Italian Pasta Salad with Parmesan Cheese

Serves 10 in about 30 minutes. The pot starts with pint cherry tomatoes, then basil leaves.

Ingredients

• 16 oz tri-colored rotini pasta, uncooked
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 lb italian salami or summer sausage, cut in rounds, then quartered
• ½ cup pepperoncinis, sliced
• 10 oz mozzarella balls (pearls)
• ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted, cut in half
• ½ cup large black olives, pitted, sliced in thirds
• ⅓ cup red onion, diced
• ½ orange bell pepper, diced
• 9 large fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 (16 oz) bottle italian dressing (use your favorite)
• ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Method

1. Heat a pot of water to boil. Tip in the rotini and the salt. Simmer until al dente, or softer if you like. Don't cook too much as the pasta might fall apart when stirred in the salad.
2. Drain the pasta and immediately rinse it with cold water until cooled. This prevents overcooking. Tip in pasta to a large bowl.
3. Tip in all of the ingredients except for the dressing and parmesan, then stir.
4. Tip in half of the bottle of dressing, then gently toss to coat all of the ingredients.
5. Chill the pasta salad in the fridge for about 2 to 3 hours before serving, if you can. This helps the flavors all soak in.
6. Right before serving, add half of the remaining dressing and toss the salad. Taste and add more dressing if you want it.
7. Garnish with shredded parmesan cheese.

More pasta ideas are in the pasta collection.