Easy Pasta Salad Perfect for a Potluck

by Rossi Real Estate Services LLC 01/15/2023

Pasta salad is an old standby regarding potluck recipes. Most recipes take less than an hour to make and involve inexpensive ingredients you might already have in your kitchen. However, since pasta salad is such a diverse dish, there is an overwhelming amount of different recipes available.

If you’re not sure where to start, here is a simple recipe for a crowd-pleasing Italian pasta salad for your next potluck.

Ingredients

1 box or package of your choice of pasta

1 cup chopped cucumber1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes

1 can of sliced black olives

1/4 cup of diced red onion

Your favorite Italian salad dressing

Process

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box, adding a pinch of salt to the water.
Drain the pasta and set aside while you prep the veggies.
Move the pasta into a bowl and add in the prepared veggies. Mix with a large, flat spoon to avoid pasta breakage.
Add salad dressing to taste. For this size of batch, anywhere from half a cup to one cup should work well.
Place the entire bowl in the refrigerator for a while before serving. This will bring everything to the same cool, refreshing temperature and keep the veggies fresh as possible.

Tips

Here are some additional expert tips for your pasta salad:

Opt for a pasta shape that’s small and easy to combine with veggies. Some popular choices include farfalle, rotini and penne.
Once you drain the pasta into a strainer, run it under cold water to reduce the temperature instantly.
Before adding onions to the mixture, let them soak in a small amount of salad dressing for about 10 minutes. This will make it easier to enjoy the flavor of the onions without it overpowering the rest of the salad.
Skinning the cucumbers is completely up to your preference. However, consider removing the seeds. This reduces the amount of excess moisture in your pasta salad and makes for a cleaner look.
Drain the olives carefully to avoid adding extra water to your mixture.
Slice the tomatoes in half if you wish. For larger cherry tomatoes, this might make them more convenient to eat in combination with the other ingredients.
Add finely chopped pepperoni, salami, ham or your favorite cheese to add some protein to your pasta salad. You can also top with grated parmesan cheese for a savory garnish.

About the Author

Rossi Real Estate Services LLC

Rossi Real Estate Services LLC is a boutique real estate brokerage firm that provides close personal attention to buyers and sellers in the Capital Region and surrounding areas. “Typical” is not a word that clients use to describe Rossi Real Estate's approach to home buying and selling. Building upon years of experience, Rossi Real Estate employs creative marketing approaches, combined with a vast network, to quickly sell homes. By creating home floor plans, professional photography, and online marketing videos, Rossi Real Estate is able to depict home layouts and professional marketing to potential buyers before stepping foot in your home; this saves the seller valuable time by attracting only those buyers who have greater interest in the home. Additionally, by employing targeted online marketing, Rossi Real Estate targets buyers searching for homes just like yours.

Joe Rossi, the Principal Broker at Rossi Real Estate, builds upon over 12 years real estate experience in every transaction. Joe zealously advocates for his clients by combining his diverse background in law, finance, complex negotiation, and management, with compassion and exemplary communication skills creates. He explains transaction details and guides his clients through every step of the buying and selling experience. Furthermore, Joe listens to his clients’ wants and needs. In a recent transaction, the buyer profusely thanked Joe, stating he was, “[T]he only one in the transaction that was capable of communicating with the sellers in a way that ensured we were able to close on our dream home”.

Our real estate practice includes leading professionals, all of which are NYS Licensed Real Estate Sales Associates: Joseph R. Rossi, Ryan Hart, & Dustin Cogswell. Their experience includes work at a fortune 100 company, military operations, and technical recruiting.

If you're looking for a real estate broker who goes above and beyond the industry, who genuinely cares about their clients, and who will drive results, contact Rossi Real Estate Services LLC today.

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