Pizza Pasta Salad

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Ronzoni, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #RonzoniSummer  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV.

Pizza Pasta Salad is a lightened up pasta salad using turkey pepperoni, vegetable pasta, fresh mozzarella cheese, vegetables and a homemade Italian dressing.  Bring this salad to your next backyard BBQ or picnic. It is sure to be a hit with the adults and the kids.

Pasta salad season is upon us.  When I go to a BBQ or picnic I love bringing pasta salads to share with the group.  They are easy to make, you can add a lot of a lot of vegetables, easily modify the salad to your tastes and they travel well.  When you are grilling up hamburgers and hotdogs you need a variety of pasta salads to add some color and nutrition to your plate and balance out your meal.  Pizza Pasta Salad is a lightened up version of a summertime favorite that both the adults and kids go crazy for.

I have a feeling that others like pasta salads in the summer as much as I do by the popularity of some of my previous pasta salad recipes like this Summer Orzo Pasta Salad and this Greek Orzo Pasta Salad. When loading up my plate at a BBQ I go heavy on the salads, especially the pasta salads.  I just love having a variety of vegetables, pastas and cheese to munch on.

This pizza pasta salad is inspired by a pasta salad I had recently which used regular pepperoni and a bottled Italian dressing. I decided to lighten up my version a bit and use turkey pepperoni and a homemade Italian dressing.

The pasta I used is Ronzoni Trio Italiano Pasta {I found this at my local Walmart} instead of regular pasta which adds one serving of vegetables per 4oz portion and makes the salad extra colorful. If you have a picky eater on your hands, which I do, you might be looking for ways to incorporate more vegetables into their diet and using Ronzoni pastas is a great way to do this.

My kids also love the colors of the noodles.  If your child is extra picky and doesn’t like everything mixed together in a pasta salad you can easily set aside a small bowl of the pasta to give them separately.  I like to make a box of this pasta at the beginning of the week and then use it to compliment a meal or for things like macaroni and cheese or put some in a chicken noodle soup.

If there is something in this salad you don’t like you can easily customize it.  Or maybe add some additional vegetables of your choice {maybe red or yellow peppers or zucchini}, black olives, or a different cheese, like cheddar?  If you have a toddler or young child in the house that likes to help you cook this is a perfect recipe to get them involved in.  They can measure each ingredient and put it in the bowl.  Once your dressing is in a mason jar or salad jar you can have them shake up the dressing, which is Will’s favorite thing to do.  And you can of course have them be a taste tester and adjust seasonings to their liking.

Did you make this recipe? Tag #acedarspoon on Instagram. 

I would love to hear your feedback.  What did you like? Did you change anything? Did the recipe turn out to your liking? Suggestions and comments are always welcome.

Pizza Pasta Salad

• Author: Julia // A Cedar Spoon
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 8-10 1x
• Category: Salad

Print

Pin

---

Description

Pizza Pasta Salad is a lightened up version using turkey pepperoni, vegetable pasta, fresh mozzarella cheese, vegetables and a homemade Italian dressing. This salad makes is a great side dish to bring to a BBQ or picnic this summer.

---

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• For the salad:
• 12 oz box of Ronzoni Trio Italiano Pasta
• 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 5 oz turkey pepperoni slices, cut in half
• 1 green pepper, seeds removed, diced {or peppers of your choice}
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese chunk, cut into small cubes
• Homemade Italian Dressing
• 12 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dired oregano
• Dash of crushed red pepper {optional for spice}
• Salt and pepper to taste

---

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package and run under cold water when done. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl add the tomatoes, celery, turkey pepperoni, green peppers and mozzarella cheese. Add the pasta once it is cooled.
3. In a large mason jar combine the olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, parsley, cloves, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Put the lid on the mason jar and shake it until combined.
4. Pour half of the dressing over the pasta salad, combine until dressing is covering the pasta salad and refrigerate the salad overnight or at least 2 hours for the flavors to combine.
5. Remove the refrigerator and taste the salad, adding more dressing to taste.
6. Serve the pasta salad at your next picnic or backyard BBQ.

---

Notes

I like to bring the extra salad dressing with me to the picnic in case people want more dressing or you feel like you need to add a bit more.

Don’t miss a recipe! Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here and get free recipes delivered straight to your kitchen.  You can also find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google + and Instagram.

I found this Ronzoni Trio Italiano Pasta at my local Walmart.  To locate a store that carries this pasta near you head to this website.

To save money you can find a $1.00 coupon off any two Garden Delight items in most newspapers on 6/28/15 (while supplies last) and a $0.55 off in store coupon at Walmart starting 6/22/15. Offer expires 8/2/15 (while supplies last).

This post is sponsored by Pollinate Media Group® and Ronzoni.  As always, opinions are 100 my own.