Summer Ham & Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe

This is a new summer pasta salad recipe I came up with while looking for something cool to make on hot summer days. It's very tasty and something quite different from the typical tuna, fake crab or chicken pasta salads. The only thing you have to cook are the noodles and most of the items are common coupon items found in many couponers' stockpiles. I had everything already on-hand except the grape tomatoes and turkey ham. TIP: I bought a 2lb turkey ham and only used 1/2 for this recipe, leaving the other half to freeze for another day!

Summer Ham & Pesto Pasta Salad

1lb rotini, shell or bow tie pasta
1lb turkey or pork ham, diced
8oz cheddar or swiss cheese, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 pint grape tomatoes

3/4 cup mayonnaise (not "salad dressing")
1/4 cup warm tap water
1 package Knorr Pesto Mix
2 tsp Dijon mustard

Put frozen peas in pasta strainer in sink. Cook noodles per package directions. Strain noodles over peas. Stir noodles and peas under cold water until noodles are cold.

While noodles are cooking, stir together pesto mix and water in a large enough bowl to hold all ingredients. Add mayonnaise and Dijon mustard and stir until smooth. Add noodles, peas, ham, cheese and grape tomatoes to bowl and stir thoroughly to evenly coat everything. Serve right away or refrigerate for an hour or so to let the flavors develop.