This is my favorite cold pasta dish to make.  It’s quick, easy and tasty. Once you get the basic recipe down, you can change it up, using whatever you have in your cabinet. You can create a new pasta salad every time you make it. Here are the ingredients I chose this time around.

Cheese tortellini. I use two packages when I make this dish for a gathering or a potluck. Please cut the recipe in half for a regular dinner. I bought the tortellini from Trader Joe’s for $2.00 a package.

Two packs of salami. I usually get it from the deli and cut the meat into cubes, but laziness won out and this is all I could find at Trader Joe’s, and I was too tired to go to another store.

Next, you’ll need ared onion, a cucumber, yellow and red bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes.

Minced garlic, marinated artichoke hearts, and either black olives or Greek Kalamata olives enrich the flavor of the tortellini salad.

Crumbled feta cheese with Mediterranean Herbs. I ended up using about one and a half containers. You can use any cheese you want and how much or how little you want.

Red Wine vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil mixed with….

:

ground black pepper, garlic powder, basil and sea salt to make a vinaigrette dressing for the pasta.

How to create the Tortellini pasta salad:

Cook the tortellini pasta for about seven minutes. Drain and let it cool while you work on the rest of the salad. Cut up your vegetables and place them in a large bowl.

At this point, I season the veggies with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and basil. I like to season in layers so everything gets covered.

Next, add the salami, artichoke hearts, olives, feta cheese, garlic and tortellini. Mix as you add the vinaigrette dressing. I really do a lot of mixing to get everything coated. Taste as you go. Once the flavor is almost perfect, I add one last ingredient…my secret weapon.

Good ole Wishbone Italian dressing takes the taste to another level. And here is the end result…

Here’s a variation on the recipe using tri-color rotini and mild cheddar cheese.

Hope you enjoy.

Stay Blessed,

Barbie