The word pasta was foreign to my ears for a large part of my growing years. We didn’t call anything pasta. We didn’t have pasta salad, we had Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad. We had macaroni, spaghetti and, occasionally, lasagna noodles. I was shocked beyond measure when I learned that spaghetti was the name of the noodles and not the sauce. In my small little world, the noodles were called spaghetti noodles because they were there simply to catch the sauce that was called spaghetti.
I don’t how we got that so messed up, but we did. In spite of it, we lived with ourselves and our misunderstanding of what pasta is.
Nothing called pasta salad existed in my little world. We had Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad. It was a fixture at picnics, backyard BBQs and potluck dinners. You couldn’t get by without seeing several versions at church covered dish meals.
While people had their own version, it varied only slightly from cook to cook. Mayonnaise and pimento were necessary. Some variation with vegetables was acceptable. Boil eggs might be added but not any meat.
It was simple, inexpensive and contained ordinary ingredients. That method of cooking is my preference still today.
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Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad
Served chilled, this salad is creamy, cool, tart and sweet. A great combination of flavors and nostalgia. I prefer the mild flavor of rice vinegar in this recipe. Substitute your favorite white vinegar and adjust the sugar accordingly. You might need more sugar is you use a stronger flavored vinegar.
cook the macaroni:
4 cups dried elbow macaroni
salt
1 tablespoons cooking oil
sauce:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1 medium sweet onion, finely diced
1 cup grated carrot (about 2 medium)
Cook elbow macaroni, in boiling salted water, according to package direction. Add one tablespoon cooking oil to the water before it boils. Don’t over cook the macaroni. Seven minutes is about all you need.
While the macaroni cooks, prepare the sauce. Or you can prepare the sauce ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until ready for use. However you decide to do it is your preference.
But listen to me: have the sauce ready to go because you need to mix the drained macaroni in the sauce while the macaroni is still hot. That’s the most important part of this whole recipe. The sauce will look like a runny mess. That’s exactly the way you want it. When the macaroni’s hot, it will absorb most of the liquid. If you thrown cold macaroni into your sauce, you will be disappointed and might be tempted to use disparaging words against me. Please don’t do that. The sauce that began as a runny mess will stay a runny mess unless you mix it with hot drained macaroni.
Back to preparing the sauce. Throw all the sauce ingredients into the biggest bowl you’ve got. Stir it well.
As soon as the macaroni is done, drain it and add it to the sauce while it’s still hot. (refer to diatribe above)
Stir well. Then, stir again. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
Cover and place in refrigerator for 4 hours or until well chilled.
Stir before serving.
Ingredients
- cook the macaroni:
- 4 cups dried elbow macaroni
- salt
- 1 tablespoons cooking oil
- sauce:
- 1 cup Duke's mayonnaise
- 4 ounces jarred pimento
- 2/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 celery stalks finely diced
- 1 medium sweet onion finely diced
- 1 cup grated carrot about 2 medium
Instructions
- Cook elbow macaroni, in boiling salted water, according to package direction. Add one tablespoon cooking oil to the water before it boils. Don't over cook the macaroni. Seven minutes is about all you need.
- While the macaroni cooks, prepare the sauce. Or you can prepare the sauce ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until ready for use. However you decide to do it is your preference.
- But listen to me: have the sauce ready to go because you need to mix the drained macaroni in the sauce while the macaroni is still hot. That's the most important part of this whole recipe. The sauce will look like a runny mess. That's exactly the way you want it. When the macaroni's hot, it will absorb most of the liquid. If you thrown cold macaroni into your sauce, you will be disappointed and might be tempted to use disparaging words against me. Please don't do that. The sauce that began as a runny mess will stay a runny mess unless you mix it with hot drained macaroni.
- Back to preparing the sauce. Throw all the sauce ingredients into the biggest bowl you've got. Stir it well.
- As soon as the macaroni is done, drain it and add it to the sauce while it's still hot. (refer to diatribe above)
- Stir well. Then, stir again. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
- Cover and place in refrigerator for 4 hours or until well chilled.
- Stir before serving.