Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe

Get ready for Summer and Independence Day with this light, refreshing and healthy Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe. This salad is packed with crunchy summer veggies, briny olives, creamy mozzarella and fun cheesy filled tortellini. The zero point pickled veggies offer a delicious salty bite that will keep you going back for more.

Serve it up as a side for 3 WWFreestyle Smartpoints per 1/2 cup or as an entree when your looking for a light, summer meal that won’t heat up the house.

ITALIAN TORTELLINI PASTA SALAD (print it!)INGREDIENTS:

14 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini
1/2 red onion, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 cup quartered cucumber slices
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1 jar Trader Joe’s giardiniera vegetables, drained and chopped
1 can black olives, drained and halved
8 ounces fresh mozzarella balls
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
Zestand juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp brown mustard
1 Tbsp honey
1 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt& pepper to taste

TIP: What the olive flavor to really pop? Add 2 Tbsp of this Olive Tapenade to your dressing, optional.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions. Drain, rinse in cold water and transfer to a large bowl.
Add the onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, giardiniera vegetables, mozzarella balls and olives.
Whisk together olive oil, vinegarlemon juice, mustard, honey and garlic. Pour over the tortellini salad. Sprinkle with parsley, lemon zest and toss gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve at room temperature or chill 1 hour then serve.

Makes 12 servings, 1 cup each for 6 WWFreestyle Smartpoints

Nutrition facts per serving for all ingredients:

STEP – BY – STEP:

There are a couple of ingredients in this recipe that really up the fun and flavor factors.

The first are these zero point lightly spicy and pickled Trader Joe’s Giardiniera Veggies.I drained the entire jar, then roughly chopped them into bite size pieces.I added a little protein with these creamy fresh mozzarella balls that I sprinkled with a little sea salt and black pepper.Bulk up the mix with some fresh crunch – sweet onion, pepper, tomatoes and a little cool cucumber.Cook the tortellini according to the package, about 4 minutes. Immediately drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process.Toss the tortellini, pickled and fresh veggies, olives, parsley and lemon zest together.Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, honey and garlic. Pour over salad, toss gently and let chill one hour if you can wait that long.