Summer Picnic Pasta Salad: Spilled Milk #221

Perfect for poolside lunches, the boat or beach — or just for a weeknight no-cook porch dinner.

LET’S SPEND MORE TIME TOGETHER: I’ve turned on Substack Chat for Spilled Milk. It’s like a giant group text just for members of the awesome Spilled Milk community: a place for you to ask me questions, for me to ask you questions and for all of us to just generally hang out with one another. Think of it as a virtual version of sitting around the table with me after a great meal.

I’ll also occasionally drop short videos when I post something! You can check the latest chats by clicking “Chat” on the Spilled Milk homepage, or, if you use the Substack app, you can get push notifications when I post something. I can’t wait to get to know you all a little better.

And as always, an extra little chef-driven recipe you need for your back pocket.

Jambon persillé but make it pasta. I love the process of imagining one dish and making it in another form!

What James Peterson said over two decades ago is still the definition of a dish that is undefinable: “While no two versions are exactly the same, jambon persillé is cooked ham that’s been layered in a terrine with chopped parsley and the gelatinous poaching liquid used for cooking the ham. Depending on whose recipe you follow, the terrine may consist of pieces of ham suspended in gelée or contain very little gelée at all, just enough to hold the terrine together.”

I make mine with a lot of minced herbs and lemon. So here we go.

No one picnics anymore, at least not in the Downton Abbey way or even the wicker-hamper-and-a-blanket way — but we do take food to eat in public places. A lot.

I see it in the park, at kids’ sports events, concerts, pool parties, tailgates (they are picnics of a type) and of course all summer at the beach or lake. We need to have recipes to make all season long that are as delicious out in the world as they are in our homes.

I got a great question about this very subject last week on our Spilled Milk AMA. I always bring salads, soups and plenty of other items like sliced leftover meats, cold fried chicken and coleslaw. The list goes on and on. Try some of these winners:

• Gazpacho

• Fried chicken

• Cole slaw

• Shrimp salad

And please explore more of my salads, cold soups, roasts (my leg of lamb recipe is ideal for slicing and bringing on a picnic) and vegetable dishes on the website. It’s a fun place to get lost for a while.

I love pasta salads. So as I was thinking of jambon persillé, I wound up cooking pasta.

This particular one is a summer stalwart of mine for poolside lunches, packed in a cooler for the boat or beach, or just for a weeknight no-cook porch dinner. This dish is very, very, classic from a French perspective, but I don’t see it a lot here in the States. That’s a shame because it is insanely delicious.

Ham, peas and tarragon have an affinity for one another. The saltiness of the ham, the sweet vegetal peas, the sharpness of the mint and the anise edge of the tarragon all combine to make a perfect summer pasta salad. Best of all, it is easy to make, inexpensive and can be fancied up a bit with the crispy leeks.

Recipe: Pasta Salad with Peas, Ham and Tarragon