It's Natasha of NatashaKitchen.com

and today I'm gonna show you how to make

an Italian pasta salad.

This is loaded with all the best ingredients.

This is so satisfying and it keeps really well

in the refrigerator so it is perfect for meal prep.

(gentle whoosh)

And I'm gonna show you how to make

a homemade Italian dressing

that'll make you fall in love with salad.

So let's get started.

(bell dinging)

We'll start with the simple dressing.

In a mason jar, combine 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

and three tablespoons of white white vinegar.

Next add 1/4 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese

and one tablespoon of real mayo.

Also add one teaspoon of sugar

to balance out that vinegar,

and finely grate in one large garlic clove.

You can also use a garlic press.

For our seasonings, we use 1/2 a teaspoon each

of oregano, parsley and basil,

also 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.

Most store bought salad dressings are saltier

so if you do like more salt, you can add the salt to taste.

Cover that tightly with the lid

and shake it up until it's well combined.

I love making this in a mason jar

because you can make it ahead and it keeps

really well in the refrigerator.

Then just before serving, just give it a good shake.

Try that yummy dressing and you can add

more salt to taste at this point.

We'll set that aside and make our Italian pasta salad.

To cook the pasta, bring a large sauce pan

of water to a boil.

Casually add salt to the water.

Then add eight ounces of rotini pasta

and cook according to the package instructions

until it's al dente or firm to the bite.

It's super important that you don't overcook the pasta.

While the pasta is on the stove,

you can prep the rest of your ingredients.

Slice up six ounces of salami into thin strips.

Next cut in half 10 ounces or

about three cups of cherry tomatoes.

And I find it's easiest to use a serrated knife

to get through those tomato skins.

And if you have a trick

for quickly cutting up cherry tomatoes,

let me in know in the comments.

Next dice up half of an English cucumber.

And what I love about this salad

is you can change it up

based on what's on your refrigerator.

If you don't like cucumbers, you can also try bell peppers.

You'll see me using this food scraper tool a ton.

It is one of my favorite kitchen tools

and it's very inexpensive.

I will link to ours in the notes.

Next, finely dice one medium red onion.

And I do like to finely dice

so that it still has all of that great onion flavor

but it disappears into the salad.

Next you'll need eight ounces of fresh mozzarella.

I'm using mozzarella pearls because it's easy

and you don't have to cut them.

But you can also use mozzarella balls

and cut those in half or use an eight ounce block

of fresh mozzarella and just dice it up.

We're using 1/2 a cup of black olives.

And you can buy those pitted and sliced already

to save yourself some time.

I also love to add 1/2 a cup of Kalamata olives.

Make sure you get the ones that are pitted

and just cut them in half.

Also add 1/2 cup of roasted red peppers,

coarsely chop those up.

And you can use store bought roasted red peppers in a jar

or you can roast your own.

If you're feeling adventurous, I will leave a link

to our tutorial on how to roast sweet peppers.

And last but not least,

finely chop 1/3 cup of fresh parsley.

Now make sure you have your timer set for your pasta

and turn it off as soon as it reach al dente.

Then drain off the hot water right away

and rinse under cold water until the pasta

is completely cooled down.

Rinsing the pasta in cold water does

three important things.

It stops the cooking process, removes excess starch

and cools down the pasta.

Now just layer everything into a large salad bowl,

starting with the pasta as a base.

I love arranging things in a ring.

That way you can see all the tasty

and beautiful ingredients.

And it just looks irresistibly good.

I love that you can really customize the salad

and if there's something special

that you put into your pasta salads,

let me know in the notes.

Oh, who's excited?

(laughing)

All that's left to do is to dress it up and serve it

and if you wanted to make it ahead for a party

or for meal prep, you could just cover it with plastic wrap,

pop it in the fridge and it'll last longer that way

before adding the dressing.

Or you can dress it a couple hours before your event.

Ah it just gets better as it stands.

So lets do this.

Alright and then with a dressing,

just like with any dressing,

there is some settling and that's normal.

It can separate.

So just before serving, give it a good shake

to combine everything back together.

Make sure it's really smooth.

And then,

oh oh that smells good.

Oh that smells good (laughs) and it's had

some time to meld.

Oh my goodness.

Seriously this gets better with time too.

Alright, lets do this.

And be generous.

Just add the dressing to taste.

Alright now that we've added a generous amount of dressing,

we just have to toss this together

so that every bite is coated in that scrumptious dressing.

My mouth is totally watering for this

and I'm hungry (laughing).

This is perfect because it is a meal in itself.

It's loaded with grain and protein with salami and cheese.

And then tons of fresh veggies.

This is such a treat.

Also perfect for parties because it is make ahead.

Oh my goodness, make this and watch people's eyes light up.

It's so good.

(laughing)

Okay.

I'm gonna get right to this.

Seriously I'm so hungry.

Alright here we go.

Ah and it's just a nice blend of everything.

'Cause I don't like pasta salads

where it's just a ton of pasta.

I like a ton of everything.

Okay here we go.

Try to get a little bit of everything on my fork,

which is like good luck to me

because there's a lot of stuff.

(laughing)

Okay here we go.

Mm!

Mm!

Hm.

That is so good.

I love the different textures in there too.

You've got the tender plump noodles.

And the cheese of course.

And then the crisp veggies, the cucumber and tomato.

It is such a treat.

It just feels so fresh and so, so satisfying.

And then seriously, this dressing,

you have to try this dressing.

Not just for this salad but for all of your salads.

(laughing)

I'll leave a link to the print friendly version

in the description.

It is just such a good Italian dressing.

Also before you add the dressing,

this is perfect for meal prepping.

And we love to use these containers.

I'll link to these, our favorite.

We reuse them.

They're washable which is awesome.

You just wanna put in the salad before the dressing

and just put the little dressing in a little cup

and mix it together and serve it

when you're ready to eat it.

It's perfect for work lunch, school lunch.

So delicious and satisfying.

And there's no need to heat it.

And I love that you can change it up

based on what you have in the fridge.

You could add some fresh bell pepper.

You could change up the cheese.

A feta cheese would be really good here or Parmesan.

Add a different kind of veggie.

It's just really up to you.

Make the salad your own.

This is just our favorite pasta salad.

If you guys love this recipe

and you're looking for more meal prep ideas

that you can make ahead, check out

some of our favorites right over there

and right down there.

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