Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Sides · May 26, 2022

Rotini Pasta Salad with homemade Italian dressing

Name: Rotini Pasta Salad with homemade Italian dressing
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 12 - 16 oz. Rotini Noodles, cooked and drained; 3/4 cup Genoa Salami, chopped (You will want just under half a pound.); 1 1/4 cup orange pepper, chopped; 3/4 cup banana peppers, chopped (I use mild, but you can use a spicier version if you like. ); 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (I like to use the small mozzarella cheese balls but you can use whatever kind you like!); 1 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half; 1/2 cup red onion, chopped; 1/2 cup parsley. chopped; 1 6 oz can black olives, sliced; 2 large cucumbers, chopped; 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (Use a good, quality olive oil for this. ); 1/4 cup red wine vinegar; 2.5 Tbsp. lemon juice; 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated; 1.5 tsp. dried basil; 1.5 tsp. dried parsley; 1.5 tsp. garlic powder; 1.5 tsp. onion powder; 3/4 tsp. table salt; 1/2 tsp. sugar; 1/2 tsp. dried oregano; 1/4 tsp. black pepper; 1/4 tsp. paprika; 1/4 tsp. garlic salt

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Each summer my family used to have big, family picnics with extended family that we would only see once a year at that picnic. Some of these people didn’t even make the cut for weddings and funerals. But, massive family potluck picnics at the local forest preserve? They were there! And the one dish that we would always have in spades was pasta salad.

An Italian American staple dish

As an Italian American, pasta salad is a staple at all of our family celebrations – including all those celebrations outside the big ol’ family picnic. Birthdays, Christenings, baby showers, wedding showers, the 4^th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc. If there is a family gathering to be had, pasta salad is always on the menu.

This was specifically true in the summer. In our family, pasta is a year-round thing so it’s always nice to have a version that feels summer ready. Summer pasta salads always feel a bit lighter than their fall and winter counterparts with heavy sauces. You can find a delicious fall/winter pasta {HERE}.

So, in celebration of summer family picnics of yesteryear, and really in celebration of summertime and my family, I wanted to share a beautiful pasta salad recipe with you today.

Is this the true family pasta salad recipe?

Is this the pasta salad that’s at all our Italian America family bashes? No. Mainly because there is no standard recipe in my family for pasta salad. It’s really whatever my aunt (whichever of the 7 aunts) decided to throw in the bowl that day.

However, we do have some standard favorite things and I’ve combined a few of them to make my version of our family’s favorite pasta salad. And I’ve topped it off with an incredible homemade Italian dressing that is a staple in our home.

It starts with the noodle

When it comes to pasta salads, there’s two noodles we most often use in our family; Rotini and Tortellini. It’s almost always one or the other. Every now and then someone will go with Bow Tie, but If you bring a pasta salad with another kind of noodle, you’re going to get funny looks.

Fresh vegetables are always a must. In our family we always add peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and more. Sometimes broccoli makes an appearance. Every now and then spinach is added in. Black olives are always a big hit too. In my Rotini pasta salad, I decided to use and of that and banana peppers.

The final musts are a meat and cheese. Often my family uses pepperoni, but I decided to use Genoa Salami in my version.

As for the cheese, can you ever go wrong with mozzarella? No, you can’t, so toss some of that in too. And while we’re at it, I added plenty of parmesan to my homemade Italian dressing.

Lastly, I always like to add in some fresh herbs on every recipe I make. This one gets a healthy dose of parsley.

Then you can serve it on it’s own, as a side dish or even over greens. I love to serve this over arugula and spinach.

Homemade Italian Dressing

Sadly, my extended family often uses bottled dressing on their pasta salads. I get it. It’s easier. But take my advice. DO NOT MISS THE DRESSING IN THIS RECIPE!

The dressing is truly what pulls any pasta salad recipe together and makes it all sing. This simple homemade dressing will make you wonder why you’ve been using store bought, ever. It’s our go-to dressing now at home. Or at least the go-to Italian dressing. My Irish husband always prefers ranch. What a weirdo. 🙂 Although, that weirdo ate three helpings of this at dinner.

Thank you so much for following along today, friends! You can find the full, printable recipe for my Rotini Pasta Salad below and I hope you love it. I’d love to hear about some of your family summer traditions too in the comments!

For more pasta recipes, click {HERE} and for all our homemade recipes from the farmhouse, click {HERE}. I hope you’ll visit us again!