Fruit and Pasta Salad

This dessert is so easy to prepare, ingredients are not hard to find onboard and its an all-time favourite of my crew.
At home I normally use young coconut meat instead of pasta, but young coconut is almost impossible to find onboard.

One of my colleague, Bosun Samuel Ruedas, suggested to use macaroni pasta and it was an instant hit onboard.
And then on my last vessel assignment, M.T. Persia, macaroni pasta was not available in my inventory but I had a lot of
fussilli pasta. I tried to substitute fussilli instead of macaroni and I must say, it was a perfect substitute to immitate young coconut meat.

That’s the beauty of listening to your crew and trying to use other ingredients on hand.

Now on with the cooking…

Fruit and Pasta Salad

Prep. time: 20 minutes

Pasta Cooking time: 8-10 minutes {Follow the Pasta package cooking directions.}

Difficulty: Very Easy

Makes; 5 Liters serving bowls

Good for 24 crew

You will need;

500 grms. pasta, (macaroni,fussilli or shells) cooked according to package instruction.

4 can (850grms.) fruit cocktail

1 liter whip cream 30-35%fat

1 big can (398grms.) sweet condensed milk

1 Tbsp. vanilla powder/liquid

Fresh Fruits for Garnishing;

Fresh Cherries

Green/Red Apples, diced

Red,Green or Black Grapes

Fresh Mint leaves

Direction;

On a large cooking pot bring water to a rolling boil,
add the pasta and stir to avoid from sticking at the bottom of the pot.
Cooked pasta according to package instructions.
Drain pasta on a large colander and let it cool down or chill for several minutes.

Drain all the juice of fruit cocktail on a large strainer.
{Fruit cocktail juice can be use in making Sweet and Sour Sauce.}

Place the whip cream on a large mixing bowl. Pour in the condensed milk and add the vanilla.
Whisk until well blended. Add the drained fruit cocktail. Add the chilled cooked pasta.
Toss the salad using a rubber scraper. Garnish with frresh fruits and mint leaves.

Enjoy your dessert!!! 😉

Here’s how I do it;