La Dispensa-Summer Salads
With a good pantry, it's easy to whip up quick summer meals. We could live on tomato and tuna in one of many delicious combinations.
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When the heat hits in summer, I almost stop cooking. It is time to celebrate the fantastic produce in the market, break into the pantry, and be inspired.
Tomatoes and Tuna are often on the table in many forms. We alternate with some other fun salads and usually have “picnic dinners”. We have prosciutto and melon, salami and cheese, olives, and other preserved vegetables from the pantry, and we rarely have to cook.
Pomodori
When tomatoes are in season, we never get tired of eating the ones we buy from local farm stands. We never put them in the fridge, and the flavors explode. You can serve tomatoes in so many ways. Celebrate summer by eating them as often as possible.
We alternate with eating Caprese salad, olive oil and salt and simple tomato salad and the regional variations.
NO BALSAMIC VINEGAR.
When you research traditional recipes, they are regional. We use classic red or white wine vinegar, which is delicious. Not too sharp. In the past, I have made my own with left over wine.
Mozzarella is from around Naples and is often made from Buffalo milk ( water buffalo), Mozzarella di Bufala, or regular cow’s milk, called Fior di latte. In Naples, they often make it a little more savory by putting it in a lightly salted water bath after it is shaped. If you live in the area, you also never refrigerate the mozzarella. It is bought and eaten. You do keep any leftovers in the fridge.
Sometimes, we cut tomatoes and add salt, Italian wine vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil for a simple dinner. We often pair them with a protein like hard-boiled eggs, tuna, sliced steak, or the classic trinity of cucumbers, red onion, and tomatoes. There are variations all over southern Italy and the Mediterranean.
Tonno Sott’olio
I am a huge fan of Italian tuna. I always have several jars in my pantry. I prefer the lovely large filets packed in olive oil.
When in doubt, I always have a tuna panino when I am out. Panini in Italy are usually straightforward, and until places like Antico Vinaio opened, there were no fancy sauces or more than a couple of ingredients in a panino, and they were never grilled.
When I arrived in the 80’s, you never had olive oil or mayonnaise on a panino.
Italian canned or jarred tuna packed in olive oil is incredible. We have so many recipes with preserved tuna.
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