Picnic-Ready Pasta Salad

The weather is getting warmer, and I almost have a kitchen again

What’s this? Warm weather, sunshine, a nice breeze? Could it be true? After the usual wet and dreary Ottawa spring (and some temperature ping-pong), it’s picnic weather!

Now, maybe it’s still just a make-believe backyard picnic, because I still don’t have a full kitchen yet, but it still calls for picnic food. Cold cuts and sausages, cheese, pickles and salads are what I want when it’s time to eat outdoors. There’s plenty of good ones to choose from, to be sure. But today, we’re going to look at the most hated, most maligned and misunderstood picnic food of all – my favorite, you hate it, I love it: pasta salad.

I’ve loved you ever since we met at KFC all those years ago

I’ve read some articles about pasta salad lately, and lemme tell you, they don’t sit well. “Don’t think of them as pasta salad, just think of them as cold, sauced pastas,” they say. Well, what the hell is that supposed to mean? “Forego the traditional dressings, and just make a sauce that will be as good cold as it is hot,” they continue. I don’t even know what that means.

What I’m talking about is deli-style pasta salad. The kind you’re already thinking of, but better. Yes, a lot of them can be way too acidic. We’ll address that. They can be too gloopy. We’ll get to that, too. You see, these are the fine points we can tackle when we make this dish ourselves. We’re in control. So, there’s a couple of points to remember.

1. Overcook your pasta, just a bit. Go to the maximum time on the package, and then even maybe 30 seconds beyond. It won’t turn to mush, I promise. It’ll be the right texture when served.

2. Choose the right shape of pasta. You want something small, with ridges or nooks to hold sauce and garnish. Macaroni is always a good choice.

3. Don’t rinse the pasta in cold water after it cooks. I know you want to cool it down, but if you wash the starch off, the dressing won’t stick, just like a sauce wouldn’t stick to hot pasta that’s been rinsed.

4. No vinegar or citrus juice. Acids like that do weird things to cold pasta.

5. Don’t overdress. Add your dressing ingredients little by little so you can control and adjust to your tastes. Of course, don’t underdress this bad boy, either.

6. Serve at room temperature. Often this dish is served fridge-cold, and that dulls flavours. Let it come to room temp. You’ll thank me.

Ready to roll? Let’s get going so we can pack that pic-a-nic bas-ket.

Deli-Style Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 450g short pasta (I used cavatappi)

• 1 shallot, peeled and brunoised (or VERY finely minced)

• 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced

• 2 stalks of celery, finely diced

• 4-5 green onions, dark green part only, thinly sliced

• 1 red pepper, core and seeds removed, finely diced

• 12-15 sprigs Italian parsley, leaves only, roughly chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and grated on a Microplane (or VERY finely minced)

• 50-75mL mayonnaise

• 50-75mL sour cream

• 10-20mL Dijon mustard

• Kosher salt, to taste

• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Food always looks and tastes better in the sunlight

Method:

1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to the boil. Drop in your pasta of choice, stir and cook for the maximum amount of suggested time. As your pasta cooks, you can cut all your vegetables and place them in a large mixing bowl.

2. Drain the pasta. If you’re really worried about it sticking or overcooking, transfer it to a sheet pan, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and toss lightly. Or, if you’re like me, just confidently leave it in the colander while you futz about with other stuff.

3. Once the pasta is cool enough to handle, tip it into the mixing bowl with your chopped vegetables. Stir and mix to combine using a rubber spatula.

4. Season with salt and pepper, then add the mayo, sour cream and Dijon. Mix thoroughly to combine and coat everything evenly. Taste for seasoning. I put a range on some items, because some folks like it more or less creamy. Suit it to your tastes, adding more mayo, sour cream, Dijon, salt or pepper as needed.

5. If it’s still a bit warm, let it hang out on the counter for a minute or two. You can then pack it up into deli containers (if you want to look like you just came from the deli) or Tupperwares and take those outside, if you’re eating right away. If not, store in the fridge, remembering what I said about not serving this salad fridge-cold.

That’s it, that’s all. Couldn’t be easier. This dish is a summertime staple, and when you make it at home yourself, you see how good it can be. As always, try it, play around, adjust it to your own personal tastes. You’ll never go back to the overly acidic Ziggy’s slop from Loblaws, I can tell you that.

If you have litre containers at home, you can give this salad that iconic deli-bought look.