Pasta Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing

Serves 6
Makes a nice accompaniment to grilled steak.

Ingredients:

- 8 oz. radiatore pasta
- 1/2 lbs cooked, cubed beef sirloin (optional)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)

Creamy Horseradish Dressing:

- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup fat free sour cream
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons prepared horseradish
- salt & freshly ground black pepper

Cook radiatore pasta according to the directions on the package for al dente. Drain & rinse briefly under cold running water, set aside.

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk in a small bowl; whisk in garlic, mustard, horseradish, and salt & pepper to taste.

Place pasta in a serving bowl, add steak, onion, tomatoes, celery, & parsley, toss gently. Pour dressing over mixture and toss gently. Cover & refrigerate from 1-24 hours, garnish with blue cheese just before serving.

From the Pasta Salad: 50 Favorite Recipes cookbook, by Barbara Lauterbach, page 55.

***Tips: Horseradish can be very strong so don’t add all 1-1/2 Tablespoons at once; add incrementally to taste. I add more chopped celery, onions & tomatoes than the recipe calls for, and I make a double recipe to make sure there are some leftovers. Pasta will absorb most of the dressing very quickly, so I make an extra batch of the dressing and mix with chilled pasta right before serving. I don’t mix the tomatoes with the pasta salad until ready to serve. First I layer the serving dish with pasta, then halved tomatoes, then another layer of pasta, then halved tomatoes, etc. The horseradish dressing gives this pasta salad a real kick, and it’s just delicious.

Labels: Recipes