This is another pasta salad I like to make that's based on a classic sandwich, in this case New Orleans' muffuletta. It's most well-known for its size - it's generally served in quarters - and its olive salad, consisting of green and black olives, olive oil, giardiniera, and peperoncini. You can often find the olive salad premade in grocery stores in the olives & pickles section, or look for it online.
Traditionally muffulettas include mortadella. I don't like it, so I don't use it. Sometimes I'll add ham instead.
Ingredients:
- 12 oz short pasta such as macaroni or bowtie pasta
- 8 oz salami, diced
- 8 oz turkey, diced
- 8 oz ham, diced (optional)
- 8 oz provolone, diced
- 8 oz mozzarella, diced or shredded
- 2/3 cup olive salad, premade.
- 1/2 cup red wine vinaigrette
Directions:
- Cook pasta as directed and drain, then refrigerate.
- Once pasta is cool, mix in all remaining ingredients until fully combined. The longer it sits, the better it gets!
Notes:
- If you want to try your hand at making your own olive salad, just look for "Olive salad" or "Muffuletta olive salad" recipes online.
- If you don't have olive salad and don't want to make it, use 2/3 cup sliced green and Kalamata olives + 2 tbsp olive oil + 2 cloves of garlic, minced. You could also throw in 1/4 cup each of shredded carrots and finely diced celery.
