Grinder Pasta Salad: A Pressure Cooker Delight
This grinder pasta salad, made effortlessly in a pressure cooker, combines pasta perfectly cooked to have a tender pull, fresh veggies, cured meats, and a harmonious blend of olive oil and lemon juice dressing.
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 12 oz Pasta of your choice, holds sauce well like penne or fusilli
- 1 cup Cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 cup Roasted red peppers chopped
- ⅓ cup Pepperoncini chopped
- ⅓ cup Red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup Salami thinly sliced
- ½ cup Pepperoni thinly sliced
- 15.5 oz Can chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 8 oz Mini mozzarella balls or fresh mozzarella diced
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 cups Shredded lettuce iceberg or romaine
- ¼ cup Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
- 1 Juice of lemon
- 1 tablespoon Mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black pepper
Instructions
Instructions
- First, cook your pasta. Put it in your pressure cooker with enough water and a bit of salt. Set it to cook just until al dente. Watch for the float valve to rise and wait the usual time recommended for your pasta type.
- When time’s up, do a quick release by turning the valve carefully to let out steam fast. Once the float valve drops, open the lid. Drain that pasta and rinse under cold water to stop it cooking.
- Grab a giant bowl and toss in your cooled pasta. Add all the fresh veggies like cherry tomatoes, red peppers, pepperoncini, and onion. The colors alone make you smile, right?
- Next, layer in all the slices of salami, pepperoni, and the chickpeas. These guys add a hearty feel the salad needs.
- Toss in mini mozzarella balls and sprinkle that Parmesan cheese over everything. It’s already smelling super good at this point.
- Finally, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, mayo, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Drizzle this dressing over your salad and toss gently but thoroughly. Then pop your salad in the fridge for 30 minutes so the flavors can chill and mingle before you dig in.
Notes
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Make sure the lid seals tight so the salad stays fresh and crisp. It’ll usually keep well for about 3 days.
If you wanna save some pasta salad without the lettuce getting soggy, pack the lettuce separately and toss it in just before serving. This keeps the crunch intact.
You can also freeze the pasta salad but skip freezing lettuce or fresh herbs. Thaw in the fridge overnight and give it a quick toss with fresh lettuce or greens after it’s thawed.