This is a cold Italian pasta salad rich in several paired flavors. It has a good variety of ingredients and maintains fresh Italian flavors.
Prep 20 minutesmins
Cook 8 minutesmins
Refrigeration Time 1 hourhr
Total Time 1 hourhr28 minutesmins
Servings 5servings
Calories 421kcal
Ingredients
Pasta Salad
9ozs3 Cheese Tortellinistore bought, any type
12eacherry tomatoeshalved or quartered, 1/2 cup = 12
4ozssalamidiced
½cupcucumberdiced
¼cupred oniondiced
¼cupblack olivessliced, chopped, halved, or quartered
2ozsmozzarella cheeseballs or shredded
0tspsaltoptional, to taste
0tspblack ground pepperoptional, to taste
Salad Dressing
1cupZesty Italian Dressingor Italian Dressing
¼tspGarlic Powderor double minced garlic
¼tsponion powder
1½Tbspgrated parmesan cheese
Add To Salad When Served
½cupspinachfresh leaves, coarsely chopped
Instructions
Cook tortellini following its directions. When done, drain in colander, and run cold water through it. Let drain for about 10 minutes.
9 ozs 3 Cheese Tortellini
Prepare remaining "Pasta Salad" ingredients and combine into a mixing bowl.
12 ea cherry tomatoes, 4 ozs salami, ½ cup cucumber, ¼ cup red onion, ¼ cup black olives, 2 ozs mozzarella cheese
Run cold water over drained pasta to loosen it up and to cool it down further. Let it drain about ½ minute or so.
9 ozs 3 Cheese Tortellini
Add pasta into mixing bowl of other salad ingredients. Then, mix together the salad dressing ingredients (dressing, garlic powder, onion powder), Parmesan cheese) and pour it in, mixing it up to coat everything. Still, leave out the spinach.
1 cup Zesty Italian Dressing, 9 ozs 3 Cheese Tortellini
Transfer mixed contents into a non-metal salad bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Store chopped spinach separately in fridge also.
When ready to serve, mix in the chopped spinach. However, if you'll have leftovers to store, only add spinach into each serving. Add salt and pepper to taste per serving.
tsp salt, ½ cup spinach, tsp black ground pepper
Notes
Keeps for 1 day if spinach was added. Keeps 4-5 days refrigerated if spinach is separate.
Nutrition Facts
Recipe for 3 Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad
Amount per Serving
Calories
421
% Daily Value*
Fat
26
g
40
%
Saturated Fat
7
g
44
%
Trans Fat
0.03
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
6
g
Monounsaturated Fat
8
g
Cholesterol
48
mg
16
%
Sodium
1407
mg
61
%
Potassium
194
mg
6
%
Carbohydrates
30
g
10
%
Fiber
3
g
13
%
Sugar
7
g
8
%
Protein
16
g
32
%
Vitamin A
436
IU
9
%
Vitamin C
3
mg
4
%
Calcium
163
mg
16
%
Iron
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.