Lisa Russo Photography Blog

Yesterday was so fun - we went to our friends the Jones’ for a 4th of July party that included lots of people, water balloon fights, water games, a big dirt pile (that would be Ava), burgers, dogs, lots (and lots) of sparklers and fireworks…and my always requested but never before shared world famous pasta salad.

*so maybe it’s not WORLD famous, but it would be if the world got to try it, ok? so just roll with me here…

The salad originated at a little country store and restaurant in our home town - Vic and I LOVED that pasta salad. So when we moved away, I tried a bunch of different things and finally perfected the recipe.

And because I love my blog readers, clients, and posters so much, I decided to take photographs and SHARE it for the very first time.

Disclaimer: Shots taken with my new little point-and-shoot and I do not claim to be a foodie photographer.

Lisa’s (world famous) Pasta Salad

Dressing:

1 large bottle (16 oz) italian dressing - just plain old wish bone italian

1 cup sugar

dill weed

Salad:

2 boxes of tri-colored rotini

1 kielbasa (I use turkey usually)

2 bricks of extra sharp (!) cheddar

1 onion, chopped fine

a few carrots, chopped fine

a few stalks of celery, chopped fine

1 1/2 pints of grape tomatoes, cut in half

1 head of broccoli, maybe a little less - chop the little flourets off the top - no big stalks

1 large can of sliced olives (more if you like ‘em), drained

Celery Seed

More Dill Weed

Directions:

Day before: Make the dressing. Pour the italian dressing, 1 cup sugar and a lot (maybe two tablespoons?) dill weed into a ziploc bag, mix well and let it sit overnight. The key to this salad is that it’s zesty *and* sweet!

Morning of - allow at least 2 hours before serving: Prepare the pasta - just a touch al dente. Rinse well in cold water and let drain.

Cut up the kielbasa into little chunks and toss into the bowl:

Cut up the cheese into small cubes and toss into the bowl - and make sure it’s extra-sharp cheddar!

Ditto the celery - I peel the strings off with a peeler first - and I don’t use a TON of celery - just enough to add some crunch and color:

Cut all the grape tomatoes in half and toss ‘em in:

Chop the carrots - I used my food processor and gave them a few pulses to get them chopped up - they don’t really add any flavor, just a nice crunch and color:

Ditto the onion - I used one onion, but if you really like it, you can add more.

Add the broccoli - which I forgot (oops) - but I did add it at the end. Just pretend it’s in there in the photos, ok?

Add the sliced olives:

You may have noticed this pasta salad is more ’stuff’ than pasta. Another key to it’s goodness!

Dump the pasta in - VERY IMPORTANT - if it’s not completely dry, grab some paper towels and towel-dry it. Trust me. You don’t want soggy pasta - you want it to soak in the dressing. Yum.

Pour on MOST (but not all) of the dressing. It should look like this:

Save maybe 1/2 a cup or so and stick it back in the fridge.

Now sprinkle LIBERALLY with celery seed and more dill weed - dill is the other key, and the celery seed offsets the sweetness very nicely:

Mix well, try it (naturally), then cover and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours. That allows the cheese to soften up (sigh…) and the pasta to absorb some of the dressing.

Just before serving, pour in your reserved dressing, mix again, taste again, sigh heavily and add in the broccoli I forgot.

Take to the party and be prepared to say “I did!” whenever anyone asks who made the yummy pasta salad.

Enjoy!