Sun Dried Tomato Tortellini Pasta Salad

If you’re after a salad worthy of dinner, you’ve come to the right place. This tortellini salad really packs a punch in the flavour department and is so hearty and filling! Follow me…

Sun Dried Tomato Dressing

The dressing for this pasta salad is really simple, but it really packs a punch. Here’s what you’ll need:

Sun Dried Tomato Oil – This will come straight out of a jar of sun dried tomatoes. Red Wine Vinegar – Gives a tangy punch of flavour to cut through the rich oil. Dijon Mustard – Adds a mellow warmth and helps emulsify everything. Honey – Balances out the vinegar and mustard. Seasoning – I love adding some oregano and chilli flakes, alongside the obvious salt and pepper!

This salad has some red onion in it, which you can serve with the other fillings if you’d like. I actually love adding it to the dressing to allow it to lightly pickle as it rests. Completely optional though!

Can I make the dressing ahead of time?

Yep! Just tightly store until needed and give it a good whisk before serving. If you’re adding the onion, the longer you leave the dressing, the more pickled the onions will be. Process shots: add dressing ingredients bar the onion to small jug (photo 1), whisk (photo 2), add onion (photo 3), mix (photo 4).

Tortellini Pasta Salad

I LOVE using tortellini in a salad. You can switch it up with so many different fillings and it creates the most hearty and delicious pasta salad.

Cooking the tortellini

I find the package instructions overestimate the timings slightly. Just keep in mind you don’t want it too soft otherwise it’ll break apart when you rinse and toss it.

Rinsing the tortellini

Once it’s cooked, you’ll want to rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Just be gentle because it can easily tear apart.

Fillings

Alongside the tortellini and dressing, we’ve got some sun dried tomatoes, baby plum tomatoes, olives, feta and fresh basil. Process shots: add tortellini to bowl (photo 1), add fillings (photo 2), toss with dressing (photo 3).

What kind of tortellini should I use?

To film this time around I used a mix of Prosciutto Cudo and Smoky Chorizo & Bacon, both of which worked really well! Just use your best judgement to suit what you think would pair with the other ingredients (cheese or chicken-based tortellini would both be great).

What if there’s not enough oil in the jar of sun dried tomatoes to use?

Just sub with extra virgin olive oil!

Can I make this ahead of time?

I find this is best made fresh, but you can make the whole salad ahead of time, it’ll just start drying up after a few hours that’s all (it’ll still taste lovely, you just lose the texture of the dressing). Just tightly store in the fridge until needed.

Serving Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

This is obviously perfect for Summer, either as a Lunch or Quick Dinner. I add any leftover fresh basil then great stuck right in! For my other tortellini pasta salads check out my Caprese Tortellini Pasta Salad and Panzanella Tortellini Pasta Salad! Alrighty, let’s tuck into this sun dried tomato pasta salad shall we?!