Step 1: Boil the pasta
Salad components
- dried macaroni noodles454 g1 lb
- salt
Add your pasta to a pot of , salted water. Overcook the pasta by 3 or 4 minutes longer than the package instructions suggest. This overcooking allows the pasta to maintain a perfect chewy texture when cooled for the salad, instead of just hardening.
Once the pasta is cooked, strain it and spread it onto a baking sheet to cool.
- For an extra touch, consider mixing in a couple of spoonfuls of pickle liquid to the pasta so it absorbs some of that flavor.
While the pasta cools for about 30 minutes, you can use this time to prepare everything else.