I have not tried this recipe yet, just got it from a friend. However, it sounds delicious so thought I would share. 7 Layer Pasta Salad Source: http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2013/08/7-layer-pasta-salad.html DRESSING: 1 package dry Ranch salad dressing mix 1 cup real mayonnaise 1 cup buttermilk 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 2 teaspoons granulated sugar 1/8 cup sliced green onion 1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (1/4 to 1/2 to taste), optional Freshly cracked black pepper to taste SALAD: 2 cups fresh chopped broccoli 1/4 pound farfalle bowtie pasta (about 2 cups dry) 2 cups thinly shredded lettuce 2 cups chopped cooked chicken, smoked ham or turkey 1 cup frozen green peas -- thawed 1 large slicing tomato -- seeded and diced 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese GARNISH: 2 slices bacon -- cooked and crumbled 1 tablespoon sliced green onion Mix the salad dressing ingredients and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add plenty of salt. Add the raw broccoli, return to a boil and let cook for about a minute. Remove and plunge the broccoli into iced water to stop the cooking process, but reserve the water for cooking the pasta. Add the pasta and cook al dente according to the package directions. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process; set aside until cooled and no longer steaming. When ready to prepare the salad, toss the pasta with 2 tablespoons of the dressing mix. To layer, add lettuce to the bottom of a clear bowl approximately 3 quarts in size, and top with layers of the meat, broccoli, pasta, peas, tomatoes and the cheese. Pour the remaining dressing on top and if serving right away, sprinkle the top with the chopped bacon and 1 tablespoon of sliced green onions. Toss before serving. May also prepare, cover and refrigerate up to 6 hours. Bring to room temperature and wait to add garnishes before serving. Serves 8 Cook's Notes: Substitute 2 cups of a bottled Ranch or other flavored dressing if desired. May also use different pasta shapes or cooked cheese tortellini, and substitute thawed, frozen broccoli in place of the fresh. Substitute other cooked proteins, such as seafood. Additional suggestions for layers: Sliced or chopped red or sweet onion, sliced or chopped red, green or yellow bell peppers, drained, chopped pimentos or roasted red peppers, sliced or roughly chopped boiled eggs, sliced black or green olives, chopped avocado that has been tossed in fresh lime juice, well drained and chopped marinated artichoke hearts, fresh pan sauteed or steamed chopped asparagus, or a variety of canned beans that have been drained and rinsed are all good choices.

Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Thu, Apr 8, 10 at 9:44 I'm confused? I thought the pasta cookalong was next week, as the pasta party. I didn't do it this past weekend because I thought that's what we were doing. Well, that, and I've been very busy and was gone last weekend. So, the pasta party and pasta cookalong are/were two different things? Thats okay, as I could eat pasta every day...well, I could if I wanted to gain 300 pounds, lol. Bring on the cream cheese, because I'll buy it thinking I'll use it, then it will sit in the fridge for months before I toss it because it's old. It'll be good to get some recipes. Sally o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lpinkmountain (My Page) on Thu, Apr 8, 10 at 11:40 That settles it Sally, you're just going to have to make a dish this weekend that uses pasta AND cream cheese. Might I suggest noodle pudding, known as "kugel" around my house. I may have a recipe if you would like. o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Fri, Apr 9, 10 at 9:31 That sounds like a great idea. You want to post it on the pasta party or cream cheese thread? Actually, I'm going out of town again this weekend, but I plan to take whatever I need with me to do the pasta party - I just won't be able to post about it till Monday night or Tuesday. Sally o Pesto Trappanese clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by johnliu (My Page) on Fri, Apr 9, 10 at 11:02 Pesto Trappanese This is a dead-easy summer dish, as with many Italian recipes either find really good ingredients or don't make it. Ideal picnic food. Tomato â€" 2 cups, dice by hand, no need to peel or seed. Or, quarter a bunch of cherry tomatoes, which is labor-intensive but flavorful. Parmesan or Asagio or similar salty, hard cheese - 1/2 cup, grated. Chop coarsely by hand: Basil â€" 1-2 cup fresh leaves (or chiffonade which looks prettiest) Garlic â€" 2-3 cloves Almonds â€" ½ cup or more, toasted lightly Optional - a couple of shallots, a bit of fresh mint. Combine. Add to taste: Salt â€" Kosher ideally Pepper â€" fresh cracked Olive oil Lemon - squeeze juice Optional - a bit of red wine vinegar Serve on pasta, cooked in salted water, pasta should be cooled or chilled. I like spirals becuse they are cute and hold the pesto well. Do not use a food processor, the tomatoes tend to turn to juice, the rest becomes too fine, and when mixed up the whole thing looks disturbingly like stomach contents. o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by paprikash (My Page) on Fri, Apr 9, 10 at 14:20 This is absolutely the best tuna noodle casserole I have ever tasted. My husband couldn't stop eating it (little did he know he was eating artichoke hearts....) * Exported from MasterCook * Mediterranean Tuna Casserole Recipe By : Cooking Enthusiast Catalog Serving Size : 4 Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 6 ounces egg noodles -- cooked al dente 3 tablespoons butter 1/2 red pepper -- diced 1 clove garlic -- peeled and minced 4 ounces baby portobella mushrooms -- sliced 1 7 oz can artichoke hearts -- drained and chopped 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup milk 1 cup heavy cream 2 4 oz cans bonito del norte tuna -- drained 3/4 cup parmesan cheese -- shredded 3 scallions -- thinly sliced 1/2 cup crispy onions 1/4 cup Italian style panko breadcrumbs Melt butter in large saucepot over medium heat. Add red peppers and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add mushrooms and cook until soft, about 4-6 minutes. Stir in artichoke hearts and flour. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in milk and heavy cream and cook until sauce thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 12-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. In large bowl, combine the egg noodles, tuna, scallions, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and sauce mixture. Grease a 10" round casserole, add noodle mixture and top with crispy onions, remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and panko breadcrumbs. Bake in a 400* oven for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : I probably used closer to 8 oz of baby portobellas and I used regular panko crumbs. I used the canned French's onion rings (Cooking Enthusiast sells their "crispy onions" but I've never bought them). The French's onion rings were starting to burn after 15 minutes so don't top with them until the last 8 to 10 minutes or leave them off. I do buy my tuna fish from Cooking Enthusiast -- it's packed in olive oil and wonderful but I am sure regular tuna fish packed in olive oil will work fine, too. o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by mamalou (My Page) on Fri, Apr 9, 10 at 18:18 I made Lpinkmountain's recipe (sorry, don't know your real name) for Spaghetti al Tonno / Pasta with Tuna Sauce. It was delicious and I used the anchovies, lemon zest, and olives. The instructions did not say when to add in the anchovies, so I added them in with the onion as I have seen done on the food network. My husband and I both went back for seconds. Thanks for sharing such a great, quick recipe! o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA Recipe!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by mamalou (My Page) on Fri, Apr 9, 10 at 18:28 Here is a recipe my niece shared with me that is very delicious. Orecchiette with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Courtesy of Giada Delurentis. Ingredients: 3TBOlive Oil 1 pkg spicy sausage casings removed 2 bunches Broccoli Rabe (I use one) 3-5 cloves garlic minced pinch of dried red pepper flakes (or more if you can take it) 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated 1/2 tea fresh ground black pepper Directions: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil Broccoli Rabe for one minute. Strain broccoli rabe reserving all cooking liquid. Cook orecchiette in the same water as the broccoli rabe until al dente. Drain reserving one cup of cooking liquid. Meanwhile cook sausage in large skillet with oil breaking into pieces. Cook until brown and juices form. Add garlic and red pepper, saute until fragrant. Add broccoli rabe toss to coat . Add pasta and enough reserved cooking liquid to keep moisten. Stir Parmesan salt to taste and fresh ground pepper to taste into mixture. Enjoy o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lpinkmountain (My Page) on Fri, Apr 9, 10 at 22:37 That's right Mamalou, Joyce says to add the anchovies after sauteeing the onions until transluscent. Sorry I left them out! I tried to like anchovies but I just can't do it, lol! My name is Laurie but I like to go by my screen name or Lpink for short, just for privacy's sake. If it was just the regular members on here that knew my name I wouldn't mind, but with the Internet, anything can come up in a search anywhere. Glad you like the pasta. I've been wanting to make it for the longest time, but I also want to make Sharon's pasta with peas and bacon, and a recipe I have for spinach fettucinni. And I still have orzo minestrone to eat up, one week later. So much pasta, so little time . . . o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by cookingrvc (My Page) on Fri, Apr 9, 10 at 23:22 Ok, had forgotten about this but I turns out that I was planning to make pasta tomorrow so I guess I'm in! I have some fresh portobello agnolotti which I plan to serve with a white truffle cream sauce (got the truffle cream, just need to make a sauce base) as a first course. Small serving - just enough. Second course will be a grilled flank steak with some sides - I'll see what looks good in the market. I like the boiled, smashed, then roasted red potatoes (Pioneer Women) that someone posted and might add a bit of onion. Sue o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lorijean44 (My Page) on Sat, Apr 10, 10 at 10:41 Here's my contribution to the cookalong: Bowties with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cream 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound sweet Italian sausage 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/2 cup diced onion 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 28-ounce can Italian diced tomatoes 1-1/2 cups whipping cream 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 pound bowtie pasta 3 tablespoons fresh minced basil Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley Heat oil in large heavy skillet over medium heat. Remove casings from sausage, crumble and cook in oil with crushed pepper until sausage is no longer pink, about 7 minutes. Add onion and garlic and cook another 5-7 minutes until tender. Drain tomatoes, chop coarsely and stir into sausage along with cream, salt and basil. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 4 minutes. In a separate pot of boiling water cook pasta al dente. Drain pasta and add to simmering sauce. Garnish with Parmesan and parsley. Serves 4. Source: An Appetite for Art, copyright 2001 Lori o RE: Cookalong #24 ----------PASTA!!!!!!! clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by mamalou (My Page) on Sun, Apr 11, 10 at 16:54 Thanks LPink! We enjoyed the leftovers today...they tasted even better than the first time!! Yum!

Lindac92, yes, that is an overwhelming amount of people to serve! That's why I'm worried about pasta. I know many other states don't do these massive parties for graduates, but in my region it is tradition. Pretty crazy! Because of some special circumstances, my family ends up with a larger party than some other families. I've done some more thinking: Above, I didn't specify what type of pasta to serve because I wasn't sure what would make more sense. My daughter loves any kind of pasta, so I was thinking whatever is easy but good tasting. Now I'm thinking maybe penne with tomato sauce and cheese, or penne with tomato sauce plus meatballs, and also macaroni and cheese? Can I pre-cook penne and refrigerate, then heat with sauce in a roaster on 250 for an hour and a half, or is that too hot or too long? I'd stir now and again. I'm thinking maybe 4 or 5 pounds of pasta per roaster. Then I'd serve directly out of the roaster on low heat (what temp for food safety?) OR put into a chaffer (sp?) pan with those little burners underneath. And refill as needed, heating as we go in the oven. For the macaroni and cheese, I suppose I'd have to make ahead and put in pans to heat those in the oven. Will this work, do you think? I might do a trial round in advance with one roaster and see how it goes, then I can divide that food up to give to some people in need of some meals.

That is a beautiful pasta sleevendog. I don't tend to use the longer pastas available around here because it's mostly smoother flat or round stuff. Or long round spirals and large chunky stuff. I have to admit I use cheaper pasta.. but it having a texture, tooth, or groves that are easy to get into is important. And messing around with flavors too. We tend to rotate more than you do than do a bunch of different ones at once.. it's just the two of us now so I have to remember to make less.. like we just finished up a 2-4 day run of eating out a batch of chicken bacon ranch pasta salad that overlapped the tail end of some horseradish brussels sprouts slaw.. tonight I'm cooking off little red taters while the kitchen is hot anyway to chill off to make another round of cold salad. I should do a bean salad soon. Something I've noticed about how I make batches of these kinds of salads is that the quantities of stuff kind of remains the same. Like a box/half/1/3 package depending on what kind it is is the "standard" amount of pasta I use depending on how many cans/meats/veggies. And to the thread in general.. does other cold pasta use count as salad? Or other cold service? Sometimes I make cold stuff with big pasta too. Like big tube pastas or shells, leftover lasagna noodles to stuff or roll up with tuna salad, chicken salad, veggie salads of minced tomato, cukes, onion, olives, ect.. and drizzle with the sauce of choice to keep the pasta moist till service. Having your salad in the pasta instead of having your pasta in the salad. I've done this sort of thing for larger party service on occasion. Or when I end up with tail end packages of big pasta for whatever reason and got a few to pack off with the random can of tuna or whatever for a couple lunches.