not your mama's pasta salad

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Christine Whisenhunt
Visalia, CA

This is not your typical pasta salad, ergo the name I gave it. LOL My cousin brought this to a get together once and I was blown away. I have tweaked it some to my taste. For instance, she added garbanzo beans. I hate garbanzos, so I omitted them. Don't be afraid to add things you love and omit things you don't. You truly can't mess it up! Enjoy!

(1 rating)
yield serving(s)

Ingredients For not your mama's pasta salad

  • 2 pkg
    rotini pasta, i like the tri color one
  • 1
    each red, green, yellow, and orange bell peppers
  • 1 lg
    red onion, sliced thin
  • 1 can
    black olives
  • 2 c
    green olives
  • 1 lg
    cucumber, sliced
  • 1 pkg
    cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 lb
    pre-sliced hard salami, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 lb
    mozzarella or provolone, cubed (i prefer mozzarella)
  • 1 sm
    jars pepperoncini peppers, drained (whole or sliced)
  • 2 sm
    jars artichoke hearts, sliced in half lengthwise
  • 1-2 bottle
    italian dressing

How To Make not your mama's pasta salad

  • 1
    Cook pasta. Rinse in cold water to cool. Drain well.
  • 2
    In a very large bowl, mix all ingredients together. Add dressing. If you are not serving until the next day, I recommend withholding the tomatoes, cucumber and cheese until shortly before serving, to prevent them from getting too soft or mushy. As this sits, especially if you prepare it the night before, you will find it soaks up the dressing and you will need to add more. Start with one bottle of dressing and go from there. You want it coated well, but not sitting in a pool of dressing.
  • 3
    Note: I believe my cousin used kalamata olives. I like them ok, but I love green olives, so I use green olives in their place. Experiment with the varieties you love! Enjoy! P.S. If you want a healthier version, omit the salami and/or use chopped chicken breast.

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