Shrimp Pasta Salad

 8 oz elbow macaroni noodles

4 stalks celery, chopped small

1/2 red or green bell pepper, diced

1/4 small onion, diced

2 cups small salad shrimp, cooked

For dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp sour cream

2 tsp distilled white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

3/4 tsp celery seed

1/4  tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1.  Cook macaroni noodles al-dente according to package instructions.  Drain and rinse under cool water, drain again and transfer to a large bowl.

2.  Add celery, pepper, onion, and shrimp and stir to combine.

3.  In a separate bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients (mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, celery seed, ground mustard, salt, and black pepper).  Taste test and add more salt or pepper as needed.

4.  Pour dressing over macaroni mixture and stir well until all ingredients are coated with dressing.  Cover shrimp macaroni salad and refrigerate at least one hour (preferably overnight) for the flavor to fully develop before serving.  Always stir before serving.

Notes:

Often able to find cooked small "salad" shrimp in the frozen section.  Typically i toss these right into the salad frozen and when I go to sere the next day the shrimp has thawed and I just need to stir before serving.  If you choose to thaw the shrimp first, do not drain.  Alternatively you may cook/steam or use larger cooked shrimp, just coarsely chop the shrimp into small pieces.  When my grandmother makes this recipe, she just uses a single (undrained) tin of tiny shrimp.

Serves 8