Fun Food Friday- Broccoli & Cheese Pasta Salad

I love pasta, wither it's warm in a dish or a cold salad.  This is my favorite pasta salad.  And it makes a huge one, so it's great for things like a church picnic which is what I made it for. 

Ingredients: Rotini Pasta, Bacon, Red Onion, Shredded Cheese, Broccoli, Mayonnaise, Sweetened Condensed Milk, Sugar, Parmesan Cheese, White Vinegar

You first need to cook your bacon (or you can use pre-cooked bacon or bacon pieces).  I cook my bacon in the oven so you don't have the messy skillet to deal with.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and lay out the bacon.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the bacon and how crispy you want it).  Place cooked bacon on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain the grease.

Cook the pasta in boiling water.  You can also use bow tie or farfalle pasta

Dice up the onion

To a big bowl add a chopped up medium head of broccoli...

the diced onion...

chopped up bacon...

and 2 cups of shredded cheese (I used Colby-Jack but you can also use Cheddar)

Stir it all together

Micah thought he needed to stir it with a measuring spoon and in the process eat most of the cheese.

When the pasta is cooked drain it...

And rinse with cold water.

For the dressing mix 2 cups of mayonnaise...

1 can sweetened condensed milk...

1/3 cup sugar...

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese...

and 1/2 cup white vinegar

Carefully stir together till smooth and combined

Add the cooled pasta to the bowl

Micah was more interested in stirring the dressing than mixing the salad :)

Pour the dressing on the salad...

And mix together.  I put about 2/3 of the dressing on the salad at first and added the rest after the salad had chilled for a couple of hours.

And there you have it, Julie's favorite pasta salad!

 

Broccoli & Cheese Pasta Salad

16 oz box rotini pasta

1 pound bacon, cooked and cut up

1 medium red onion, chopped

2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese (Cheddar works too)

1 medium head broccoli, chopped

Dressing:

2 cups mayonnaise

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup white vinegar

 

Cook pasta, drain and rinse with cold water.  Add bacon, onion, cheese, and broccoli.  Mix together dressing ingredients and pour 2/3 of it over pasta mixture.  Mix together.  Chill salad for a couple hours.  Pour on the rest of the dressing and mix.