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Large brown bowl filled with Italian tortellini pasta salad with red onion, bell pepper, artichoke hearts, parsley, olives, and more all on taupe surface.
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Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad

The perfect summertime pasta dish couldn’t be anything other than this fresh Italian tortellini pasta salad. It’s chocked full of stuffed tortellini, red bell pepper, salami, olives, and so many other delicious flavors. Plus, a quick homemade Italian-style dressing marries everything together with a slight spice. It’s perfect all season long!
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Difficulty Easy
Method Mixing
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 32 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 488kcal
Author Kaleb

Ingredients

For the pasta salad

  • 1 lb tortellini
  • 1 large bell pepper
  • 1 small red onion diced
  • ¾ cup mixed pitted olives roughly chopped
  • 1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
  • 4 oz salami chopped
  • ½ cup pepperoncini chopped
  • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 oz Parmesan cheese shredded

For the Italian dressing

  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 small shallot roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic smashed
  • ¾ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
  • 10 leaves fresh basil

Instructions

For the pasta salad

  • Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Once the pasta is cooked, remove it from the heat, drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, and set it aside to cool.
  • Heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over high heat. Place the red pepper on the hot pan and cook until it is blackened on all sides, 8-12 minutes. Once the pepper is blackened, remove it from the heat and place it in a bowl with a tight-fitting lid to steam. After 5 minutes, scrape the black skin off of the pepper, discard the seeds and stem and dice the pepper.
  • In a large bowl, combine the drained pasta and the prepared dressing (see below) and mix them together. Add the diced red pepper, red onion, olives, artichoke hearts, pepperoncini, salami, and parsley. Mix to combine and top with the Parmesan cheese. Store in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to marinate.

For the dressing

  • Using an immersion blender or food processor, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, shallot, garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Dijon mustard, oregano leaves, and basil leaves. Blend until the herbs are finely chopped and set it aside.

Notes

  • While rinsing pasta is usually not something that’s recommended, when making this pasta salad, I feel that it’s needed. The rinsing will stop the cooking and remove any residual starch from the exterior of the pasta, preventing it from clumping together while the rest of the recipe is prepared.
  • To speed up the process of making the dressing, simply place everything in a food processor and blend it. You could also use a handheld immersion blender to achieve the same results.
  • If possible, let this pasta salad sit for at least an hour before serving. The pasta will soak up some of the dressing that was poured over the top, enhancing the flavor even more. It’s even better if left overnight in the refrigerator and served chilled.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 488kcal

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