from tom’s big dinners
my parents had this cookbook a while ago. it’s by a famous seattle chef, tom douglas. the book was divided into all these giant, unattainable looking feast ideas, at the time they seemed absurdly complicated - though i am curious if i would think so now. this type of cookbook is really not written so much to share recipes for the home cook, but to portray an aspirational lifestyle. not my mom’s style of cooking and my dad does not use cookbooks. so my mom got rid of it. but this pasta salad is one thing that i remember from it, though i can’t remember if i actually made it, i do remember looking around for this ricotta salata, a dried sheep’s milk cheese.
anyways, later, i had this idea about a cold pasta salad that tastes like mac and cheese, and while googling if this existed, i came across this old recipe. so of course i had to make it.
though he says this is inspired by mac and cheese, this is really a ranch dressing with a salty cheese that becomes one with it and fresh greens. first you make the ranch by combing sour cream, buttermilk and mayonnaise, chopped chive and dill, garlic, minced shallot and lemon. sounds good, right? then you mix the dressing into the pasta - i used cavatappi - and add the sliced green onions and finely shredded ricotta salata. i left the pasta to sit like this and then only added the greens when serving, to avoid any soggy greens. the result is an addicting, indulgent yet light, herby, salty pasta salad. though i may be a little biased, i love a good gloopy mayo pasta salad/potato salad/slaw. these dishes are perfect for cooking in the middle of the summer, when you don’t want to turn the oven on.