This Italian Pasta Salad, featuring vibrant and fresh ingredients, is filled with flavor and is perfect for your next seasonal gathering. With delicious ingredients and a super simple method to prepare, this dish should easily make it into the Summer rotation and beyond!
This blog post is sponsored by DeLallo.
From tangy calamata olives, to zesty tomato bruschetta and fresh herbs, there’s so much to enjoy about this Italian Pasta Salad. The ingredients all pack a flavor punch that both easily and deliciously will make this a new favorite!
Pasta salads are typically a Summer favorite, as they’re refreshing and so versatile. This Italian Pasta Salad is no exception, and it will be a perfect go-to even when the season has gone! The DeLallo Shellbows are a fun twist on traditional pasta salad shapes. The Shellbows are not only eye-catching, but they’re an amazingly effective shape to capture all the yummy goodies in the salad.
Each ingredient sings in this salad, which brings me to some stars of the pasta salad show – the DeLallo Calamata Olives and Tomato Bruschetta. They are both SO very delicious and add a boldness to so many dishes. I love to use them in salads, pastas, pizzas, and savory skillets. They’re even amazing in dips!
The DeLallo Foods products are vast and so versatile, both savory and sweet! They make it easy to get a delicious meal on the table, for your family on weeknights or broader gatherings. You’ll find their array of yummy products on their website here.
Tips for Making This Italian Pasta Salad
Be sure to cook the Shellbows to just al dente, which is important for a pasta salad. You want the pasta to hold its shape well during mixing and serving. Also, adding salt to the pasta cooking water will season the pasta perfectly. I like to add around 1 tbsp kosher salt to the water along with the pasta, when making pasta salads.
For an extra freshness boost, you can squeeze the juice of an additional half lemon into the pasta salad just prior to serving.
Feel free to coarsely chop the calamata olives.
You can dial up or down the amount of dressing and parmesan that you add to the dish. The same goes for other ingredients, to make this your own.
This recipe is super easy to double, if making for a larger crowd, or to just have as leftovers. If you’ll be make this recipe the day before, leave out the dressing and arugula until just prior to serving, to avoid wilting.
How This Italian Pasta Salad Comes Together
Cooking the pasta:
Prepare the Shellbows according to package directions, adding in around 1 tbsp kosher salt into the cooking water along with the pasta, and stir.
While the pasta is cooking, you can use this time to chop other ingredients.
Once al dente, drain the pasta and run the pasta under cold water, then drain very well. Add the pasta to a large mixing bowl and add the lemon juice, parsley, and optional drizzle of olive oil and red chili flakes.
Making the dressing:
Simply add all Dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisk well, or add them to a jar with a lid and shake to combine.
Putting it all together:
Add the remaining salad ingredients to the bowl with the pasta: the arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, bruschetta, and parmesan. Drizzle as much or as little dressing as you like, over top.
As you can see, this Italian Pasta Salad is so easy to make! It’s also SO delicious.
Other Delicious Pasta Salad Recipes
If you try this recipe, I would love to see it! You can tag me on Instagram @janetsmunchmeals and be sure to leave a star rating in the recipe card below.
Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 2/3 lb. DeLallo Shellbows
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp fresh Italian / flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
- Optional drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and red chili flakes to taste
- 2 oz. arugula
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved
- ½ large English cucumber diced
- 1 7 oz. package DeLallo Pitted Seasoned Calamata Olives drained
- ½ cup shredded dairy-free parmesan to taste
- 1 jar DeLallo Tomato Bruschetta drained
- ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp agave nectar
- 2 tbsp fresh Italian/flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Cook shellbows according to package directions, adding in 1 tbsp kosher salt to the pasta cooking water when adding the dry pasta. Drain, rinse under cold water, then drain well. Add to a large dish or bowl. Add lemon juice, parsley, and optional oil / red chili flakes. Toss well.
- Add arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, parmesan, bruschetta and red onion. In a separate bowl, add all Dressing ingredients and whisk well. Pour desired amount of dressing over top.
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