Deli-case pasta salad—you know the type, gobbed with sugary mayo and flecked with bargain-bin tuna—can be grim, frightening stuff. With cookout and picnic season upon us, I wondered how I might freshen up the American side to give it a more intriguing flavor profile. The goal was to give the dish what a zoomer might call “main character energy”: pasta salad as the meal, not a sorry accessory to it.

Ingreadients:

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• ½ cup panko bread crumbs, or homemade bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. ground caraway seeds
•  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb. conchiglie (shell) or orecchiette pasta
• ¾ cup coarsely chopped dill or bread-and-butter pickles, plus 1 Tbsp. brine
• 3 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley leaves
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped dill fronds, plus more whole fronds for garnish
• 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp. bottled horseradish
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
•  Pinch cayenne pepper
• ½ small red onion, very finely chopped
• 2½ cups flaked cold cooked salmon (see headnote)
• ¾ cup mayonnaise, plus more to taste
• ⅓ cup crème fraîche, or sour cream

Direction

1. In a large pot set over medium-low heat, melt the butter, then add the panko and caraway and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden, 4–6 minutes. Scrape into a bowl and set aside.
2. Rinse the pot, then fill it with generously salted water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and boil, stirring occasionally, until fully cooked (just past al dente) according to the instructions on the package. Strain and rinse under cold water until cool. Return the pasta to the pot.
3. Stir in the pickles, brine, parsley, dill, lemon zest, lemon juice, horseradish, mustard, cayenne, and onion and set aside to marinate for 5 minutes. Stir in the salmon, mayonnaise, crème fraîche, and three quarters of the reserved bread crumbs. Season with salt and black pepper to taste (it should be very well seasoned) and more mayonnaise if desired.
4. Garnish with the remaining bread crumbs and dill fronds. Serve immediately (at room temperature), or cover and chill until ready to serve. (Tightly covered, the salmon pasta salad will keep for 2 days in the fridge; if it looks dry, stir in a couple tablespoons of water.)