Potluck Antipasto Pasta Salad
I love trying new recipes, and this one for Italian pasta salad tops all other varieties I've tried. With beans, cheese, sausage and vegetables, it's a hearty complement to any meal. —Bernadette Nelson, Arcadia, California
Ingredients
- 1 package (16 ounces) penne pasta
- 1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 medium sweet red or green pepper, julienned
- 2 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced
- 4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, julienned
- 4 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, julienned
- 4 ounces brick or provolone cheese, julienned
- 4 ounces thinly sliced hard salami, julienned
- 3 ounces thinly sliced pepperoni
- 1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
- 1 to 2 tablespoons minced chives
- BASIL VINAIGRETTE:
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Reviews
Delicious mix of flavors. As other reviewers posted, bottled Italian dressing works great in a pinch. Please people. If the recipe isn’t for you, don’t insult other people’s intelligence by stating the recipe is low carb. We get it. Just move on to another selection. How arrogant.
This salad is delicious. We don't like chickpeas, so I used cannelli beans.
This is probably my favorite Taste of Home recipe! This salad has great flavor and loaded with veggies. I didn't have chickpeas so I skipped those but everything else went together great! I could eat this every day!
Loved this salad! It's fairly easy to make and very tasty.
My husband and grown children are pasta lovers along with me. So a few days ago I was stumped at planning a light dinner before we went to a Christmas play @ my school. So I just Googled what I had in my fridge and this great recipe was one of a few that was listed in the results. I had most of the ingredients in my fridge and I had the pasta in the cabinet, the only thing missing was the chickpeas and the g beans. I just used what I had and because I was in a hurry I used the Italian Dressing instead of making the vinaigrette and of course a bit of salt and pepper and just a pinch of sugar and a shake of red pepper flakes. Needless to say it was a hit with everyone and I had picked up some freshly made french bread and it actually bumped it up to a good meal. I have several holiday parties that are potlucks and I plan to make this for each one .
This salad is wonderful! I made it for our granddaughter's baptism celebration and everyone loved it! (We especially liked the variety of ingredients!) I made a few changes to the dressing which included substituting my homemade pesto for the basil, adding 1 tsp. dried oregano, 1 Tbl. sugar and a little more salt...YUM! I can't wait to make it again!
The prep for this was daunting and I found it bland. I will try it again and experiment with adding additional seasoning.
The husband loved it. Was easy to make. I used Italian dressing in place of the vinaigrette. Great summer time dish with a slice of homemade bread.
My daughter ask me frequently to fix this salad for her to take for lunch to school.I prefer to use the mini pasta and the mini peperoni for her, but I also have used the garden delight penne pasta with the regular peperoni. It is one of our family favorite.
Try whole wheat pasta or the new low carb pasta for a low carb Antipasto Salad. Very tasty - great summer potluck for church.