All right, for Charles and anyone else who is interested. The tuna pasta salad could not be easier to make. As follows.
Cook one pound of large elbow pasta - I usually just get Anthony's - it works perfectly and it's cheap. Once cooked, drain in a strainer. Then rinse with cold water, colder the better, so you get all the heat out of the pasta and it feels room temperature or a bit colder. Put that in your serving bowl.
Add the tuna - I use Bumble Bee Prime solid white albacore in water - do NOT use tuna in oil. Nyet. Open the can and with a fork, flake the tuna as you add it to the pasta - don't just dump it in there. Once that's in, use your largest mixing spoon - shouldn't look like a spoon - you know, those big thing you'd serve with. I'm sure they have a name but it's eluding me at the moment. Anyway, once the tuna is mixed in you can chop a red onion. I use less than half a medium size red onion - must be red and you must chop it finely - they should look like tiny bits of red onion - if it's too thickly chopped it overwhelms everything.
Once chopped, dump it in an again, mix it all in with the tuna and pasta so that it's evenly mixed. Then add two to three tablespoons of Best Foods mayo (or Hellman's) - NOT ANY OTHER KIND. Mix that in thoroughly. Add a liberal amount of salt and pepper and mix that in. Cover the top with aluminum foil and put in the refrigerator. I find it best to do all that the night before you're going to eat it.
Then, the next day, when you're ready to serve and eat, add at least two more tablespoons of mayo - may need three, but start with two - the mayo from the night before will have been absorbed. Mix that in thoroughly and serve away. You can salt to taste when you're eating and it does need some salt. That's it. Simple as pie. I usually eat half throughout that first day, then half the next day - if you do the same, simply add two more tablespoons of mayo the second day and mix in thoroughly and eat away.
Now I feel like making it today. IF you want to eat it the same day you make it, which I've done every now and then - instead of putting it in the refrigerator, I put the serving bowl in the freezer for about fifteen minutes. That chills it pretty good. Then I serve.
