Rosa Marina Salad

Yvonne's family makes this salad a lot for pot lucks, etc. She believes their recipe came from one of her aunts. The recipe below came from the Internet, but the recipe seems to be fairly consistent except for the fruits used.

The name of this salad comes from the pasta it is made with. Rosa marina pasta is a wheat or semolina pasta that's shaped like grains of rice. Orzo is a good substitute. While I cannot pin down the origin of this salad, the recipe is found in Pennsylvannia and New York.

1 (16 ounce) package Rosa Marina (orzo) pasta
2 (15 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained and juice reserved
1 (16 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained with juice reserved
1 (16 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained and juice reserved
1 (4 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained and halved
3/4 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (16 ounce) container whipped topping (such as Cool Whip®)

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook orzo in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Add mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, crushed pineapple, and maraschino cherries to orzo.

Combine juice from mandarin oranges, juice from pineapple chunks, juice from crushed pineapple, sugar, eggs, and flour in a saucepan over low heat; cook, stirring often, until sauce is thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and cool, about 30 minutes.

Pour cooled sauce over orzo mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate until flavors blend, 8 hours to overnight. Fold whipped topping into orzo mixture before serving.

24 servings