Summer Salads
We try to avoid too much cooking in the summer. Here are some of my go-to salads and dishes.
When I was invited to join Frank Fariello of Memories of Angelina, and Giovanna Solimando of My Half Apulian Table, on a LIVE last Friday, I began to think about some of my favorite summer dishes
We are in a heat wave right now, and it’s best not to heat up the kitchen.
If I need to cook something, I will do it early in the morning or late at night, to eat cold.
Tomatoes are everywhere in my summer kitchen repertoire.
We make the Caprese salad at least once a week. I prefer mine with oregano, and my husband prefers the classic basil.
A simple sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
When we slice a fresh water buffalo mozzarella, it starts to leak milk; it’s so fresh. When I finish my salad, I drink the leftover liquid at the bottom of the plate.
On the LIVE, I spoke about some classic summer salads, Tuscan Panzanella, a Farro salad, as well as a vegetable stew eaten cold, Buglione.
I also made a Sicilian salad from the Island of Pantelleria- Insalata Pantesca.
Panzanella is the classic summer salad, made with stale Tuscan bread soaked in cold water until it crumbles into a couscous-like grain. We don’t traditionally use croutons or balsamic vinegar. That is how the recipe has been adapted in the USA.
The Insalata di Farro is a wonderful rustic salad, perfect for picnics. No mayo
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Farro and beans are almost always paired in a soup, as they form a perfect protein, which is great for a vegetarian diet as well.
We boil the farro first, drain it, and let it cool. Then mix with beans of your choice. I like chickpeas.
All of the summer salads made with pasta, rice, and/or farro usually start with some chopped tomatoes, perhaps with capers and olives.
Giardiniera, the lightly pickled vegetables, are often added as well.
You can also add small pieces of cheese and ham, prosciutto cotto, sundried tomatoes, or tuna. It’s really only limited by what’s in your pantry.
Here is a version I serve warm in fall, with cooked cherry tomatoes and preserved truffles, it would also be good served room temperature.
I adore this Sicilian potato salad; adding more vegetables is perfect for summer meals.
I adore leftovers; they are often better the second day. The same is true for this vegetable stew in summer. My mother-in-law, Tina, taught me this recipe. She is from Figline Val D’Arno, the town where Sting now lives.
Her cooking is essential and delicious.
I have had versions of this recipe around Italy under different names, and in Holland with just carrots and potatoes. The flavors blend while cooking.
She calls this Buglione, which is a “mixed-up” recipe. There is a meat version in another area of Tuscany.
I have also heard it called ciambotta, cianfotta, ciabotto.
It’s Italy’s ratatouille.
You can make it with or without the tomato sauce. My husband likes it overcooked and mashed into the sauce to thicken it. We also have a simple tomato-and-potato recipe with rosemary.
Enjoy!
I'm living in the wrong country. Those heirloom tomatoes in your first set of photos have been romanticised here in the UK and it's not uncommon for them to go for £4 each 💔
I truly enjoyed the LIVE presentation with Frank and Giovanna; it was nice to “meet” you. Summer salads are great — in fact, had just removed a loaf of bread from the oven so that we could have panzanella two days later. I adore both panzanella and the Sicilian potato salad — though for both I either flash fry the onion (can’t eat it raw) or leave it out. David Scott Allen, Cocoa & Lacender