With Memorial Day fast approaching, I thought I would start making picnic, potluck, beach, pool (and what ever else you have in mind) friendly food. This is my daughter Nina’s favorite pasta salad. I like the tortellini twist. This tortellini salad gets even better when you make it the day before, so the flavors have more time to blend together. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Tortellini Salad
Ingredients:
1 package of tortellini
1 cucumber diced
1 small package of grape tomato halved
1 red bell pepper diced
3 basil leaves finely chopped
10 pieces of salami diced
Vinaigrette
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
3 drops Tabasco
1 tablespoon sugar
Cook tortellini 2 minutes less than the package directions, in salted water, drain and place in a large bowl until cool. To the bowl, add cucumber, tomato, bell peppers, salami and basil.
In a jar with a lid, mix together vinaigrette ingredients. Seal jar, and shake until ingredients are blended. Pour over pasta salad and toss to coat. Cover and place pasta salad in refrigerator until completely cool.
**Vinaigrette can be stored in the refrigerator up to a week.