Antipasto Tortellini Salad
I’ve talked before how I love the summer. There are so many reasons… the pool, the beach, late night walks on the beach, beautiful sunsets and of course cooking outside. Cooking outside means eating outside and I love eating outside. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a meadow under a big oak tree, at an outdoor concert or on a beautiful sandy beach, there’s nothing better than a picnic.
If a picnic sounds intimidating, it doesn’t have to be. A picnic can be as simple as sandwiches and sodas or as intricate as fried chicken, skillet cookies and cocktails. It could be breakfast, lunch or dinner, and while lunch is nice, dinner is so much better; especially if it’s on the beach with someone you love, watching the sun dip below the waves. (Can you tell, I’ve done this once or twice before.)
But back to the picnic. You could make sandwiches, but I prefer something a little more complicated. I’ve made grilled chicken taco salad, fried chicken and even quiche, and the one thing they all have in common is that they’re all good fresh out of the oven (or off the grill). But they’re also delicious at room temperature, and when you’re eating dinner at an outdoor concert or waiting for the sunset, you’re going to want something that’s just as good cold as it is hot. So, I make things like fried chicken or quiche or pasta salads. They’re delicious, filling and easy to make. But best of all… they look beautiful on a plate.
This pasta salad is great because you can pretty much add whatever you want to it. Yes, an antipasto platter usually has olives, peppers, salami, mortadella, mozzarella, marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts… a lot of Italian foods. But the beauty of an antipasto plate is that you can put whatever you want on that platter. Don’t like mushrooms? Leave them off. Hate salami? Forget it. You can do the same thing with this salad. You can even leave the meat out of this salad altogether since the tortellini is filled with beef. But hey, if you don’t like meat inside your pasta or you’re a vegetarian, you can just as easily go with cheese tortellini. The point is, this salad is pretty much an anything in your cupboard type thing, making it super simple and the best option for a nice outdoor dinner.
Notes
This salad can be made four or five hours ahead of time. Just cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Ingredients
- 1 pound meat-filled tortellini
- 3/4 cup pesto
- 1 cup green olives, pitted
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 12 ounces marinated mozarella, halved
Instructions
- Cook the tortellini according to package directions; drain and rinse with cold water. Place in a large bowl and set aside.
- Add the pesto, olives, tomatoes and mozzarella and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
