Tri-Color Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12-ounce package tri-color rotini pasta
- ⅔ to 1 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing (see note)
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 (6-ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion or green onions
- ¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 6-10 fresh basil leaves, cut into strips or torn into pieces, plus more for garnish, if desired
- ¼ cup basil pesto (see note)
- ½ to 1 cup toasted pine nuts, optional (see note)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water until al dente, according to package directions. Drain the pasta and transfer to a bowl.
- Add the dressing and toss to evenly coat the warm pasta.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pasta, except for the pine nuts and extra basil. Toss to combine. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve (up to 4 hours). If the pasta salad seems dry after refrigerating, add a little more Caesar dressing and stir to combine.
- Before serving, top with pine nuts and fresh basil.
Notes
Caesar Salad Dressing: choose a brand of dressing that you love the flavor of. I recommend these brands: Ken's, Marzetti, Breannes or Newman's Own.
Tomatoes: you can use regular tomatoes in place of the Roma; I like to give them a light squeeze over the sink after slicing in half to get rid of a bit of water before adding them to the salad.
Pesto: for a brighter, fresher flavor, refrigerated storebought pesto is my preference over jarred/shelf stable pesto.
Pine Nuts: I've subbed unsalted sunflower seeds for the pine nuts before with good results (although pine nuts are my preference; love them!).