Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Shrimp & Pasta Shells Salad – And They (incorrectly) Called It Macaroni

I really wanted to call this a "macaroni salad," since that’s what people sitting around picnic tables call it, but I decided to be technically correct (for once) and call it a shrimp and pasta shells salad. Hey, I'm no slave to Google's algorithm.

Macaroni is a specific type of elbow-shaped pasta, so while all macaroni is pasta, not all pasta is macaroni. Raise your hand if you missed that one on your SAT. Anyway, now that I have enough “macaroni’s” in here for the search engines, we can move on.

Actually, there’s not a lot left to discuss. This is a very straightforward, and quite adaptable recipe. I list a few potential additions in the video, but this is the kind of thing you can really make your own. Hey, you could even do it with macaroni. I hope you give this easy, and crowd-pleasing summer salad a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 8 portions:
For the dressing:
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp ketchup
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp salt, or to taste
cayenne to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
The rest:
12-oz package pasta shells
1 pound bay shrimp, or other small cooked shrimp, drained well
1/2 cup small diced red bell pepper
3/4 cup diced celery
salt and pepper to taste

View the complete recipe