We all have those situations where we get invited to a cookout and are asked to bring a side. In the past, I would always rack my brain trying to think of what I could contribute that the masses would like. I never had a “signature” dish and always struggled with wanting to change it up. Until I happened my way into this delicious twist on a traditional pasta salad.
We had been eating tortellini a lot for dinner with sautéed veggies, and one afternoon I thought tortellini sounded good but it was hotter than you know what outside, so I didn’t feel like a warm dish was really calling my name. I took a look at the ingredients in my fridge and realized I had just enough supplies to make a pasta salad using the tortellini. Add a few tweaks and viola, you have my easy to make, Tortellini Summer Pasta Salad. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 bag of frozen Tortellini. If you can find tricolored tortellini, use this! I feel like it adds extra color to the dish.
- 1 1/2 cup of chopped bell peppers. I always have peppers on hand so I like to mix colors into this dish. I usually chop up green, red, and orange peppers and use the extra throughout the week for something else.
- 1-2 cups of chopped spinach. Use fresh spinach, not frozen. If you want this salad more full chop closer to 2 cups of spinach.
- 1 ear of cooked corn. Don’t want to mess with an ear of corn? Feel free to swap in a canned option.
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
- Dash of Cumin
To Make
- Cook the tortellini by following instructions on the package
- Bring a pot to boil and cook the corn (if using fresh corn)
- While pasta is cooking, wash and chop the peppers, chop the spinach, set aside
- Drain the tortellini and run under cold water
- Add tortellini to large serving bowl
- Add peppers to tortellini and stir
- Once the corn is cooked, let it cool and remove the corn from the cob. Add corn and spinach to tortellini and peppers, stir lightly
- In a small bowl, mix the olive oil with salt and pepper, add a dash of cumin to taste
- Add the olive oil mixture to the tortellini bowl and give it a stir
- Add extra salt and pepper to taste
- Store pasta salad in the refrigerator until ready to serve
- ENJOY!
If you want to see this recipe in action, check out my IGTV video here!
This pasta salad really is so simple to make and is always a hit whenever I serve it up. I’m a pasta enthusiast. So, any chance I have to work pasta into a dish you better believe I’m taking it! Do you have a spin on pasta salad? I’d love to try your recipe out! Share in the comments.
