Italian Pasta Salad

Recipe by ColleenCourse: Salads

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs. penne or rotini pasta

  • 3 small zucchini

  • 3 small yellow squash

  • 1 bottle Italian dressing

  • 2+ C mayonnaise

  • ¼ C pesto

  • 1 jar pitted Kalamata olives

  • 1 can ripe olives

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes

  • 2 C sliced bell peppers

  • 4 thinly sliced scallions

  • 2 C pepperoni, diced or sliced

  • 1 T sugar

  • salt & pepper to taste

Directions

  • Put heavily salted water on to boil as per pasta package directions.
  • Prepare a large bowl of ice water and set aside.
  • Cut zucchini and squash into bite sized pieces and set aside.
  • Cook pasta according to package directions.
  • When pasta is just about al dente, add the squashes to the pasta and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Drain pasta and squash and rinse under cold running water, then pour into prepared ice water bath.
  • Stir until thoroughly cooled; drain well.
  • Add ¾ of the Italian dressing, 2 cups of the mayonnaise, all of the pesto, and the sugar to the pasta and stir well.
  • Drain and slice the olives in half; wash, dry and cut the tomatoes in half.
  • Add the olives, tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions and pepperoni to the salad and mix well.
  • Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • Just before serving add the remaining dressing and enough additional mayonnaise to moisten.

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