Cheese Tortellini Pesto Pasta Salad

"This is most definately my FAVORITE pasta salad in the world! I have been making it for years, but never wrote it down....well...thanks to Recipezaar I'm learning to "measure", LOL!!!! Very happy to share! This recipe is for a small crowd. If making just for your family, omit the rotini, and add only as much of the rest of the ingredients (about half) that you'd like. Don't worry, it's really simple and easy!"
 
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photo by Swirling F. photo by Swirling F.
photo by Swirling F.
photo by TJ Reynolds photo by TJ Reynolds
photo by Wildflour photo by Wildflour
photo by Swirling F. photo by Swirling F.
photo by Swirling F. photo by Swirling F.
Ready In:
40mins
Ingredients:
12
Serves:
10
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ingredients

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directions

  • Cook pastas, set aside to drain and cool a bit.
  • In large bowl or punch bowl, add rest of ingredients, folding gently til well mixed.
  • Gently fold in pastas well.
  • Adjust seasoning to taste, meaning, add more salt, parmesan, etc., til you like it.
  • Serve immediately, or refrigerate.
  • *If you make this say a day ahead of time, you'll need to "refresh" this. Just add a bit more olive oil, salt and parmesan before serving.
  • This salad is best, though, room temp, or even slightly warm.

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Reviews

  1. Outstanding and very versatile recipe. I thought the cubed mozzarella was unnecessary, there's already plenty of cheese in this dish from the tortellini and parmesan. Try adding oil-packed sundried tomatoes too. Delish!
     
  2. Can't believe I never got around to reviewing this. This has been my go-to base pasta salad recipe. I don't add extra olive oil, however. To me, that dilutes the flavor. I add some balsamic vinegar or some type of homemade vinegar-based dressing. And it always needs extra. :)
     
  3. Mmmm! Great pasta salad! The family loved it! It was a great addition to our gathering! I added kalamata olives, some crumbled feta cheese and the juice of half a freshly squeezed lemon! Tasty! Thank you so much for sharing Wildflour.
     
  4. Wow! I didn't add the green pepper but instead I added a handful of roasted red peppers. I also skipped the fresh tomatoes and instead added sun-dried tomatoes! I let it sit for 24 hours so that everything was "married"! It was flavorful, little spicy and went well with ribeyes and roasted corn on the cob for a bbq party. It was a beautiful addition! Thank you!
     
  5. I love this recipe, it's amazing. It makes a TON, so be prepared! I do not add the mozzarella or green pepper when I make it. I've tried it with pesto made from the Knorr Pesto powdered package, but it wasn't as good. Sticking with the glass jar of pesto from the pasta aisle! Thanks for posting this!
     
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Tweaks

  1. Add a small finely chopped red onion and 1/4 C home made Italian salad dressing instead of plain olive oil. Everyone will wonder why your salad is so yummy!!
     
  2. I made this for a BBQ on Saturday and it was a hit! I left out the mozzarella, rotini, replaced the tomatoes with red bell pepper, and added diced cucumber. Everyone raved and raved. Thanks for such a wonderful recipe.
     
  3. Fantastic! I made it for Mother's Day and it was a big hit. Changes I made were: 24 oz of tortellini from Costco, roasted red pepper instead of green pepper, no olive oil, no olives (didn't have any), marinated artichoke hearts (again from Costco), chopped tomato instead of grape tomatoes, feta instead of mozzarella and no pasta. I mixed everything in a big bowl and then added the tortellini. Simple, simple. I will make this again and again this summer.
     
  4. I made this for my son's high school graduation party and it was a HUGE HIT! I had multiple requests for the recipe. Thank you for sharing and we'll definately make it again. The best part is the amounts can be varied to suit your liking -- I added a bit more mozzarella and substituted yellow pepper for the green pepper as that is what I had on hand.
     
  5. Thanks for the great recipe. Although the kids and DH thought it was just OK, I loved it. I followed the recipe as is but I also added some red and orange bell pepper, and I opted for provolone and pepper jack cheese instead of mozzarella. I also added a chunky olive tapenad instead of the olives. Thanks again.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Hello! Former caterer and restaurant owner taking life slower now and just enjoying photographing my food creations and blogging them! Pop on over to my blog to see over 800 of my recipes at Wildflour's Cottage Kitchen @ wildflourskitchen.com !
 
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