a small bowl mix together all ingredients. Pour the dressing over the pasta salad in the large bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.
If you don’t have asiago cheese, parmesan, mozzarella, or feta may be substituted.
Evelyn @ My Turn for us says
This reminds me of my favorite Antipasto Pasta Salad from my favorite restaurant (that I don’t live near anymore). Thanks so much for sharing!! I will be making it this week!!!
I just shared it on FB, Twitter and Google+, thanks so much!!
Hugs
PS Also pinned and following you on Pinterest!!
Occasional Cooker says
Thanks for stopping by Evelyn. I hope you like this pasta salad as much as we do. It is one of my favorites. Thank you so much for sharing. You are awesome!
Laura says
That dressing is impressive-pinning now and hoping I find time to make this summer.
Heidy L. McCallum says
Wow I love the beautiful color and textures of this Summer Antipasto Salad. It’s perfect for our family gatherings in the summer!
Sharon says
I love this salad. I’m going to post a link to it this Thursday on my blog and I’m borrowing your photo of it, if that’s okay. I will give you credit for the photo with another link to this page.