American-Italian Pasta Salad

Ingredients

Directions

1. Okay, here are the reformulated instructions for your American-Italian Pasta Salad, designed to be friendly, clear, and encouraging!

2. Let's get started by cooking the pasta! Fill a large pot with plenty of lightly salted water and bring it to a rolling boil.

3. Add the fusilli pasta to the boiling water and give it a good stir to prevent sticking. Cook it for about 10 to 13 minutes, or until it's "al dente" – tender but still a little firm when you bite into it. Nobody likes mushy pasta salad!

4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it immediately. Then, rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking process and help it cool down quickly. Drain it really well again so your salad isn't watery. Now, transfer the cooked pasta to a large bowl.

5. Now, for the creamy dressing! In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, and Italian dressing mix. Keep whisking until it's nice and smooth. This is going to be delicious!

6. We're going to reserve some of the dressing for later, so pour about ½ cup of the dressing into a separate container and pop it in the refrigerator. We'll use this right before serving to keep the salad nice and moist. Set the remaining dressing aside for now.

7. Time to add the goodies! To the bowl with the pasta, add the thawed peas, salami, green onions, celery, olives, and parsley. Doesn't that look colorful?

8. Pour the remaining dressing over the pasta and veggies. Gently stir everything together until all the ingredients are nicely coated in the dressing.

9. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or even better, overnight. This gives the flavors time to meld together and become even more amazing!

10. Before serving, give the pasta salad a good stir. If it looks a little dry (pasta tends to soak up dressing!), add the reserved ½ cup of dressing a little bit at a time, until it reaches your desired creaminess. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)