Pasta Salad from the Store

I like to make my own pasta salad, but my boyfriend's decided he prefers the pasta salad from the grocery store, which is easy to make yet much more expensive. It only has the pasta, green and red peppers, and some Italian dressing it seems. However, the peppers in the pasta salad are a bit mushy. I guess he likes them that way... Does anyone know how I can get my peppers to be not so crisp? Could I try letting them sit in the dressing for a couple hours to marinate and soften? Thanks for any tips!