Best pasta salad recipes

Start with 12 WHOLE hard-boiled eggs and add stuff from there.

slap people's faces with impunity

My famous Macaroni Salad!

I was just thinking about how macaroni salad has become largely forgotten. It was quite popular during the 80's.

Carbs

What's the big deal OP?

Pasta, whatever veggies happen to be in the fridge. Ditto dressing. Ditto cheese.

Don’t forget the fabulous caftan

One of the greatest losses I experienced when I retired and moved away was that I couldn’t easily go get Pasta, Pesto, and Pea salad from my local grocery store deli anymore.

But I’d bet that making something similar might be simplicity itself:

Boil and drain butterfly pasta

Cook frozen peas or maybe used canned

Combine with prepared pesto and maybe grated parmesan

I never try it because I’m afraid it wouldn’t really hit the same spot that the salad I used to buy and love did — some secret ingredient missing or something — but it seems like it’d be acceptable unless you’re attempting to feed people who sneer at prepared pesto.

I don’t like longer pastas it must be short bow tie pastas

Tips for a better/more flavorful pasta salad:

-- Cook the pasta longer than the directions suggest. Al denté is ideal for hot pasta dishes, but for pasta salads you want to slightly overcook the pasta. The pasta firms up a lot once it’s cold.

-- Don’t rinse all the starch off the pasta. Give it a super quick rinse with hot water, just passing it under the water once or twice. It’ll help the dressing cling to the noodles but it won’t pick up so much that it makes the salad dry.

-- Always mix the dressing into the pasta while it’s hot and then chill it.

-- Corkscrew pastas like fusilli or rotini are ideal because they have lots of surface area to pick up the flavorful dressing.

-- If using red onions in recipe, soak sliced onions in salt water, then rinse & dice. This tames the onion flavor so it doesn’t overwhelm the salad.

[quote] butterfly pasta

Are you talking about Farfalle or bow tie pasta?

I'd rather eat cold, leftover spaghetti w/ meat sauce.

I am making pasta salad tomorrow because I unexpectedly had to cook a turkey today

And remember, you can never go wrong adding golden raisins to the mix.

My Recipe:

Fusilli or corkscrew pasta (could use rotini).

Homemade vinaigrette (I guess you could use bottled). I put onions & garlic in my vinaigrette.

Sun-dried tomatoes (I use the kind packed in oil), cut into thin strips.

Broccoli, fully-cooked, cut into small-ish pieces.

Feta cheese, the harder kind (vs. the softer, creamy kind), cut into small cubes.

r10, thank you. Any more tips?

I'm going to make this recipe for my lunches next week.

[quote] -- Don’t rinse all the starch off the pasta. Give it a super quick rinse with hot water, just passing it under the water once or twice. It’ll help the dressing cling to the noodles but it won’t pick up so much that it makes the salad dry.

You always rinse all the starch off when you make a pasta salad or baked pasta dish.

Dressing, mayo , white vinegar and couple tablespoons sugar. S&P. Add to ROOM TEMP pasta with whatever u like in pasta salad, veggie wise.

OH GOD THE PASTA RINSING WARS ARE BACK

NY Deli Style

[Quote}so it doesn’t overwhelm the salad.

fuck that