Ingredients:
- Pasta: A good pasta salad is only as good as your pasta. I used fusilli in this recipe, but you can feel free to switch up your shape. I recommend hearty pasta shapes like penne or farfalle—they’ll not only hold well in your salad, but have all the nooks and crannies to catch our delicious dressing.
- Mozzarella: With our other Italian-inspired mix-ins, mozzarella balls just make sense here. They add a creamy flavor and fun textural experience to the pasta salad. I recommend halving the balls so they don’t overwhelm the other ingredients.
- Mix-Ins: To achieve the perfect balance of flavors and textures in this pasta salad, I used cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, pitted black olives, and salami. That being said, this recipe is extremely versatile. Leave out the salami if you prefer, or switch up your veggies for other Italian-inspired mix-ins.
- Dressing: The dressing here really ties everything together. Here's what I used to start you off: extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, Italian seasoning, fresh parsley, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Again, you can totally vary this depending on your tastes, but I find that this combo is not only so easy to make, but it ties the whole salad together without distracting from your flavorful mix-ins.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
First things first: Prepare your pasta according to the package instructions, then set it aside. Once cooled, add in your mix-ins. Here, I’m using halved mozzarella balls, quartered salami, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped artichoke hearts, and sliced black olives. Give everything a mix to fully combine.
Now, we’ll create our dressing. I love this dressing because it all comes together in one jar. Add your oil, garlic, vinegar, parsley, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes to a jar with a lid, then secure the lid, and give it a good shake to fully combine. Once combined, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the dressing all over the pasta salad, then give it a good mix to fully combine it. We want every noodle and mix-in to be fully coated. Once everything is mixed, you’re ready to serve!
