This is one of my all time favorite pasta salads. Every time I have made it has been a smashing hit. The original for this came off of the food network. I have modified it fairly heavily so it is now mine. As with any recipe I encourage you to make your own modifications. Play with it and have some fun. That is what cooking is all about.
BBQ Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Lb fusilli pasta (or what ever kind of pasta you want)
- 2 T apple cider vinegar
- 1 t hot sauce
- 1/2 t chili powder (i always end up using a lot more...)
- 1/8 t garlic powder (i tend to use fresh crushed garlic and a lot of it, I recommend Zyliss garlic presses)*
- Pinch of cayenne (i have big fingers so my pinch is a healthy one)
- 1 C Mayonnaise
- 1/2 C BBQ Sauce (use what ever kind you want but I highly recommend Bone Sucking Sauce)
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, sliced thin (can omit if you dislike celery like i do)
- 2 whole scallions, sliced thin
- 8 - 16 oz of pulled pork (pulled chicken works for those of you who don't eat pork)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parsley leaves for garnish
Directions
FOLLOW the directions on the package of pasta. They put the directions there for a reason, use them. Slightly under cook. That way it will have a nice firmness for the pasta salad.
In a large bowl, mix vinegar, hot sauce, chili powder, garlic, cayenne, mayo and BBQ sauce. Add vegetables to coat. pour BBQ dressing over pasta and mix well. You can then either place pork/chicken on top of the pasta or mix it into the pasta. I prefer to mix it in. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Let me stress that last bit. It has mayo in it. That stuff is one of the number one big offenders of food borne illness. Keep it cold until you are ready to serve. It goes great with beer or anything else for that matter.
If by chance there is any left (there shouldn't be), I advise chucking it instead of turning it into leftovers, especially if it has been at room temp for more than an hour or so. I would rather toss something than kill someone. Alternatively you can break out only what you need as you need it and keep the rest refrigerated.
* More on the Zyliss. I like their presses for a number of reasons. There may be better presses out there but you are going to pay for them. I went on a search for a garlic press not too long ago and what I found was that presses in the same dollar range as the Zyliss were crap. They had shoddy construction, stupid ergonomics or just did a piss poor job. Some of the more expensive ones that I saw really didn't do it for me. I just couldn't justify dropping $50 on a garlic press when there is one out there that is well made and presses the hell out of some garlic for $14. I am not getting a kick back for plugging Zyliss (yet, maybe we can work something out???). I am trying to make it a point to only plug kitchen equipment that 1) I use 2) I think is awesome. Those are my standards.
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