Pasta Ring Fruit Salad

Welcome to Peggy’s Dakota Kitchen! I hope each visit here is a pleasure! I am including recipes I prepare today with reminiscences of the past. No matter what I cook and how I entertain, there is always the connection to family, friends and growing up on a North Dakota farm!

I am still going through Winter Olympic withdrawal. I enjoyed coming home from work and watching the games! With so many of the competitions close, I stayed up every night till the end of broadcast! As a kid, I would try to emulate the speed skaters going up the frozen driveway to wait for the school bus. Slightly bent over with one arm swinging back and forth for momentum, it was a quicker trip than the regular walk! As a family, we also had a Tudor Tabletop Rod Hockey Game. We played it for years and was our favorite toy! The puck was on a bearing that made it roll quickly and the pet’s loved it! The trick was finding it when you wanted to play! My favorite Olympic moment this year was during the closing ceremony when oversized cut-outs of the table hockey players were brought out. Adding the gold medal on each was the perfect touch!

Today’s recipe is Pasta Ring Fruit Salad. This is a great winter fruit salad that can be used any time of year. It has been a favorite of mine for years and I even had it served at my high school graduation reception! I removed 3 eggs and reduced the sugar by half for the dressing. Regular whipping cream is substituted for heavy whipping cream and the powdered sugar to sweeten it was reduced by half. The pasta rings are tiny circles of macaroni that are approximately 1/4-inch wide and 1/8-inch thick and are called “rings” on the box.

PASTA RING FRUT SALAD
Serves 6

20-oz. can crushed pineapple in juice
1 egg
½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups pasta rings
15-oz. can mandarin orange segments in light syrup
15-oz. can fruit cocktail in juice
½ pint (1 cup) whipping cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Pour pineapple into a 6” mesh strainer and drain into a 2-qt. non-stick saucepan. Pour pineapple into a 4-qt. mixing bowl and set aside. Whisk egg, sugar, flour and salt into the pineapple juice. Let sit 5 minutes. Cook on medium, whisking till the mixture boils and is smooth and thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Measure 2 qt. water into a 4-qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook pasta rings for 8 minutes or till firm tender. Pour into a colander and rinse under cold, running water for 30 seconds. Drain. Pour into 4-qt. mixing bowl with the pineapple. Drain mandarin oranges and fruit cocktail and stir in. Fold in cooked dressing till coated. Pour into a 2-qt. covered container and chill 8 to 24 hours.

Before serving, use an electric mixer with beaters and beat whipping cream and powdered sugar in a chilled 1-qt. stainless bowl till stiff on medium. Scrape pasta mixture into a 4-qt. mixing bowl and fold in whipped cream. Serve cold.