Pasta Salad Italian Style

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 20
• 1 (1 lb) package frozen tri-colored cheese tortellini
• 2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• 1 can cannellini beans or 1 can pink beans or 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 lb button mushrooms or 1 lb baby portabella mushrooms, cleaned
• 1 bunch scallion, sliced
• 1 small red onion, cut into rings
• 2 -4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped fine
• 4 -6 fresh roma tomatoes, seeded and sliced
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen italian green beans, thawed and drained (or fresh ones, blanched)
• 2 roasted bell peppers, sliced or diced
• 1 can black pitted olive, drained
• 1 jar stuffed spanish olives, drained
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 1 -2 large fresh sweet pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cups broccoli florets (raw or blanched)
• 1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets (raw or blanched)
• 5 -10 cloves garlic, minced (or to taste)
• 2 cups diced mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups sharp provolone cheese, cut into thin sticks (or your favorite sharp cheese)
• 2 -3 cups pepperoni or 2 -3 cups genoa salami, cut into chunks (or both)
• 2 -4 pepperoncini peppers, seeded and sliced (italian vinegar peppers)
• 1/4-1/2 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
• 2 -3 cups of your favorite italian salad dressing
• salt
• pepper
• grated parmesan cheese or romano cheese
• italian seasoning

Recipe

• 1 combine artichoke hearts, mushrooms, cannelli beans, black beans, green beans, sun dried tomatoes and about 1 cup of dressing in a large sized bowl, toss well, cover bowl and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
• 2 in a large pot, boil water for tortellini and cook according to package directions, do not overcook them.
• 3 while pasta is cooking, chop, seed and drain all vegetables, as indicated.
• 4 drain cooked tortellini and rinse under cold water until pasta is cool.
• 5 place pasta in a large bowl, and toss with enough dressing to coat.
• 6 cover and refrigerate pasta.
• 7 continue preparing the remaining vegetables, cheeses and meats.
• 8 when all is prepared, mix marinated vegetable/bean mixture and dressing into the pasta and toss to combine all.
• 9 add everything else except fresh tomatoes and mix well.
• 10 cover and refrigerate until serving time.
• 11 just before serving, add fresh tomatoes and toss to mix.
• 12 taste and adjust seasonings to your preference, add additional dressing if salad seems dry.