Ham, Pecan and Blue Cheese Pasta Salad

I love summer salads, especially this pasta salad. The flavors seem perfectly matched: salty but slightly sweet ham, pungent blue cheese, fragrant rosemary, crunchy pecans.

I skipped the parsley this time because I used plenty of fresh rosemary, which added enough pretty bits of green. Granted, our parsley was a wilty mess anyway.

But I miss my sources for rosemary ham; Giant Eagle stopped carrying it, and The Andersons (sniff) closed. So I used regular ham and seasoned the salad with my go-to, rosemary salt. I found about half the ham I needed in the freezer this time; I recommend using the entire 4 ounces for the best flavor.

I got this recipe from Gloria, a former Beacon Journal colleague. I don’t know where she got it. I use her suggestion to add sun-dried tomatoes. Someday I will try it with quinoa or barley instead of pasta.

Ham, Pecan and Blue Cheese Pasta Salad

4 oz. fully cooked ham, cut into thin, bite-size strips

1 cup broken pecans, toasted

1/2 to 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (2 to 3 oz.)

1/3 cup snipped fresh parsley

1/4 cup snipped sundried tomatoes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary, or to taste

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. or so kosher salt or rosemary salt, to taste

1/2 tsp. pepper

8 oz. packaged dried bow-tie pasta/farfalle

Lettuce leaves (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, combine ham, pecans, blue cheese, parsley oil, rosemary, garlic and pepper. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse. Drain again. Add bow ties to ham mixture. If desired, line plates with lettuce and top with pasta salad.

Makes five main-dish servings.