RECIPE: Antipasto Pasta Salad

June 16, 2015

RECIPE: Antipasto Pasta Salad

Summer’s here and it’s potluck, picnic and barbecue season! This is my all-time favorite pasta salad to make for those occasions, or just to have ready in the fridge to avoid cooking on hot days. It is made up of all the yummy bits you might see on an antipasto tray. It’s so good that I could, and I speak from experience here, eat it at least once a day for a week and still look forward to the next bowl. It’s great for outdoor gatherings because there’s no mayonnaise to spoil. The recipe is infinitely customizable to the preferences of your diners or the fanciness of your occasion. You can also leave all of your ingredients in large enough pieces for picky eaters to easily avoid the bits they don’t like. And, if you don’t feel like doing a lot of prep work, you can find a good variety of ingredients already prepared for you at many supermarket salad and olive bars.

Antipasto Pasta Salad

1 pound dry pasta
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
2 cups (approx.) or 1 bottle Italian salad dressing
4 ribs of celery, sliced
10.5 ounce container cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 green onions, sliced (not pictured)
8 ounces salami, cubed
1 cup olives, whole, halved or sliced
1 cup marcona almonds

Some notes before we get started:

PASTA: If you use a smaller cut of pasta such as “salad macaroni” or small shells then you would want to cut the rest of your ingredients about the same size. I recommend a medium sized cut of pasta such as the radiatori that I used. Penne, fusilli, farfalle or cavatappi are some other good choices. Also, don’t feel married to pasta with this salad. I’ve substituted white beans for the pasta with good results. Lately I’ve been thinking about using rice, quinoa, or some combination of grains. I’ll also be trying this with Israeli couscous at some point, cutting all of the ingredients into a small dice so that it looks more like a salsa…Oh, the ideas!
ONION: I use red onion in this recipe specifically for the color. Yellow, white or sweet onion would be fine, or even shallot. I like a lot of onion, but I don’t like it to have a sharp bite. To mellow the onion I either add it to the pasta for the last minute of cook time, or put the chopped onion in the colander before pouring in the pasta to drain. I added the sliced green onions at the end for their milder fresh onion taste.
ITALIAN SALAD DRESSING: Use your family’s favorite. Homemade, semi-homemade (from a dry mix) or bottled. I prefer to start with a dry mix and use balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I used 2 envelopes of dry salad dressing mix for this recipe.
OLIVES: Use what you like. I always use kalamata and, this time, added some good quality green olives as well since my supermarket olive bar had a beautiful pre-cut mixture of the two all ready cut up and ready to go.
MARCONA ALMONDS: These are a Spanish variety that I usually buy roasted with olive oil and salt. Alternatives would be toasted blanched almonds or toasted pine nuts…maybe even toasted macadamia nuts. If you will be serving the salad right away then toasted pistachios would be a good option. I think pistachios tend to kind of mealy though by the second day.
TOMATOES: If you can find small multi-colored heirloom tomatoes they would give your salad beautiful visual appeal. Here’s a tip on how to cut them: Corral them between 2 plastic container lids, place a flat palm on top with a little pressure to keep everything in place, then slide a sharp serrated knife between the lids and through the tomatoes. This works best if all of the tomatoes are of a similar size. If your tomatoes vary in size, try cutting them in batches sorted by size. Just be sure to keep the fingers of that top hand out of the way!

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS: bell pepper, chili pepper, artichoke hearts or bottoms, small balls or cubes of fresh mozzarella, shavings or crumbles of Parmesan, cubes of queso fresco or crumbles of feta, butter beans, giant white beans or cannellini beans, chunks of roasted green beans, summer squash or asparagus, roasted red pepper strips, pepperoncini or peppadew peppers, marinated mushrooms, a pinch of red chili flakes…
Think about the colors of your ingredients and try to get a good variety. A “feast for the eyes” as they say.

Okay, now on to the method:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Add onions either during the last minute of cooking, to the colander before draining the pasta, or in your mixing bowl before pouring the drained, hot pasta directly on top of them.
Add about half of your salad dressing, mix well, then allow the onions and pasta to cool to room temperature.
Add all of your remaining ingredients, except the salad dressing, and mix gently.

Add enough of the remaining dressing to coat all of the ingredients but not have them swimming in dressing.
Serve or refrigerate immediately. I’ve kept this salad in the refrigerator for up to a week, but keep in mind your ingredient choices and how long each of them will keep. I would not recommend freezing it.

I think this salad tastes even better the next day, so definitely make it a day or two ahead when you can. Although I do not recommend freezing this salad, many of the ingredients can be frozen separately so that the salad could be tossed together and dressed on short notice.

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Colleen Houck

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RECIPE: Antipasto Pasta Salad

June 16, 2015

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Colleen Houck