Antipasto Pasta Salad

I’m always in search of great salads that I can bring to teacher luncheons, potlucks or barbecues, or honestly, make on Sunday and nosh on it all week long for lunch.

Start with a good quality pasta, you can do tricolor or plain, though tricolor sure is pretty. You can use any type of pasta, just make sure it has some ridges or twists in it to help hold the dressing.

Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente, you don’t want it to fall apart in your salad.

While the pasta cooks, grab a nice big mixing bowl and begin by chopping the bell peppers. Any color peppers you like really, I like red, orange and yellow, plus add chopped English cucumbers for the green! YUMMY!

Chop the salami and pepperoni. Ideally it would be great to get the actual “sausage” and just dice, but I couldn’t find the one I wanted, so used pre-sliced and chopped those up well.

Slice cheeses into cubes; try different cheeses, you can use just one, here I used both Asiago and Smoked Mozzarella, Provolone or regular mozzarella would have been delicious too.

SIMPLE BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

In a hurry? Buy a good quality bottle of balsamic dressing.

But this dressing is super easy to make! In a jar or container with lid; place olive oil, balsamic vinegar, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and onion powder.

Shake vigorously to emulsify, or use an immersion blender.Pour dressing over pasta, tossing occasionally, making sure the entire salad is coated in dressing.

Add more or less dressing to taste, refrigerate any leftover dressing (if you have any) and use on any salad. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat, or may be served immediately, EVEN BETTER the next day!

This salad is like a meal, makes a great lunch or side dish! Mangia!