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Antipasto Pasta Salad
The flavors and ingredients of an antipasto platter inspired this pasta salad. Cooled rotini pasta is tossed with a red wine vinaigrette. Then add tomatoes, beans, banana peppers, fresh mozzarella, kalamata olives, and salami. It's best to prep all the ingredients before cooking the pasta. This way, you’re ready to stir everything together when the pasta is ready. Plan to chill the pasta salad a few hours before serving. This gives the pasta time to absorb all the flavors.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Servings 10 people
Ingredients
- 12 ounces tri-color rotini
- salt
- 1 cup red wine vinaigrette, bottled or homemade, more as needed
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced
- 1 (15-ounce) can great northern beans, rinsed
- 8 ounces pearl mozzarella
- 4 ounces hard salami, sliced
- ½ cup banana peppers, roughly chopped
- ½ cup sliced kalamata olives
- ½ medium red onion (diced about 1/2 cup)
- fresh or dried basil, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Red Wine Vinaigrette
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously, use about two teaspoons of salt. Cook pasta until tender.
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Drain pasta and rinse with cold water until cool. If you’re not ready to make the salad right away, toss the pasta with two tablespoons oil and spread onto a sheet pan.
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Toss the pasta with the vinaigrette. Stir gently to combine. Add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine. Taste. Add basil and black pepper to taste.
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Cover and chill for two hours or overnight. Before serving, stir the salad. Add more dressing if needed.
To make the Red Wine Vinaigrette
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Whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. This dressing separates. Whisk together right before pouring over pasta.