Gourmet Antipasto Pasta Salad

Pasta salad antipasto style. This is a delicious dish that is perfect as an appetizer, side dish or main dish. pasta salad recipe starts with cooked pasta combined with chopped Genoa salami, chopped pepperoni sausage, diced Asiago cheese, chopped black olives, diced red and green bell pepper, and chopped tomatoes. Salad is marinated in Italian style dressing mix and then dressed before serving with vinaigrette prepared from extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried oregano, dried parsley, grated fresh Parmesan cheese, coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Ingredients -

1 pound Seashell OR Small Pasta, cooked al dente, drained and rinsed under cold water
1/4 pound Genoa Salami, chopped
1/4 pound Pepperoni Sausage, chopped
1/2 pound Asiago Cheese, diced
1 (6 ounces) can Black Olives, drained and chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
3 Tomatoes, chopped
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-Style Salad Dressing mix
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 tablespoons dried Oregano
1 tablespoon dried Parsley
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large serving bowl, combine the cooked pasta, chopped salami, chopped pepperoni, diced Asiago cheese, black olives, red and green bell pepper, and chopped tomatoes.

2. Stir in dry Italian-Style Salad dressing mix.

3. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

4. To prepare the antipasto dressing, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried oregano, dried parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

5. Just before serving, pour antipasto salad dressing over the pasta salad, and stir to mix well.