Italian Vegetarian Pasta Salad (Printable)
Colorful pasta tossed with fresh vegetables, mozzarella, and zesty Italian dressing. Ready in 30 minutes.
# What You Need:
→ Pasta
01 - 10 oz short-cut pasta (fusilli, penne, or farfalle)
→ Vegetables
02 - 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
03 - 1 cup cucumber, diced
04 - 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
05 - 1 cup bell pepper (red or yellow), diced
06 - 1/2 cup black olives, pitted and sliced
07 - 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
08 - 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
→ Cheese
09 - 3.5 oz fresh mozzarella pearls
→ Herbs
10 - 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
11 - 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
→ Dressing
12 - 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
13 - 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
14 - 1 tbsp lemon juice
15 - 1 tsp Dijon mustard
16 - 1 garlic clove, minced
17 - 1 tsp dried oregano
18 - 1/2 tsp salt
19 - 1/4 tsp black pepper
# How-To:
01 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the short-cut pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain through a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold running water to halt cooking. Set aside to cool completely.
02 - In a large mixing bowl, toss together the cooled pasta, halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, sliced red onion, diced bell pepper, sliced black olives, quartered artichoke hearts, and sliced sun-dried tomatoes.
03 - In a small bowl or mason jar, whisk together the extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper until emulsified and well blended.
04 - Pour the dressing over the pasta and vegetable mixture. Add the mozzarella pearls, chopped basil, and chopped parsley. Toss gently until everything is evenly coated with dressing.
05 - Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow flavors to meld together.
# Expert Tips:
01 -
- The dressing doubles as a marinade for grilled vegetables if you have leftovers, so nothing goes to waste.
- It tastes even better the next day after the flavors soak into every noodle and cranny of the mozzarella pearls.
- You can swap nearly every vegetable based on what is wilting in your crisper drawer and it still works beautifully.
02 -
- Rinsing pasta feels wrong if you grew up in an Italian household, but for cold salad it is essential to remove surface starch that would otherwise make everything gummy and clumped together.
- Do not skip the resting time in the fridge, the dressing needs those thirty minutes to seep into the pasta and the vegetables benefit from chilling to a unified temperature.
03 -
- Cook the pasta one minute less than the package says because it continues to soften slightly as it absorbs the acidic dressing while resting in the fridge.
- A pinch of sugar in the dressing rounds out the vinegar and lemon without making it sweet, a restaurant trick worth stealing for any vinaigrette you make.