Italian Pasta Salad Dressing
This Italian Pasta Salad Dressing is packed with bold flavors like garlic, oregano, parmesan, and red wine vinegar. It's designed specifically to keep your pasta salad juicy, flavorful, and never dry. Includes creamy variation too!
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Mason jar or salad dressing bottle
- Colander
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 1 tbsp sugar any variety
- 1 garlic clove finely minced
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes optional
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the Pasta Salad
- 300 g spiral pasta or other short pasta of choice
- 180 g salami cut into batons (use turkey or vegetarian version if pork-free)
- 200 g baby bocconcini halved
- 1 red bell pepper sliced into strips
- 250 g whole olives Sicilian and black olives preferred
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves tightly packed
Instructions
- Add all dressing ingredients to a mason jar. Seal tightly and shake vigorously for 20 seconds until fully emulsified.
- Cook pasta according to package directions minus 1 minute. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water, then drain and rinse under cold water.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked pasta, salami, bocconcini, bell pepper, olives, tomatoes, and basil.
- Drizzle dressing over the salad and toss to coat thoroughly. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
- To keep the salad moist the next day, add 3 tbsp reserved pasta water to extra dressing. Toss with cold pasta before serving.
Video
https://youtube.com/watch?v=your-video-id
Notes
For a creamy version, mix in 2 tbsp mayo or Greek yogurt into the dressing before shaking. To keep leftovers fresh, reserve 3 tbsp of dressing and mix with a splash of pasta water before tossing into cold pasta the next day.