Italian Pasta Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing
User Reviews
5
Italian Pasta Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing
Description
Italian Pasta Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing uses simple but flavorful ingredients. The dressing combines olive oil, red wine vinegar, freshly grated Parmesan, garlic, dried herbs, and optional chili flakes for subtle heat, creating a well-rounded zesty coating. The pasta is cooked slightly less than package instructions to maintain firmness, then cooled under cold water to prevent overcooking.
The salad ingredients include thick-cut spicy salami, tender bocconcini mozzarella balls, crunchy red bell pepper strips, ripe cherry tomatoes, and both green and black olives, providing a balance of textures and savory notes. Fresh basil adds aroma and brightness on top.
This pasta salad makes a good side or light main dish, especially in warmer weather. It benefits from resting a few hours to allow flavors to meld. A tip for leftovers is to reserve some dressing mixed with warm pasta cooking water to refresh the salad and prevent it from drying out when reheated briefly or brought back to room temperature.
If pre-grated Parmesan is used, it is recommended to sprinkle it on the salad rather than mixing into the dressing to avoid graininess. Whole olives maintain juiciness better than sliced.
Ingredients
Italian Dressing
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar I like using red, or white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp Parmesan Cheese Note 1, freshly grated
- 1 tbsp sugar any
- 1 garlic large clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp basil dried, each
- 1/2 tsp oregano dried, each
- 1/4 tsp parsley dried
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes dried, aka red pepper flakes, optional
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Pasta Salad
- 300g/10oz spiral pasta or other pasta of choice
- 180g/6oz salami thick sliced, cut into 2.5cm/1" batons, spicy variety used
- 200g/7oz bocconcini cheese baby size, halved
- 1 red capsicum bell pepper; cut into 3cm/2.2cm strips
- 250g/8oz olives whole, types include Sicilian and pitted black
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved, ~1.5 Australian punnets
- 1 cup basil tightly packed, fresh leaves
Instructions
- Place Dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well.
- Cook pasta according to packet directions minus 1 minute. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop it cooking further. Shake excess water off well then transfer into large bowl.
- Place remaining Pasta Salad ingredients in the bowl. Drizzle over Dressing and toss. Serve at room temperature.
Make ahead PRO TIP (Note 4):
- SCOOP OUT a mug of pasta cooking water just before draining. Add 3 tbsp water to Dressing, shake well. Use this Dressing per above, but reserve 3 tbsp to freshen up pasta salad on Day 2 onwards.
- Freshen up pasta salad: Bring to room temp or briefly microwave (cold pasta = dry) to warm gently. Toss with Reserved Dressing then serve.
Notes
- Use freshly grated Parmesan in the dressing for proper melting; pre-grated is better sprinkled on top.
- Bocconcini can be any size but should be chopped smaller if large.
- Whole olives keep the salad juicier compared to sliced olives.
- Make-ahead tip: reserve some dressing mixed with pasta water to refresh leftovers and keep salad moist when reheating or serving on following days.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 8people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 430 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 204g | |
| Calories | 430cal | 22% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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