Easy Italian Pasta Salad

This easy Italian Pasta Salad is loaded with salami, tomatoes, red onion, fresh mozzarella, olives, herbs, and pepperoncini- right along with classic rotini pasta. Paired with a dreamy, homemade Italian dressing to enrobe all that pasta goodness.

📝 Ingredients

• 1 lb dried rotini pasta
• 10 ounces salami or summer sausage, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup castelvetrano olives, sliced
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese pearls
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/3 cup sliced pepperoncini
• 1/4 cup fresh basil chiffonade
• 3/4 cup olive oil, good-quality
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Prep the dressing: I like to prep the Italian dressing first so it’s ready to go after cooking the pasta. Combine all the dressing ingredients into a jar, cover, and shake super vigorously to fully combine. Alternatively, you can blitz everything up inside the body of a food processor as well. Then set the dressing aside while you move on to the next steps.
2. 2Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to your package directions, al dente. Drain the pasta and then rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process- draining pasta completely. Add the cool pasta into a large bowl.
3. 3Assemble the Italian Pasta Salad: Add the salami, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella pearls, onion, pepperoncini, and basil into the same bowl. Then drizzle the Italian dressing over the pasta. Use tongs to toss together, taste the pasta salad and adjust the seasonings to your preference by adding more salt, to taste.
4. 4I recommend covering the bowl with a lid/plastic wrap and then placing the pasta salad into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. This allows for all the flavors to meld. Before serving, toss the pasta salad together to evenly coat and then serve. Enjoy!