Ingredients

• 1 lb. Spiral Pasta, Cooked
• 6 oz. Assorted Olives and Red Peppers, Roughly Chopped
• 10 oz. Dry Salami (Try Busseto)
• 4 oz. Gorgonzola, Crumbled
• 4 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 oz. Dried Cranberries
• 4 oz. Pecans, Roughly Chopped
• Kosher Salt, To Taste

Instruction

Cook pasta and set aside to cool. Roughly chop selection of olives, red peppers, and pecans; cut Salami into quartered pieces about one-quarter inch thick. Mix ingredients in a large serving dish. Serves 6-8.

Notes

This is one of the oldest recipes that I remember The Girl and I preparing together. It’s actually something that I put together on the fly, probably after having watched the Food Network right before grocery shopping. There are many, many recipes for Antipasto Salad out there, but I think what makes this special is the sweetness of the cranberries and sweet red peppers as it mixes with the bitterness from the olives and Gorgonzola. Another is the fact that the pasta is almost an afterthought; something to hold the remaining ingredients together. Most of the time we make this recipe even easier to prepare by getting our olives and red peppers together in the deli section of our grocery store, and by using a packaged salad topping called Cherry Cranberry Pecano Salad Pizazz. Most groceries have an olive section in their deli salad bar these days, and the salad topping has been pretty easy for us to find wherever we go, as well.

Additionally, this is the second straight combine and serve recipe, which, if you hadn’t already guessed, is going to be a common occurance.