Pasta Salad "Italian Style"
- Ready In:
- 1hr 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 29
- Serves:
-
20
ingredients
- 1 (1 lb) package frozen tri-colored cheese tortellini
- 2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
- 1 1 can pink beans or 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 lb button mushrooms or 1 lb baby portabella mushrooms, cleaned
- 1 bunch scallion, sliced
- 1 small red onion, cut into rings
- 2 -4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped fine
- 4 -6 fresh roma tomatoes, seeded and sliced
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen italian green beans, thawed and drained (or fresh ones, blanched)
- 2 roasted bell peppers, sliced or diced
- 1 can black pitted olive, drained
- 1 jar stuffed Spanish olives, drained
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered
- 3 large carrots, sliced
- 1 -2 large fresh sweet pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 cups broccoli florets (raw or blanched)
- 1 1⁄2 cups cauliflower florets (raw or blanched)
- 5 -10 cloves garlic, minced (or to taste)
- 2 cups diced mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups sharp provolone cheese, cut into thin sticks (or your favorite sharp cheese)
- 2 -3 cups pepperoni or 2 -3 cups genoa salami, cut into chunks (or both)
- 2 -4 pepperoncini peppers, seeded and sliced (Italian vinegar peppers)
- 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
- 2 -3 cups of your favorite Italian salad dressing
- salt
- pepper
- grated parmesan cheese or romano cheese
- italian seasoning
directions
- Combine artichoke hearts, mushrooms, cannelli beans, black beans, green beans, sun dried tomatoes and about 1 cup of dressing in a large sized bowl, toss well, cover bowl and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
- In a large pot, boil water for tortellini and cook according to package directions, do not overcook them.
- While pasta is cooking, chop, seed and drain all vegetables, as indicated.
- Drain cooked tortellini and rinse under cold water until pasta is cool.
- Place pasta in a large bowl, and toss with enough dressing to coat.
- Cover and refrigerate pasta.
- Continue preparing the remaining vegetables, cheeses and meats.
- When all is prepared, mix marinated vegetable/bean mixture and dressing into the pasta and toss to combine all.
- Add everything else except fresh tomatoes and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate until serving time.
- Just before serving, add fresh tomatoes and toss to mix.
- Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference, add additional dressing if salad seems dry.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Dee514
United States
I'm married (53 years to the same lucky guy) and have 2 kids, a daughter 47, a son 43, and 2 beautiful grand daughters (11 yrs and 14 yrs). I have always enjoyed cooking and baking, especially breads :)