Super Bowl Tortellini Pasta Salad

 

 

Are you ready for some football?! Or should I say, are you ready for some football food!?  My favorite part of Super Bowl Sunday is eating all the yummy party food!  Tonight I am bringing this tortellini pasta salad to a Super Bowl party.  It's super easy twist on traditional pasta salad, using cheese tortellini instead of regular pasta.

Ingredients: One package of frozen cheese tortellini (20 oz), 1 cup of grape tomatoes sliced in half, 8 oz. of cubed fresh mozzarella cheese, 3 oz. of mini pepperoni slices, 3/4 cup Caesar vinaigrette, 1 tsp. of basil (or a 1/3 cup of fresh chopped basil if you're fancy), 1 tsp. of McCormick Salad Supreme seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Cook Tortellini: Prepare the tortellini as directed on the package. (The kind I use needed to boil for 2 minutes - super quick!)

Drain & Rinse: Drain the tortellini and rinse it in cold water until they are cool.

Add Tomato: Chop the grape tomatoes in half and put them in a large bowl with the tortellini.  You can also use cherry tomatoes or dice up whole tomatoes.  Whatever your like best!

Add Cheese: Dice the mozzarella into 1/2" cubes and add it to the bowl.

Add Pepperoni: Add about 1/2 cup of mini pepperonis.  I bought a 5 oz. bag and used a little more than half.  You can also buy regular sized slices and cut them in half or buy a log of pepperoni and cube it.  I use the minis because there is literally no work involved.  Open bag, dump 'em in. Done.

Add Dressing & Seasonings: Add basil (fresh or flakes), salad seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.  Add 3/4 cup of Caesar salad dressing.  I used a vinaigrette but you could use the creamy kind if you have it.  I prefer to use the vinaigrette simply because it's less calories. (Note: I like my pasta salads very saucy and the noodles soak up a lot of the dressing - if you don't like a saucy salad you may want to cut back a bit on the dressing, you can always add more later on if you'd like.)

Refrigerate and Serve! Mix everything together and let this salad sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving so the flavors can really mesh together.