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About this recipe

✨

Recipe highlight

Why you’ll love it

Creamy pasta, smoky poblano, salty ham, sweet corn, crunchy vegetables, pickled jalapeño, and fresh lime create a colorful Mexican party salad that tastes even better after chilling. 🌶️

Ingredients

• Macaroni salad base 🍝
• 🍝 350 g elbow macaroni (12.3 oz)
• 💧 Water, for boiling
• 🧂 1 tbsp fine sea salt, for the pasta water
• 🍖 180 g cooked ham, cut into small cubes (1¼ cups / 6.3 oz)
• 🫑 2 medium poblano peppers, approximately 250 g (8.8 oz)
• 🌽 150 g sweet corn kernels, drained if canned (1 cup / 5.3 oz)
• 🥕 120 g carrot, cut into small cubes (¾ cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🟢 100 g green peas, fresh or frozen (¾ cup / 3.5 oz)
• 🌿 80 g celery, finely diced (¾ cup / 2.8 oz)
• 🧅 60 g red onion, very finely chopped (½ cup / 2.1 oz)
• 🌶️ 60 g pickled jalapeños, drained and chopped (⅓ cup / 2.1 oz)
• 🧀 150 g queso fresco, cut into small cubes (1 cup / 5.3 oz)
• Lime-crema dressing 🍋
• 🥛 180 g Mexican crema or sour cream (¾ cup / 6.3 oz) dairy
• 🥄 120 g mayonnaise (½ cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🍋 30 ml fresh lime juice (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🌶️ 15 ml pickled jalapeño brine (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• 🧄 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
• 🌿 ½ tsp ground cumin
• 🌶️ ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 🧂 ½ tsp fine sea salt
• ⚫ ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• To finish 🍽️
• 🧀 Crumbled cotija or queso fresco
• 🌿 Fresh cilantro
• 🌶️ Sliced pickled jalapeños
• 🍋 Fresh lime zest
• 🌶️ Smoked paprika
• 🍋 Lime wedges

Preparation

• 1 Roast the poblano peppers 🔥 Place the poblano peppers directly over a gas flame, beneath a hot broiler, or in a dry cast-iron skillet. Turn regularly until the skins are blistered and blackened on every side.
• 2 Steam and peel the peppers ✨ Transfer the roasted peppers to a covered bowl and leave them to steam for 10 minutes. Peel away the loosened skin, remove the stems and seeds, then cut the flesh into small pieces.
• 3 Cook the carrots and peas 🥕 Bring a small saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the diced carrots and cook for 2 minutes, then add the peas and cook for another minute. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water.
• 4 Cook the macaroni 🍝 Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the elbow macaroni and cook according to the package instructions until tender but not mushy.
• 5 Cool the pasta ❄️ Drain the macaroni thoroughly and rinse it briefly under cold water to stop the cooking. Shake away as much water as possible, then spread the pasta across a tray for 5 minutes so the surface dries.
• 6 Prepare the dressing 🍋 Whisk the Mexican crema, mayonnaise, lime juice, jalapeño brine, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper until completely smooth and glossy.
• 7 Combine the vegetables 🌽 Place the cooled macaroni in a large bowl. Add the roasted poblano, ham, corn, carrots, peas, celery, red onion, pickled jalapeños, and queso fresco.
• 8 Add the dressing 🥄 Pour the lime-crema dressing over the pasta mixture. Fold gently until every piece of macaroni and every vegetable is evenly coated without breaking the queso fresco cubes.
• 9 Chill the salad ❄️ Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Chilling allows the macaroni to absorb the dressing and gives the smoky, tangy, and creamy flavors time to blend.
• 10 Adjust the consistency ✨ Stir the chilled salad before serving. When the dressing has become too thick, fold in one tablespoon of crema or cold water until creamy again, then taste and adjust the lime, salt, or jalapeño brine.
• 11 Finish and serve 🍽️ Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and top it with crumbled cotija, cilantro, pickled jalapeño slices, lime zest, and a light dusting of smoked paprika. Serve cold with fresh lime wedges.

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