Classic Italian Pasta Salad Recipe (I discovered the best pasta in the world for this, totally by accident)

Start with a hearty glug of olive oil, duh. Then add, add and keep adding these ingredients - again, no real recipe here. No need to be too precious about it. You get the gist.

100% by accident, because I thought the little spiral would look good in the pasta salad, I picked up La Molisana Fusilli Bucatini Corti FQ 108 - and you should too. The springy shape gives it just the right amount of chew and the shape lets it pick up the olive oil and tuck little bits of salt into every bite. You won’t have to worry about the dreaded dry pasta salad with this bad boy as your base.

Fresh mozzarella (I’ll admit that I had a bit of a hack on Italian ingredients since we were cooking in the Stanzione house. I’ll also admit that pasta salad was the one thing both Ashley and I felt REALLY strongly about making. She persuaded me to make a version of the classic, nothing too cool.)

Salami, cut into thick squares.

Cherry tomatoes, halved.

Black olives.

Lots of basil.

Salt and pepper and vinegar (preferably red wine) and red pepper flakes.