Since Aaron and I are both working out of our home (for the most part), and we now have a major renovation on our hands, lunches need to be quick and easy. I’m trying not to get a ton of dishes dirty right now because our water will be off once during the repipe. So, I figured I’d share a quick, 15 minute Italian pasta salad recipe that can be a great side – or quick snack.
I’m going to have people in and out of my kitchen and other parts of our house, and I need to stay out of the way. I basically made this recipe up in my head and based it off of a chopped Italian salad that I really liked at a place I used to go when I lived in Austin. It has lots of ingredients (as many as you like, really), but it’s just a dump and go recipe.
What you’ll need for Italian pasta salad:
Here’s a list of what you’ll need:
- 1 pound of pasta (I used the veggie Rotini pasta, but you can use whatever type of pasta you like).
- 1 can of sliced black olives (drained)
- 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
- 1/2 a red onion (diced)
- 1 cup of diced grape tomatoes
- 8 ounces of sliced banana peppers (drained)
- 8 ounces of mozzarella (I used the pearls, because I can literally dump those in and be done with it)
- 8 ounces of salami (chop it into whatever size you prefer)
- 1 cup of Italian dressing
What to do:
- Cook your pasta according to the directions on the package. It needs to cool for about 10 minutes before you start adding ingredients.
- While your pasta is cooking, go ahead and chop your red onion, grape tomatoes and salami.
- Once your pasta has had time to cool, go ahead and add all of the ingredients in.
- Last, add in your Italian dressing and toss until mixed.
So delish! This salad is great because you can eat it warm, but I think it’s best when it’s cold. It makes a ton, so you can snack on it throughout the week. I’ll be making this when we start having contractors in and out – because my main goal is stay out of their way in the kitchen.
