Especially if you are Italian, you must try this pasta salad. This disappears as quickly as I can make it, so I can’t keep it at home. Enjoy!
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package rigatoni pasta
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 tablespoons jarred minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or to taste
- 1 cup diced Asiago cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in enough olive oil to coat, but not so that it pools at the bottom of the bowl. Mix in the red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, parsley, oregano and Asiago cheese. Mix in the Parmesan cheese. Refrigerate until 20 minutes before serving. If the pasta soaks up a lot of the oil, you may need to add more. Taste the salad as you are preparing it, you may like more or less ingredients.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 438 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 48 g |
| Cholesterol | 18 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 272 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I added balsamic vinegar and cucumber.
I added 1 shredded zucchini, mozzarella also shredded instead of the cheese listed. I used much less oil and left out the parsley. It came out really good we will take it to a beach picnic.
I added shrimp, imitation crab, corn, lime, green onions, Italian dressing, a little vinegar, a few olives, and a little mayo…. and it came out Faaaantastic!!!
Absolutely delicious and light pasta salad. I used about half the recommended amount of each cheese and didn’t miss it at all.
Using fresh herbs is what caught my attention with this recipe. I did feel after a taste test that it needed some vinegar, so added in a few generous shakes of white wine vinegar, much better. I grated the cheeses and they were a wonderful addition. I do think some onion and black olives would really take this over the top. Great salad and we enjoyed it.
Great basic recipe! Gave it 4 stars because I felt it really needed vinegar. I added balsamic. Made this last-minute with what I had on hand. I had lots fresh basil and roma tomatoes from the garden. I also tossed in some carrots and black olives. Used parmesan and shredded mozzarella as I didn’t have Asiago. Great way to use just about any veggies you have on hand!
This is good, but it needs a little something to add a zip. I splashed some balsalmic vinegar to taste and that made all the difference.
I love this pasta salad ?
VERY tasty! I tool this to a BBQ and everyone LOVED it!! I made it as written and added the juice of one lemon, and a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar. Next time I will also add extra garlic. It was very tasty, but in my opinion needed the lemon and vinegar as without it I found it a tad bit bland.
Leaving town again so it’s time to clean out the fridge again too, which Hub’s staff always appreciates. This salad did a good job of clearing out the vegetable crisper – I added all ingredients to taste and came up with a winner. I appreciate this recipe for the fact it doesn’t call for bottled Italian dressing which makes this salad better than those right from the start. I used fresh garlic rather than the jarred and added black olives as well as orange and yellow bell peppers. I also gave it a splash of white wine vinegar. Finally, I wanted something a little smaller than rigatoni so I chose to use penne pasta instead. This is such a great combination of flavors – the olive oil, cheeses and fresh herbs realy make this salad exceptionally good. I think it would be impossible for this to turn out badly.
Great way to use a lot of vegetables. I included the peppers and tomatoes and added zucchini, cucumbers and a little carrot for color with tri-color bowtie pasta. It really soaked up the olive oil, so add a little more before serving. Great left overs too!
Delicious. My husband loved it, and he usually isnt a huge fan of pasta salads. I didnt put quite as much bell pepper, and oregano to taste. Will make this again.
Great recipe, made a few changes though. I added a cup or so of diced cucumber, as well as a couple cups of broccoli, I poured the hot pasta water over the broccoli to steam… rinsed all in cold water to keep from overcooking pasta and broccoli. Also I added quite a bit less oregano and added in a few TBS of balsamic vinegar to increase the flavor, overall great recipe and delicious summer salad~
I was happy with how this recipe turned out. I substituted Italian seasoning for the oregano and didn’t use as much as stated – just until it was covered well. I also used orange, green and red bell peppers for extra color.
Loved this one – Family & friends demand this one for BBQ’s and lunch when they are around. I did add extra garlic & doubled all the other add-ins (eg: cheeses, cherry tomato etc) to give more body & flavour but hey it is a wiiner.
This recipe is great !! I found it a little bland so i added italian dressing and black olives! delicious!! 😉