Pasta, cheese, and meat are combined in a delectable antipasto pasta salad with a homemade dressing. It is perfect for a picnic and serves a large group.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 35 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
Ingredients
- 1 pound seashell pasta
- ½ pound Asiago cheese, diced
- ¼ pound Genoa salami, chopped
- ¼ pound pepperoni sausage, chopped
- 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained and chopped
- 1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the salad: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add shell pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 9 minutes. Drain, run under cold water to cool pasta, and drain again.
- Transfer drained pasta to a large bowl. Add Asiago, salami, pepperoni, tomatoes, bell peppers, and olives. Sprinkle dry dressing mix over top and stir until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Make the dressing: Whisk oil, vinegar, oregano, parsley, Parmesan, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Cover and set aside until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, pour dressing over chilled salad and mix until well combined.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 451 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 37 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 978 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is my go-to pasta salad. Perfect in every way. The only thing I do different is I grate my Asiago cheese rather than dice it.
I think it turned out good for the first time. Yum
I make this every year for the 4th of July! My family loves it!
I didn’t have dry Italian Dressing packs on hand so I used “Garlic Plus”. It was fabulous, and even my teenagers liked it!
Delicious recipe as written
I made this exactly follow the recipe several times. Everyone was craved about it! Using good balsamic and EVOO makes huge differences! Worth to make it for a party!
Loved it and so did everyone else at the cookout I went to. It was all gone.
We love this recipe. Keeps well in the summer.
This is primarily this recipe with some alterations of my own and my mother’s “dressing” which is just a low oil variation on Good Season’s Italian dressing mix recipe. I let this dry marinade overnight after mixing the vegetables, noodles, meat, and cheeses with the single packet of Good Season’s Italian dressing mix, just the dry mix. I did add a tablespoon of oregano and a teaspoon of parsley, it’s a mild but noticeable punch in the flavor of just the dressing mix packets by themselves, specifically the oregano but not overpowering. The following day, I do the dressing and final mix. I’m sure you can do it all in one day, I just usually do most of the work the night before, so it’s just ready to go. My mother’s dressing recipe is the low oil alternative on the instructions on the packet. She uses Apple Cider Vinegar instead of Balsamic Vinegar and two packets of sweetener per 1 packet of dry dressing mix. I usually make 16ozs of dressing for 2 boxes of 12oz Tricolor Rotini Pasta. But 16ozs is too much for a standard 16oz box of other types of pasta, so reserve some to “rehydrate” the salad if you’re eating it over the course of multiple days, as the noodles will suck up all the water and veer towards drying. I put in regular Havarti and Havarti with dill this time, in addition to Parmesan and two handfuls of mozzarella. I also crush some Italian croutons in a Ziploc bag and put those on and stir as the final step before eating. Oh, and some diced ham. I used to always make an antipasto salad like this for potlucks and picnics as it was requested.
Best pasta salad I have ever made .
I made this several years ago and then made it again tonight. I forgot how good it was. Everybody loved it.
I made this today for a Super Bowl party & had to sample it. Love it! I used grape tomatoes, at someone else’s suggestion, perfect! I made this in the morning, except for the dressing. I made the dressing in the afternoon and used a cruet to mix well. Will add the dressing right before leaving today.
A big hit every time I take it anywhere. For those that eat low carb I substitute the pasta for cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces and steamed. Those that are not low carb even like it.
This was well liked by all at the party for which we made it, and the following week at the office. This recipe makes a large, large bowl of pasta salad!
I only had a 12 ounce box of rotini so had to do some math. Otherwise I followed the directions completely. The result is a delicious pasta salad that is good into the second and third day.
Great salad recipe. A bit different than what my usual pasta salad is but it was definitely EXCELLENT and would make it again.
I made the recipe just like it was my family didn’t care for all of the spices.
This must be made ahead, 4 hrs at least. I also use only rotini pasta, add red onion to taste (1/2 of a medium one) and once all ingredients are combined, I store it in the fridge to have the flavors combine (this is key!).
Amazing! Made it as a side to Alfredo for a house full of people. Everyone loved it!
Absolutely perfect pasta salad! I unfortunately couldn’t find thick enough salami and pepperoni to dice, but sliced pieces worked great. I made this ahead of time to let the dressing soak into the pasta and I was so impressed with the flavor. If the pasta gets too dry you can always drizzle with a touch of olive oil right before serving.
Yum!! Everyone loves this recipe and my son requests it often!