Spare Spoons Kitchen
Italian Pasta Salad
Rotini tossed with salami, sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, provolone, and a punchy red-wine vinaigrette. Dress it while the pasta is still just barely warm and it drinks up the dressing. Better the next day, travels for hours without a cooler.
Ingredients
Easier, if you like
- Ken's Italian Dressing (salad dressing aisle) — use ⅓ cup in place of making the vinaigrette. Saves 5 minutes and works well.
- Trader Joe's Antipasto Mix (refrigerated deli or jarred section) — a single container has olives, pepperoncini, artichokes, and roasted peppers. Drain it and use in place of most of the add-ins.
Method
Cook's notes
Make-ahead. This salad is genuinely better on day two. The pasta absorbs the dressing and the flavors deepen overnight. Make it the day before and refrigerate; bring to room temp 20 minutes before serving.
No cooler required. It travels well for 4+ hours at room temperature because there's no mayo — just olive oil and vinegar. A safe picnic dish.
Sun-dried tomato oil is liquid gold. The oil in the jar is pre-seasoned with tomato flavor. Use it in the dressing in place of some or all of the plain olive oil.
Soaking the red onion. A 5-minute soak in cold water takes the raw sharpness down without losing the flavor or crunch. Worth doing.
Easily made vegetarian; GF pasta works 1:1
Vegetarian: Skip the salami and add extra olives, pepperoncini, and a handful of chickpeas for substance. Still satisfying.
Gluten-free: Swap in GF rotini 1:1 — Barilla makes a widely available GF rotini. The dressing and all add-ins are already GF.