Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing Recipe

This pasta salad with Italian dressing is easy to make and has the most incredible flavors. Crispy prosciutto, tender bocconcini balls, tangy banana peppers, cherry tomatoes, olives, basil, and parmesan cheese get tossed with your favorite pasta and delicious Italian dressing. It's irresistible!

📝 Ingredients

• 16 ounces dry pasta (I like bow-tie)
• 1 cup Italian salad dressing (I like our homemade Italian salad dressing best but store-bought works, too)
• 4 ounces prosciutto
• 8 ounces mini bocconcini (or regular bocconcini cut in half)
• 1 green bell pepper (diced)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
• 3/4 cup olives
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced basil leaves
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley (chopped)
• Optional: 1 cup banana peppers
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Boil pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the water then add the pasta to a large bowl and toss with ¼ cup of the Italian salad dressing.
2. 2Crisp prosciutto: While the pasta is boiling, crispy the prosciutto. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat then add the prosciutto in a single(ish) layer. Let it cook until it shrinks and becomes crisp then turn it over and cook it for another minute on the other side. Remove it from the pan and crumble it a little into a bowl.
3. 3Assemble: Add the bocconcini, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, olives, red onion, basil, parsley, banana peppers, crispy prosciutto, and parmesan cheese to the bowl with the pasta. Pour the remaining dressing over the top then toss to coat.