Brownies or chocolate cake go perfectly with this light and fluffy peanut butter frosting. Sweet but not overly so; nutty but not greasy. This delicious, creamy frosting won’t overshadow your brownies while still tasting great!
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 35 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups mayonnaise, or more if needed
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons ketchup
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh dill
- 1 (12 ounce) package small pasta shells
- 1 pound cooked, peeled, and deveined small shrimp – cut in half
- ½ cup finely diced red bell pepper
- ¾ cup diced celery
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch paprika, for garnish
- 3 sprigs fresh dill, or as desired
Instructions
- Whisk 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl; add lemon juice and 1/3 cup chopped dill. Whisk until thoroughly combined; keep efrigerated.
- Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil and stir in pasta shells; cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool pasta slightly; drain again. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Toss shrimp with pasta; add red bell pepper, celery, and dressing to pasta mixture. Mix thoroughly to coat and fill shells with dressing. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, 2 to 3 hours.
- Stir salad again before serving and season to taste with more salt, black pepper, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper if desired. If salad seems a little dry, mix in a little more mayonnaise. Garnish with paprika and sprigs of dill.
- Salt the pasta water until it tastes like seawater.
- Small shrimp are about 100 per pound.
- You can add chopped onion, capers, olives, and bacon and use as a base for grilled salmon.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 451 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 34 g |
| Cholesterol | 99 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 664 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Very good but on the bland side. Added Old Bay Seasoning and Tony C to give it some zip.
I knew by the ingredients that this was a Chef John creation. The dead giveaway is the cayenne pepper. Which I used a lot of. Because we are spicy people. Super easy to make. It’s mostly boiling water, chopping veg, and stirring the sauce. I gave my husband a “first taste” before I put it in the fridge. He told me to lock the refrigerator door because otherwise, he would eat it all, chilling or no chilling. Sounds like a solid success to me.
I skipped the ketchup and added frozen peas, sliced black olives and diced onions to ingredients.
What a delicious pasta salad! Typically pasta salads are bland and boring. Fortunately, this is neither. The sweetness of the shrimp pairs beautifully with the fresh peppers and all the spices. When I make it again, I will increase the cayenne and maybe add some fresh spicy peppers. This is a perfect lunch that the husband was happy to take to work. Thanks Chef John!
This salad is very delicious! And quite fun to make. Some simple dicing, measuring and mixing. I recommend holding at least a 1/4 cup of the dill out until you’ve mixed everything together and can add the last amount to taste. The dill can be a bit overwhelming for some and is best if not over abundant. I hope this helps and you all enjoy this recipe.
This is easy! I made 2 cups of mayonnaise in the food processor, and ended up using my Dutch oven, since the salad bowl was too small. I used all the mayonnaise, too. Better than my Mum’s shrimp salad!
I made this recipe with a few alterations. I used large shrimp, cut them in half and then cut them up into pieces. Also added 1/4 c. diced green onions and a few tops. Otherwise, I stuck to the recipe. Even my husband loved it. It has a nice bite and the red pepper gives it a nice kick of taste. I didn’t add any salt because the ketchup, worscestshire sauce and dijon have plenty of salt already. This will be a dish I’ll make for parties, etc. It’s fancy, tasty and not a usual dish. Great for lent. Enjoy!
I did have to add a bit more spice, but it turned out fabulous! Family loved it
It was so flavorful. I can’t say enough how surprised I am when a dish that isn’t dripping with sauce can be so tasty and not dry! I will definitely make this again. I used large cooked shrimp and cut them into four pieces. A fantastic dish!
Easy recipe and great taste. I, like others, used cocktail sauce, omitted red pepper (we’re not pepper fans), no Worcester sauce, bumped up cayenne, added green onions, and used whole grain elbows. These are truly minimal changes overall and it makes a great side.
Used the recipe as written and loved this salad. Thank you.
This was decadent with the shrimp. I only had elbows when I made it but am now prepared with the bow-ties for my next batch. Chef John thank you as usual.
This was excellent. Used whole jumbo shrimp which I seasoned with salt and creole seasoning and quickly fried in olive oil. Followed other suggestions and used cocktail sauce, frozen peas, chopped chives, less lemon juice and decreased the Mayo mixture when mixing salad. Served on bed of chopped romaine lettuce.
Delicious. I didn’t have shell pasta so I used bow tie pasta. I cut jumbo shrimp in bite size pieces and used roasted red pepper I had frozen a week before. I added more celery for extra crunchiness. I went too easy on the cayenne but next time I plan to add a little bit more. My family nominated this as the best shrimp salad. Definitely a keeper.
Love it, so easy to make . I make this all the time for my husband and I and we can get two meals and I also have it for lunch.
This is mediocre at best. I used cocktail sauce in place of ketchup but it’s just okay. If I make it again I will make several modifications.
Delish!!
I followed directions but added a little chopped sweet onion. Another great recipe from Chef John. Was skeptical without pea’s maybe next time I will add some fresh peas.
We’ve had it with and without the cayenne pepper. Good either way.
I used half mayo and half fat free greek yogurt instead of mayo. I also added a little bit of cocktail sauce after I added shrimp and pasta. Gave it a little more flavor..
I followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious. I was concerned about the amount of lemon juice, but after chilling for a few hours I found the flavors blended