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Antipasto Pasta Salad puts the flavor of Italy in a bowl. Pasta with spicy salmi, briny olives, creamy mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, sweet peppers, in a gorgeous homemade vinaigrette. Delizioso!
A Taste of Italy in a Gorgeous Summer Salad
Sometimes taking inventory of leftovers is the perfect inspiration for a really terrific new recipe. That’s exactly with my Antipasto Pasta Salad.
Opening the fridge last week, I spotted a package of low-sodium dried salami. I’d used it to make charcuterie cups that I’d served at my book launch party, but there was a quite a bit left. A little more digging unearthed some wonderful marinated olives, a pint of grape tomatoes, and a sweet red pepper.
I had just about everything I’d need to make a nice antipasto tray. Certainly, I could have gone that direction. But I wanted to make something a little more substantial – something I could use for a quick lunch or side dish during the week.
Though pasta salad seemed like an obvious choice, I hesitated initially. Because my experience, pasta salad often turns out to be bland, blah, and more than a little disappointing.
But maybe…if I leaned into those bold antipasto flavors, and paired them with a really robust homemade Italian dressing…?
Challenge accepted.
I pulled ingredients out of the refrigerator and pantry, and started boiling water for pasta. An hour later, The Chairman and I picked up our forks for a taste test.
The verdict?
Every bite contained a combination of spicy, briny, creamy, fresh, and slightly sweet flavors, all enhanced by a light but robust vinaigrette.
In short, this Antipasto Pasta Salad is the farthest thing from bland! It’s the taste of Italy in a bowl, and a perfect summertime salad – easy to love, and even easier to make.
What Do You Need to Make Antipasto Pasta Salad?
As the name implies, this yummy salad is a nod to traditional Italian Antipasto, with ingredients that include…
Salami – My preference here is for a dry cured, low sodium salami. You could use a regular salami if that’s what you’ve got on hand, but I think the low sodium type has better flavor. It’s also better for you.
Marinated Olives – Just about any type of marinated green or black olive will work here, but stay away from canned black olives. They don’t have nearly as much flavor.
Fresh Mozzerella – You’ll use those small, bite-sized balls of fresh mozzarella, sometimes known as pearls. You can find them in the cheese or deli section of most grocery stores.
Roasted Red Peppers – Jarred roasted red peppers can usually be found near the pickles, or can often be purchased from olive bars in the deli section. But making your own roasted peppers is cheaper and very easy. Just remove the seeds and slice the peppers into strips. Then rub them with olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and roast on a baking sheet at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes, until the peppers are soft and slightly charred on the edges.
Tomatoes – use the grape or cherry tomatoes of our choice, sliced into halves.
Pasta – I really think Farfalle, sometimes known as bowtie pasta, is the way to go here. But Gemelli, Fusilli, Orecchiette, Rotini, or Penne could work too.
As you’ll see in the instructions, all the ingredients except the pasta will be cut into small pieces, so you’ll get a variety of flavors in every bite of the antipasto pasta salad. The combinations of spicy, briny, sweet, and creamy make each bite a joyous little adventure.
However, it’s the homemade Italian dressing that really brings it all together.
Antipasto Pasta Salad: Making the Dressing
Though my version increases the amounts of a few ingredients and subbed fresh thyme for dried, my Italian dressing is based on a recipe from Love and Lemons.
This wonderful vinaigrette uses olive oil, fresh lemon juice, white vinegar, garlic, a combination of fresh and dried herbs, plus a touch of mustard and honey. It has an incredible, bright, bold flavor.
I know you might be tempted to just grab that bottled Italian dressing for this recipe, but don’t.
This vinaigrette is SO easy to make, and more than worth the effort. Honestly, it makes the salad.
Once you taste it, especially on this wonderful Antipasto Pasta Salad, you might just throw the bottled stuff away for good.
Give it, and this terrific Italian inspired pasta salad, a try this week!
Antipasto Pasta Salad: A Taste of Italy
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 8 oz Farfalle (Bow tie pasta)
- 10 slices low sodium dry salami, quartered
- 15 fresh mozzarella pearls, halved
- 20 grape tomatoes, halved
- 20 marinated green or black olives, halved
- 1 medium red sweet pepper, roasted and chopped (see blog for instructions on oven roasting peppers. If using jarred or prepared roasted peppers, use about 1/3 cup)
For the Dressing:
- 6 T olive oil
- 3 T fresh lemon juice
- 3 T white wine vinegar
- 1 large clove garlic, put through a garlic press or grated
- 1.5 tsp honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 T fresh chopped parsley
- 1.5 tsp fresh thyme leaves (can sub ¾ tsp dried)
- 1 tsp drive oregano
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in well- salted water according to package instructions, until al dente. Drain the cooked pasta and run under cool water. Set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the other salad ingredients – slicing the salami, mozzarella pearls, tomatoes, olives, and roasted peppers into the suggested sizes listed. (See blog instructions for oven roasting peppers at home.) If using jarred or prepared roasted peppers, use about 1/3 cup).
- Prepare the dressing by placing all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisking vigorously to combine.
- Place the pasta in a medium to large sized serving bowl. Add sliced salami, tomatoes, mozzarella, olives, and chopped roasted red peppers. Pour dressing over the salad and stir to combine and coat the ingredients with the dressing.
