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Make this amazing Pesto Pasta Salad for your next dinner or picnic and watch the compliments pour in! This delicious side dish features tri-color rotini, savory olives, and an array of fantastic seasonings. You’ll love every delectable bite!
Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients you will need:
- 1 box tri-color rotini pasta, cooked al dente and chilled
- 1 bag Italian blend fine shredded cheese
- 4 oz pre-made basil pesto
- 1 sweet yellow onion, fine diced
- 3 roma tomatoes, seeded and fine diced
- 2 green peppers, fine diced
- 1 each yellow and red peppers, fine diced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chiffonade
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon season salt
- 1/2 can pitted black olives
- 1 pkg Kalamata olives
- 1 pkg olives gigante
- 1 bottle balsamic reduction
Finely dice 1 sweet yellow onion. Place in bowl.
Finely dice 2 green peppers. Place in bowl.
Finely dice 1 yellow pepper. Place in bowl.
Finely dice 1 red pepper. Place in bowl.
Chop 1/2 can pitted black olives. Place in bowl.
Drain juice 1 package Kalamante olives into bowl.
Roughly chop 1 package Kalamante olives. Place in bowl.
Drain juice from 1 package olives gigante into bowl.
Roughly chop 1 package olives gigante. Place in bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons garlic powder, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning to bowl.
Add 1 package Italian blend cheese to bowl.
Chiffonade (finely chop) 2 tablespoons basil. Place in bowl.
Add 4 oz pre-made pesto to bowl.
Add 4 oz balsamic reduction to bowl.
Chop 3 roma tomatoes. Add to bowl.
Bring a large saucepan filled with water to medium-high heat. Add salt and a tablespoon of butter.
Add 1 box tri-color rotini. Boil until cooked.
Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Place pasta in freezer until chilled.
Pour chilled pasta into bowl.
Mix thoroughly.
Serve and enjoy!
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What Is Pesto?
Odds are you’ve heard of pesto, and have perhaps even tried it, but you might not know exactly what it is! When an American says “pesto,” odds are they’re referring to an Italian sauce made up of crushed basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil. But there are many variations to pesto covering a wide range of flavors and nationalities.
Another Tasty Pesto Recipe!
Chicken Zucchini Pesto Pizza Boats Recipe
This healthy pizza boat is loaded with delicious flavors and ingredients, including pesto!
Pesto Pasta Salad Video Recipe
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Pesto Pasta Salad Video Transcript
Hi, I’m Chef Ted, and I’m coming to you from the Rada Cutlery kitchen, and today I’m going to be making a pesto pasta salad. We’re going to start by dicing up half an onion. Then I’m going to take half of a green pepper. We’re going to do a long sliver on these. Half a yellow pepper. A red pepper. And I have about half a can of black pitted olives. Going to give them a rough chop.
Them I have some of these Kalamata olives. What I like to do is drain the olive oil off that that they’re packed in. And then I’m going to give these a rough chop, let them spread through the pasta salad when it’s done. I try to scoop up all the juices with my knife, as well. And then there’s olives gigante, which are green olives seasoned. We’re just going to chop these about the same way.
Now what I’m going to do is add a little bit of garlic. A lot of the seasoning on these is going to be to your preference, to your taste. You’ll probably have to add a little more later. Then you have to add some Italian seasoning, which is basically dried, oregano, basil. Add a little sugar to it. A little season salt. Going to add a little Italian blend cheese. And I’m going to take out some fresh basil, chop it up, put it in there. We have some pre-made pesto. I’m going to add some of the balsamic reduction, which is pre-made, saves a lot of time,
We’ve got a couple of roma tomatoes, I’m going to quarter them using the tomato slicer, and I’m going to take these and I’m just going to dice them up real fine.
Now I’m getting ready to cook up the pasta, so I’m going to fire this up to a medium high, throw a little butter in there to keep it from sticking together. A little bit of salt to bring that boil up. Some people do it, some people don’t, I like adding the pasta early. I’ve got the tri-color rotini cooked down to where it’s about perfect. We’re going to drain it with a colander and run some cold water over it. Stop that cooking process.
The last step is adding the pasta in. It’s all cooled, completely cooled. I actually put it in the freezer for a little while because you don’t want it melting your cheese. Then toss it a little bit. Try and mix everything together. And I always use my hands so it doesn’t cut the pasta up. Then you want to taste it, get a little bit of everything. That way you can adjust the seasoning and flavorings. I don’t think it needs anything. It’s great. Use it as a side, a garnish, enjoy.
End of Video Transcript
