Meat Lovers' Pizza Pasta Salad
8
Points®
Total time: 30 min • Prep: 20 min • Cook: 10 min • Serves: 6 • Difficulty: Easy
Italian sausage, pepperoni, bacon, tomato, mozzarella, and Parmesan—the gang’s all here. All the flavors of a classic meat lovers’ pizza come together for a fresher spin, with pasta in place of pizza dough. We use chickpea pasta for a fiber and protein boost, and add lots of vegetables for extra goodness. The salad holds up well for up to three days, so it’s a good meal prep option.
Ingredients
Uncooked chickpea pasta
8 oz, such as cavatappi, rotini, or penne
Uncooked sweet Italian turkey sausage
6 oz
Grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp
Extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp
Red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp
Kosher salt
¾ tsp
Crushed red pepper flakes
½ tsp
Dried oregano
½ tsp
Baby spinach
3 cup(s), chopped
Grape tomatoes
2 cup(s), halved
Red onion
⅓ cup(s), chopped, very thinly sliced
Part skim mozzarella cheese
3 oz, diced
Turkey pepperoni
2 oz, chopped
Yellow bell pepper
1 large, thinly sliced
Cooked crisp center cut bacon
4 slice(s), crumbled
Instructions
1
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 8 to 9 minutes. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water; drain well.
2
Meanwhile, heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium. Remove the casings from the sausage links; crumble the sausage into the pan. Cook until browned and cooked through, stirring occasionally to crumble, 6 to 8 minutes.
3
In a large bowl, whisk together the Parmesan, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper flakes, and oregano. Add the cooked pasta, cooked sausage, spinach, tomatoes, onion, mozzarella, pepperoni, and bell pepper. Toss well to combine. Pour the pasta salad into a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the bacon.
4
Serving size: 1 ⅔ cups
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