Perfect Picnic Pasta Salad - Also Known as My Kids’ Favorite Pasta Salad

Most of the recipes I share in my blog are recent creations. I do, however, often share recipes from my cookbook, “Secret Recipes from the Corner Market.” I created the recipes in my cookbook to give our customers creative ways to use items we had on sale. One week the Steele’s ad included both rotini, deli ham, and gherkin pickles, so I combined those three ingredients into a delicious pasta salad.

My son, Brian, fell in love with this pasta salad, which I later called My Kids’ Favorite Pasta Salad, and wanted to take it so school for lunch. Now we all know we can’t leave mayonnaise-based salads out for more than two hours. I was so flattered by how taken he was with this salad that I agreed to bring it to school for his lunch. His teacher at the time, Diana Parker, was a bit surprised by the gesture and asked for a taste. Her comment: “That is really delicious.”

At the time I created this recipe, our deli sold blocks of Monterey Jack cheese. My current supermarket doesn’t stock it, so I substituted it with Irish Cheddar, which was quite tasty. If your supermarket doesn’t stock Monterey Jack cheese, you can use either a mild Cheddar, Gouda, or Havarti. When you purchase your ham and cheese, tell the deli clerk you need to cube them into ½-inch cubes. They can slice both the ham and cheese into ½-inch thick chunks.

My Kids’ Favorite Pasta Salad

Serves 6

This salad is a hit with both children and adults.

For the dressing:

5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1 cup celery, finely chopped

6 gherkin pickles, finely chopped

½ cup white onion, finely chopped

1 ½ cups mayonnaise

¼ cup juice from pickles

Salt to taste

Large grind black pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, celery, gherkin pickles, onion, mayonnaise, pickle juice, salt, and pepper. Mix well.

For the salad:

12 ounces tri-colored rotini, cooked al dente and drained

Cook rotini al dente according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cool water, and drain again.

In a large bowl, place rotini, add dressing, and toss to combine. Cover and chill overnight. Just before serving add cheese and ham and mix lightly.

½ pound Monterey Jack or Irish Cheddar cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes

½ pound cooked ham, cut into ½-inch cubes

For the garnish:

Fresh parsley, chopped

Paprika

Garnish to taste with parsley and paprika.

Tips on selecting deli meats: Your deli may sell salami, mortadella, pancetta, prosciutto, pepperoni, pastrami, corned beef, various flavors of ham, turkey, and chicken as well as roast beef. Once its package has been opened, cut-to-order deli meat will have a short shelf life. Buy your deli meat from a market that is busy and turns their product quickly.

If you want to purchase freshly sliced meat from the deli counter, observe the following to ensure your deli meat is fresh: Deli meats and cheeses should be sliced on different slicers; slicers are dedicated to either meat or cheese. Deli employees should not use the same slicer for both meat and cheese. Slicers should be cleaned after every use. With the shortage of staff these days, this may not occur; but slicers should be cleaned on a regular basis. If you have allergies—for example, you are allergic to beef—alert the deli clerk and make sure the slicer is cleaned before your order is sliced. The towels used to clean the slicer should also be changed after every cleaning. Observe whether or not meat is returned to the deli case immediately after slicing.

Deli employees should change their gloves after slicing each customer’s order. If addition, they are required to change gloves during the same order if they are slicing both a meat and cheese item. In you don’t feel the deli employees are following these safety procedures, consider buying prepackaged sliced meats.

Tips on storing deli meats: Deli meat should be placed in the meat drawer of your refrigerator immediately after you get home. Salami, mortadella, prosciutto, chicken roll, pastrami, and corned beef will keep for 2 days. Ham, chicken, turkey, and roast beef deli meats will keep for 5 days. Your supermarket will place cut-to-order deli meats in a Ziploc® bag. Always be sure to tightly reseal the bag after each use. Deli meat that is slimy or iridescent or smells bad has past its prime.

Carol Ann

Carol Ann Kates is the award-winning author of cookbook, Secret Recipes from the Corner Market, and international Amazon best-selling and award-winning author of Grocery Shopping Secrets. She’s an expert in how to shop, select, and store produce for maximizing home cooking outcomes and minimizing time and money spent. As a former supermarket and deli operator, Carol Ann shares grocery-insider wisdom—the same expertise you used to receive when patronizing a mom-and-pop establishment. Contact her at CarolAnn@CarolAnnKates.com and explore her website, www.CarolAnnKates.com.

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