Creamy Italian Pasta Salad

The Trick: Save Some Dressing

Pasta keeps drinking up dressing as it sits, so a salad that looked perfect at noon can look dry by dinner. This recipe mixes in most of the Italian dressing with the mayo up front and holds back ¼ cup. Stir that in right before serving and the salad turns creamy and glossy again. Rinsing the cooked pasta with cold water also helps: it stops the cooking and washes off surface starch, so the spirals don't clump.

What You'll Need

• Rotini. The spirals trap the dressing and little bits of salami and olive. Fusilli, farfalle, or shells also work.
• Genoa salami. Diced small. Pepperoni or ham are easy swaps.
• Mozzarella pearls. Mild and creamy. Cubed provolone is sharper.
• Cherry tomatoes, black olives, and red onion. Color, juiciness, and crunch.
• Pepperoncini. Mild, tangy pickled peppers that give Italian pasta salad its zing.
• Mayonnaise and Italian dressing. Bottled or homemade (see below).
• Parmesan, dried oregano, and garlic powder. To boost the dressing.

How to Make It

Cook the rotini in well-salted boiling water (about 1 tablespoon salt per 4 quarts) for 9–10 minutes, until just al dente; it softens a little more in the dressing. Drain, rinse under cold water for about 30 seconds until cool, and shake the colander hard to get rid of the water.

Whisk the mayonnaise, ½ cup of the Italian dressing, parmesan, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until smooth. Combine the pasta, salami, mozzarella, tomatoes, olives, onion, and pepperoncini in a very large bowl, pour on the dressing, and toss until everything is coated.

Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days. Before serving, stir in the reserved ¼ cup dressing, taste, and adjust the salt. Cold dulls flavor, so it usually needs a pinch more than you'd think. Top with parsley or basil.

Homemade Italian Dressing

Shake together ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon dried basil, 1 grated garlic clove, 1 teaspoon honey, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. It makes about ¾ cup, exactly what the recipe needs, and keeps up to 1 week in the fridge. Olive oil firms up when cold, so let it sit out 10 minutes and shake well before using.

Troubleshooting

• Bland. Salt the pasta water well and taste after chilling.
• Dry. Stir in the reserved dressing, or a splash more, just before serving.
• Mushy. The pasta was overcooked. Stop at al dente.
• Clumpy. It wasn't rinsed. Rinse cool and drain well.
• Watery. Wet pasta or juicy tomatoes. Shake the colander and use cherry tomatoes.

Mix-In Ideas

No mayo? Use about 1 cup Italian dressing total for a lighter, classic version, or swap the mayo for plain Greek yogurt.

For a Crowd and a Picnic

One batch makes about 10 cups, enough for 12 people at a cookout with other sides (about ¾ cup each). For 25, double it and mix it in your biggest bowl or a clean roasting pan, keeping the extra dressing in a jar. Outdoors, set the serving bowl in a larger bowl of ice, and don't leave it out more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F. For a tortellini version, this tortellini pasta salad dresses the pasta while it's still warm.

It's a natural partner for Oklahoma onion smash burgers or a pan of Big Mac sliders, with corn tomato basil salad on the side. For a lighter, no-pasta option, chickpea cucumber feta salad keeps just as well.

Storing Leftovers

Keep it covered in the fridge at 40°F or below and eat within 3–4 days. Stir in a spoonful of Italian dressing before serving leftovers. Don't freeze it; the mayo separates and the vegetables go watery.

Cook's Tips

• Cut everything about the size of a rotini spiral. Every forkful gets a bit of each.
• Drain the mozzarella and olives well. Extra brine thins the dressing.
• Chill the dressing too. Cold dressing on cold pasta keeps the whole bowl colder at a party.
• Add herbs last. Basil darkens if it sits overnight.