Antipasto Pasta Salad

Sometimes you want a certain taste… For me, as much as I hate to admit it, that taste is sometimes bottled Italian Dressing.  I didn’t use it for years because of the HFCS and I decided that I would try to make it myself.  Here’s what I came up with.

combine all ingredients in a small, seal-able, container and set aside.  We’re only going to use 2 tablespoons of it.  Store the rest as you would any spice mixture and it’s ready to use whenever you want.

In a jar with a lid, or a cruet if you want to go old school, combine 2 Tablespoons of the spice mixture, and equal parts extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I used  3/4 cup each. Close the jar and shake till it’s dressing.

For the salad:

2 boxes whole wheat linguine

2 large cucumbers, chopped

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 jar of kalamata olives, chopped, or buy the sliced

1 can black olives (try the Lindsay Naturals – they’re great) chopped

a big handful of sundried tomatoes, reconstituted if using dry, or packed in oil, chopped

1 large red onion sliced

chopped sweet peppers, you can use pickled or fresh, I used some orange, red and yellow, baby peppers that I had

assorted deli meat – I used ham, salami, sopresata, pepperoni

provolone, mozzarella, either, or both (I actually used a shredded italian blend because I thought I had provolone, but my kids had eaten it.

You could add anything that you like in an antipasto.  Anchovies, artichoke hearts, capers, the possibilities are endless.  I just used what I had on hand.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Slice or chop your meats and cheese, uniformly.  Drain and cool your pasta and  assemble all the ingredients in a large bowl, add the dressing and toss.

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