Artichoke and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Step 1

To begin, cook the pasta in salted water according to the package instructions, but cut the cooking time by a couple of minutes so that it is slightly undercooked.

Step 2

While the pasta cooks, chop, wash, and drain the lettuce. If you have a salad spinner, use it to get as much water off the lettuce as possible. Next, roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes, quarter the artichoke hearts, and finely chopped the green onions. Set those aside.

Step 3

Next, in a large mixing bowl, measure in the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and one tablespoon of oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes. Whisk well to combine.

Step 4

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and run cold water over it. Completely cool the pasta with the running cold water.

Step 5

To assemble, add the cooled pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, green onions, and parmesan cheese to the bowl with the mayo and sour cream mixture. Toss well to coat.

Step 6

Add the lettuce and toss once more until well coated. Serve immediately.

Step 7

If you are planning to serve this Artichoke and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad later, do not add the lettuce. You can do everything up to that point but do not add the lettuce until just before serving. The lettuce will wilt after a few hours. Refrigerate the salad and the chopped lettuce separately and mix when ready to serve.