What kind of vinegar did you use?

That sounds really good. I would suspect with that amount of sugar, you could use white vinegar, but red wine is my favorite for pasta salads.

That's almost exactly the same as my mostaccioli salad....I haven't amde it in years!
Use cider vinegar.....white vinegar will give it a "chemical" taste and if you use red wine vinegar the whole dish will take on a most unpleasant color!
I also put a fair amount of oregano in my mostaccioli salad.
Linda C

The coloring never looked bad to me. I think a little pinkish is better than brownish looking... plus it tastes better, IMHO! And, I'm not sure I could handle a cup and a half of cider vinegar in a recipe even with that much sugar! I usually only use a tablespoon or so of cider vinegar in most recipes, and cut it with other milder vinegars if/when needed. Wouldn't that much burn your mouth?

Most vinegars are made to a measured acidity....white vinegar to 10% and cider vinegar to 5%. Most red wine vinegars are also standardized to 5% but not all, some are less acedic.
No, cider vinegar won't burn your mouth, I think you are confusing it with white vinegar. Actually cider vinegar is one of the "milder" vinegars...outside of a 15 year old balsamic there's not much besides champagne vinegar that is "milder".
I suppose that if you only used a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar it wouldn't be very pink, but it might be awfully sweet...and with a whole pound of pasta wouldn't you need something to moisten it all, it would be pretty dry with just 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar 1 1/2 cups of sugar, some yellow mustard and a cucumber, pepper and an onion.
So you are saying you would put 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 2 T mustard and 2 T of red wine vinegar over 1 pound of cooked pasta with the veggies and 1/4 cup salad oil?
I'd be interested to hear how it turns out.
Linda C