Italian Antipasto Salad, Basil Pesto Dipping Sauce, and Italian Cream Sodas

I am a member of the World Market Trendsetter Tribe.  These Italian recipes are sponsored by World Market as part of their Gourmet Getaway Sweepstakes.

Get ready to be hungry!  I've got not one, but three amazing Italian recipes to share with you today!!  I love sitting down together with my family to enjoy a homemade dinner together.  It's an important part of my family's day where we can relax and enjoy one another's company.

Last week I made a trip to World Market (okay, a few trips to World Market) to pick up some gourmet Italian ingredients from their gourmet food and drink section to make my family an Italian dinner- a delicious antipasto salad, some rosemary bread with a basil pesto dipping sauce, and then some Italian cream sodas for dessert... yum!  Here's what I bought for the salad...

La Terrazze Extra Virgin Olive Oil // Domaine de Vignes Aged Red Wine Vinegar // Columbus Italian Dry Salame // Cucina & Amore Grilled Artichoke Hearts // World Market Italian Seasoning 

I also bought a few things from the grocery store: romaine hearts, provolone cheese, black olives, grape tomatoes, garlic cloves, and some fresh basil.  Here are the easy directions to make this delicious salad!

Italian Antipasto Salad

Ingredients:

For the Salad:

• 3 Romaine lettuce hearts, chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces
• 4 oz. Columbus Italian Dry Salame, cut into thin slices
• 4 oz. provolone cheese, cut into thin slices
• 1 can black olives, sliced
• 1 can Cucina & Amore Grilled Artichoke Hearts, sliced
• 1 package grape tomatoes
• Fresh basil, cut into thin strips, to taste

For the Dressing:

• 1/4 cup Terrazze Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Domaine de Vignes Aged Red Wine Vinegar
• Splash of balsamic vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. World Market Italian Seasoning

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl.  I used my Coupe Serving Bowl I fell in love with at World Market and had to have.  Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour salad dressing on the salad, and mix well.  Refrigerate until ready to serve, to allow the flavors to combine.

This salad was great!  Although this salad is meant to be an appetizer, you can always serve it as a main dish if you add more salame and cheese, and serve it with other Italian favorites!  We ate our salad off of the white Coupe Salad Plates, which I love because they are simple and classic, and would look great with any food served on them!

I served this salad to my family with some store-bought rosemary bread, and a quick basil pesto dipping sauce I made- this sauce literally took me less than a minute to make!

All I did was combine some Sacla Italia Pesto Alla Genovese Basil Pesto with some La Terrazze Olive Oil to make the dipping sauce- so easy, and yet so delicious!!  I served the sauce on a white Coupe Salad Plate.  My kids and husband and I loved dipping our bread in this amazing sauce!

Now onto my favorite part- the drinks!  Who doesn't love buying a fruity and creamy Italian Creme Soda?  My family LOVES them, but it can get expensive buying one for all six of us in my family.  Did you know that it's so easy to make your own at home?  You can customize this recipe to suit your own taste, and the flavor possibilities are endless! Plus, you'll save yourself a ton of money making these at home instead of buying them, which is always a bonus!

World Market has a GREAT selection of Torani syrups that you'll use in this recipe.  I picked up four bottles for our Italian creme sodas because it's fun to mix and match and combine flavors to make your own custom drink.  Have fun and get creative!

Italian Creme Sodas

For each soda you will need:

• 1 cup club soda
• 4 Tbsp. Torani syrup (any flavor that you would like)
• 1 Tbsp. half and half
• Ice
• Whip cream 
• Soiree Maraschino Cherries

1.  Fill cup with ice.  Add 4 Tbsp. Torani syrup to the ice, and fill glass with club soda.  Stir.

2.  Slowly pour in the half and half.  This is the best part!  When the half and half combines with the ice and cold soda it makes beautiful creamy swirls that look amazing!  If you are careful and don't move the cup around too much, you can keep the swirls in place when serving these drinks to guests.  Add whip cream and a cherry to the top and serve!

Another great thing about this drink is that it's low calorie!  Club soda has zero calories and you can buy Torani Sugar Free syrup with zero calories- the only calories will come from the half and half (you can buy this fat free, too), and the whip cream and cherry (which you could leave off if you like).  Not too bad for an amazing drink!!

Did you know that right now World Market is giving away an amazing prize in their Gourmet Getaway Sweepstakes?  You can enter to win a 6 day culinary trip for 2 to Venice, Italy!  Trip includes airfare and accommodations, Cicchetti tour, a hands-on Venetian cooking class, a cheese making demonstration and tasting, and a $1,000 World Market gift card- WOW!  Plus, three first prize winners will receive $500 World Market gift cards.  You can also earn bonus entries for liking World Market on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr for more chances to win!  Check out the video below with Joey Fatone!

World Market has partnered with the Live Well Network and their hit show My Family Recipe Rocks, hosted by Joey Fatone.  My Family Recipe Rocks features amazing hometown cooks across America, and and Joey Fatone and his crew cook up old family recipes, new homegrown dishes, and meeting people behind their great food in their own kitchens.

You can tune in to My Family Recipe Rocks on Sundays at 8:30 p / 7:30 c.  You can check local listings at livewellnetwork.com.

Be sure to enter World Market's Gourmet Getaway Sweepstakes!  How great would that be to win a culinary trip to Italy and a $1,000 World Market gift card?  You can't win if you don't enter!

I hope you give these gourmet Italian recipes a try, and be sure to check out World Market's great gourmet food section, as well as the rest of the store.... I promise you won't leave empty-handed!

For more fall fun, you can print off my fall activities bucket list punch card.

And for a fun family Halloween meal, check out this Spooky Spaghetti with Eyeballs!

To decorate your home this fall, you can see how to make this cinnamon-scented nature wreath,

or this fall wreath made out of paper!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Linking up here: Whipperberry, Tidy Mom, 30 Handmade Days, Tatertots and Jello, Ginger Snap Crafts, Snap!