Copycat Ruby Tuesday Ham and Pea Pasta Salad

Let's address the elephant in the room. I absolutely love Ruby Tuesdays. Especially back in the day when the salad bar had absolutely everything you could want. The Ruby Tuesdays around me have gotten rid of the Ham and Pea pasta salad which was a bummer in my opinion.

Let us not despair! We shall have our favorite pasta salad, yet again! Here is a copycat recipe which I've pulled together. I made this for a family dinner and my sisters who are also Ruby-Tuesday-salad-bar-ride-or-dies immediately knew what I was going for with this dish. We put a big hurting on that bowl and I still had some for leftovers which were equally delicious after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Pasta salads are fantastic because they can make a decent sized batch for fairly cheap and are normally pretty simple to make... plus delicious! Great for potlucks, side dishes for a cook out or even just make ahead for some lunches.

If you're just looking for a good pasta salad and don't care about recreating the Ham and Pea salad from Ruby Tuesday.. you have the option to adding toppings such as red onions, green peppers, cheddar cheese or bacon to your hearts content. You can even swap out the rotini for your favorite pasta or whatever you have on hand. This recipe does give the option for buttermilk, but it is not required. If you are a buttermilk person feel free to swap out the milk. If you would like to have something similar to buttermilk without having to buy any you can make your own substitute with a lemon juice or vinegar addition to your milk.

The secrets to this recipe if there was one sure fire way to mess it up... do not overcook the pasta, the pasta must be al dente or this dish does not come together correctly! Also do not skip rinsing the pasta, this stops the cooking process as it cools the pasta. Resist the urge to thaw or cook the peas, they will become mushy.