Antipasto Pasta Salad

I made this pasta salad for a cookout we had planned with some very good friends that we have not seen in WAY too long! No sooner did we sit down to eat than my two year old managed to fall head-first out of his chair, landing on their brick deck. Long story short, we had to leave dinner early and I am now sitting at home on 'concussion watch '09'. My poor kid inherited my klutziness! I didn't get the opportunity to eat much of my dinner-- but I did enjoy the few bites I got in before disaster struck! (Sorry again, Becca!) Becca is an awesome cook and I've been trying to convince her to start her own blog to share her recipes-- watch for that to be coming soon, hopefully!

I started with a recipe I found on allrecipes.com, but ended up with a very different pasta salad. There were several ingredients that I felt were missing from the dish, and some of the technique was very different from what I traditionally would do with a pasta salad. All in all, my final recipe ended up quite different from what I started with-- though I do want to give credit where credit is due! I liked the idea of the antipasto salad and that, along with the core ingredients came from the allrecipes.com site.

Antipasto Pasta Salad
1 pound tri-color pasta
1/4 pound Genoa salami, chopped
1/4 pound pepperoni sausage, chopped
1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
1 small or 1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
1 small or 1/2 large green bell pepper, diced
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, and cool under cold water. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, salami, pepperoni, cheddar cheese, black olives, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, green onions and tomatoes. To prepare the dressing, whisk together the envelope of dressing mix, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.