Buttermilk Bacon Ranch Tortellini Salad

I love a fresh pasta salad to go along with dinner sometimes.  It’s a nice cool replacement for heavier potatoes.  Plus you can be very creative with what you put into the salad.  Sometimes it can be fresh fruits or you may use a cream sauce with fresh (or frozen) peas.  There are just so many different combinations that you will never get tired of trying new ways to please your family and friends.

Tonight, I decided to put together a bacon and buttermilk ranch type pasta salad.  I added some pepperoni, sun dried tomatoes, roasted read pepper and of course the BACON!!!!.  I mean come on, anything and everything is better with bacon.

So give this one a try and let me know what you think  If you change it up some, let me know what you did and how it turned out.  Y’all enjoy.

Ingredients:

Buttermilk Dressing (you can also just use store bought if you want)

• 3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 2-3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salad ingredients

• Large bag of frozen (or two small containers fresh) tortellini, cooked
• 8 strips bacon, cooked and diced
• 1 large red pepper, roasted and chopped (peel skin off after roasting)
• 4 tablespoons fresh chives, diced
• 3 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes, diced
• 6-8 ounces of pepperoni’s, quartered
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or more, more is always good)
• salt and pepper to taste

First you are going to combine all dressing ingredients into a large mason jar.  Ya’ll are gonna have to trust me on this one.  You could use a blender, but why pull it out and have to clean it?  Put the lid on and shake like crazy until mixed.  Open, taste, and then season to taste with salt and plenty of fresh black pepper. Seal, and shake again and taste. Then set aside. You can totally use a store bought buttermilk-ranch dressing if you like.

After cooking and completely cooling the tortellini, put in large bowl along with all the other salad ingredients.  (save a bit of the cheese and bacon to sprinkle over the top once mixed for a good visual presentation) Mix a bit to combine and then add the buttermilk dressing. Add half and then a bit more and more till you get the coverage you desire.  I like to refrigerate it for at least an hour to let all the flavors meld.  Make sure you have a bit of extra dressing left to put on once you take out of refrigerator because even if you cool the pasta, it is going to absorb a bit of the dressing as it sits.  ENJOY.