Blog Post Written By: Briella Hirsch, UNH Sustainability Fellow
We have the perfect dish for you to bring to your next summer cookout or gathering! Many of these ingredients can be found at your local farmers’ market or farm stand. This colorful, flavorful, easy to make tuna pasta salad, will sure be a fan favorite. You can always switch up the recipe depending on what you have on hand and what is seasonally available to you where you live. Here is what you will need to recreate this dish. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for our Youtube video for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 box (16 oz) pasta
- 3 cans (5 oz) tuna
- 1 red onion
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup tomatoes
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup diced dill pickles
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to directions on the package.
- In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise, red onion, tomato, pickles, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Stir well to combine.
- Stir in tuna.
- Once macaroni is cooked, drain well and rinse with cold water until pasta has cooled. Pour drained macaroni into a large bowl.
- Pour mayonnaise mixture onto pasta.
- Then add thawed peas. Stir well.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
- Put bowl into the fridge for a couple of hours, then serve.
Local Ingredients: If fresh peas are in season, which happens to be right now (June-July) you could swap the frozen peas for fresh ones. To find out what produce is in season during every month of the year click here to find our harvest calendar. You can currently find peas at your local farmers’ market, to find a farmers’ market near you click here. There are also local pasta varieties available at farm stands and farmers’ markets, Valicenti Pasta Farm happens to have many varieties to choose from. You could also make your own pickles or there are some wonderful canners locally including but not limited to Debbie D’s Homemade and Cassie’s Canning Cabinet. If you wanted to use fresh, local fish you could also substitute the canned tuna for a variety available from a fishery local to you, click here to learn more about local seafood.