Creamy Pasta Salad

Pasta salad (Pasta fredda) is a salad dish prepared with one or more types of pasta, almost always chilled, and most often tossed in a vinegar, oil, or mayonnaise-based dressing. It is typically served as an appetizer, side dish or a main course. Pasta salad is often regarded as a spring or summertime meal, but it can be served year round.

Pasta salad, as we Americans know it today, descends from a long line of dressed macaroni dishes, both hot and cold. Dressings (oil/vinegar, mayonnaise, cream sauces) and additions (vegetables, herbs, spices) varied according to culture and cuisine. In early 20th century we begin to find recipes for macaroni salad in American cookbooks. These were typically dressed with mayonnaise and served in cold molded presentations. Think: perfect domes of chilled macaroni salad served as "sides" in diners & delis. Alternatives? A side of cottage cheese or coleslaw. In the USA, "Macaroni salad" generally denotes a mayonnaise dressed side dish, popular for picnics. "Pasta salad" is generally dressed with vinaigrette. Both are served chilled, can welcome chopped vegetables (celery, onion, olives)and are popular sides in hot weather. Which macaroni shape to use? Elbow macaroni is traditional in the USA.

According to a survey of articles published in the New York Times, recipes titled "pasta salad" were published in the early 1960s. They proliferated in the 1980s, when Nouvelle Cuisine delighted in creating dishes with gourmet pastas of various shapes, sizes, and colors. Pasta salad was a trendy way to carbo-load back in the Yuppie era. This simple, economical dish was promoted on two fronts: upscale, affordable cuisine and practical way to use leftovers. Before long? Mainstream American food companies began promoting "pasta salad" box kits. These can still be found in our grocery stores today. (ref: https://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsalads.html#pasta)