This recipe comes from deep within the kitchen of my … Mother. It wasn’t until late in my years growing up in her house that I became seriously interested in how she was able to make everything tasty. Except of course her meatloaf, but that’s another story for a different day. Just trust me on that one. But really, she could turn simple ingredients into a wonderful combination. And that’s what this pasta salad is all about. It’s colorful, flavorful, and most importantly, it has a light dressing making it the perfect addition to your Summer cookout.
To get things started let’s get a list of ingredients.
16 oz. package of your favorite pasta (Rotini is the default, but you can also get Shells, Elbows, …
1 Red Pepper
1 Cucumber
Apple Cider Vinegar
Sugar
Salt
First, let’s get your pasta cooked up. For this, you’ll need to get water boiling in a medium to large saucepan. Once your water is boiling, remove the amount of pasta you desire from its box and dump it in. You’ll want to stir the pasta as it begins cooking to prevent them from sticking together. You can also add a little salt to the water just as it begins to boil for a touch of flavor. Once your pasta is cooked to your liking, al dente is acceptable but completely cooked through is not a bad idea, remove your pasta from heat and rinse under cold water using a colander. Drain the pasta well. Set the pasta aside and while it’s cooling off, let’s prepare the dressing and the vegetables.
Wash your red pepper and cucumber. Julienne your red pepper. Cut the julienne’d red pepper strips into smaller more bite-sized strips. Peel your cucumber and slice it. Slice the slices in half across the face of the slice and once more if you happened to pick out a giant cucumber and the pieces aren’t quite bite-sized yet.
The dressing for this salad goes great with just about any other salad. To start, take 1/2 cup of the Apple Cider Vinegar and pour it into a larger cup. Take 1/2 cup of sugar and pour it in. Stir the vinegar and sugar until you can just barely see the sugar granules left … this was my Mom’s favorite job for my sister and me growing up. So if you have kitchen helpers handy, let them stir and stir and stir and stir… Once the sugar has almost “completely but not quite dissolved into the vinegar but close enough that you can’t really see the fine sugar granules anymore,” pour your pasta, vegetables, and dressing into a large bowl. Stir everything together gently. If you need to add more dressing, just use the same method as above, but remember it is equal parts vinegar and sugar. Once you are satisfied with the dressing quantity to pasta quantity, add salt to taste and put your large bowl into the refrigerator to finish cooling until the cookout!
If you happen to be making this pasta around the 4th of July, you can look while you are shopping for the patriot style colored pasta shells. If you can’t find them, all you need is a little bit of food coloring and your pasta salad will be showing its patriotism. This tip comes to us for an All American Pasta Salad from McCormick.
For this you’ll need:
1 package (16 ounces) rotini pasta (6 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons Red McCormick® Assorted Food Colors & Egg Dye
1 1/2 teaspoons Blue McCormick® Assorted Food Colors & Egg Dye
Next follow these simple steps:
Bring 2 cups water to boil in medium saucepan. Add Red Food Color and 1 cup of the pasta. Cook as directed on package. Rinse under cold water; drain well. Repeat with additional 2 cups water, Blue Food Color and 1 cup pasta. Repeat with additional 8 cups of water and remaining 4 cups pasta.
This will turn your pasta colors to red, white, and blue – if you haven’t already figured that out.
Filed under: recipes | Tagged: dressing, pasta, pasta salad, side item
