Rice Salad

Rice Salad

A practical, quick and tasty idea to prepare a lunch to eat at home or take to the beach and eat under the umbrella. Rice salad is the summer dish par excellence. Fresh and light, it lends itself to multiple interpretations by adding or changing a few ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 300 g of rice
• 300 g of tuna in oil
• 15 cliegino tomatoes
• 5 anchovy fillets
• 200 g of smoked black olives
• parsley
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Rice salad is always an excellent idea to solve summer lunches and dinners. Tasty and light, if followed by a refreshing mixture of leafy vegetables, it can be a valid alternative to a pasta dish. Enriched with other ingredients and vegetables it can be transformed in a delicious single course to be consumed at home or to be taken to the beach or to the office.

Rice, like bread, goes well with everything and for this reason it is easy to customize the recipe of rice salad according to one's tastes by adding or changing some ingredients. For the same reason it is an excellent solution to empty the fridge. Olives, tomatoes in oil, tuna, capers, and cheese cubes mix perfectly.

If you're looking for inspiration, check out the recipes for rice salad Niçoise style, rice salad, shrimp and green apples, rice salad with cherry tomatoes, feta and olives and rice salad in melon and you'll find that all it takes is a little imagination to bring a healthy and tasty dish to the table.

To prepare the rice salad, first boil the rice in plenty of salted water, drain it al dente and lay it out on a kitchen towel. Let it cool. Meanwhile, wash the tomatoes, dry them, cut them in half and place them in a salad bowl with the drained and chopped tuna.

Add the olives and anchovy fillets chopped. Add at this point the rice.

Dress the salad with extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and ground pepper and mix. Top with a little chopped parsley. Keep the rice salad in the fridge until ready to serve.

Crepes with porcini mushrooms and provolone cheese

 Crepes with porcini mushrooms and provolone cheese

Porcini mushroom crepes with spicy DOP provolone cheese are a very satisfying vegetarian recipe. A creamy and flavorful holiday dish that can be prepared in advance and reheated in the oven at lunch or dinner time.

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs

500 ml milk

220 g of type 00 flour

butter

500 g of cow's ricotta cheese

40 g of dried porcini mushrooms

fresh parsley

Val di Mazara DOP extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove

salt

pepper

½ glass of dry white wine

2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

PDO 30 months grated

300 ml of béchamel sauce

spicy provolone Valpadana DOP cheese

Vegetarian cuisine is full of surprises. A delicious first course for a vegetarian holiday menu is porcini mushroom crepes with spicy DOP provolone cheese. The ingredients of the recipe are calculated for 4 people equal to 8 crepes. The beauty of this dish is that you can prepare it in advance, so you can save time and avoid unnecessary stress.

HOW TO PREPARE: CREPES WITH PORCINI MUSHROOMS AND SPICY PROVOLONE DOP

Prepare the filling: soak the mushrooms in warm water for about 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze them gently and then chop with a knife. Set aside.

Brown the garlic in a non-stick frying pan with a little oil, add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and allow to take on flavour. Deglaze with white wine and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Collect the well drained ricotta in a bowl and mix it with grated Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt. Mix in the mushrooms and set aside.

aside.

At this point, prepare the crepes: collect the eggs in a large bowl, beat them adding salt and milk. Continue adding the sifted flour and mixing with a whisk. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let it rest 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Grease a non-stick frying pan with butter and put it on the stove. Pour in a ladleful of the mixture and spread it over the entire surface of the pan. Cook the crepe on both sides and continue in this way until all the batter is used up. As they are ready, stack the crêpes on top of each other to keep them warm and soft.

Then grease a baking sheet. Take one crêpe at a time and sprinkle half with a generous layer of ricotta and mushroom cream. Close each crêpe in half.

Arrange them in the baking dish, side by side. Cover with a generous amount of béchamel sauce and grated provolone, and bake in a static oven preheated to 200°C for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Radicchio salad with quinoa, cranberries and pistachios

 Radicchio salad with quinoa, cranberries and pistachios

Radicchio salad with quinoa, cranberries and pistachios is a delicious mix of healthy and tasty ingredients. A salad, also excellent as a single dish, with a quick and easy recipe that provides the balanced nutrients for a light meal. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 head of red radicchio di Chioggia
• 2 tablespoons cranberries
• 150 g of quinoa
• 2 tablespoons shelled pistachios
• 1 teaspoon of traditional balsamic vinegar
• Parmesan cheese flakes
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Radicchio salad with quinoa, cranberries and pistachios is a dish that features a delicious combination of ingredients and textures. Perfect for a light but balanced meal with flavor.

The base of the dish is radicchio di Chioggia, a salad with a rounded and compact head, with red leaves with a pleasantly bitter taste and a crunchy texture. And then the quinoa, a pseudocereal of Andean origin very nutritious and low-calorie, gluten-free. Dehydrated cranberries recall the color of radicchio and contrast its bitterness with a slightly sour sweetness. Pistachios add a point of crunch and delicacy of flavor. The slivers of parmesan give the right savory note. Not to mention the balsamic vinegar which we recommend, as always, DOP, learn more about the differences in our in depth study Balsamic vinegar DOP characteristics and pairings. 

There are many proposals for fruit and vegetable salads that we suggest and that allow you to stay light with taste, in every season. Among our favorites are surely Grapefruit and avocado salad, Winter salad and Orange, pistachio and fennel salad. 

Clean the radicchio di Chioggia, removing the base and outer leaves. Cut into lozenges, not too large. Boil the quinoa according to the instructions on the package. Drain and cool under running water.

Toast the pistachios in a non-stick pan without fat. Transfer the quinoa to a bowl along with the radicchio, toasted and coarsely chopped pistachios, and blueberries and mix. In a small bowl, whisk the salt and vinegar very vigorously with a fork. Gradually add the oil, continuing to mix until the mixture is smooth.  

Use it to dress the salad. Complete with a few shavings of Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Bell pepper sauce

 Bell pepper sauce

Bell pepper sauce is a quick and easy recipe for making a tasty condiment for pasta dishes and croutons. Make it in the summer, when peppers are in season for maximum flavor. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large red peppers
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• salt

Bell pepper sauce is a quick and easy passepartout condiment, ideal for spreading on croutons, canapés and bruschetta or for dressing pasta dishes.

Make it during the summer, when the peppers are fresh, so as to get the best taste: this sauce is rightfully included in our best of Jams, preserves, fruit in syrup and sauces: the best 38 recipes to prepare in summer.

Just a few steps are needed to obtain a tasty and velvety cream: first blanch the peppers, so that they can be peeled and easily blended with an immersion blender. Then add vinegar, garlic and oil and you're done! 

Preparing the bell pepper sauce is quick and easy. In a small saucepan, pour the vinegar, add the minced garlic and let it steep for a few minutes. Blanch the peppers in salted water, peel them and remove the seeds and filaments.

Blend the peppers to a smooth consistency. At this point add the white vinegar using a sieve, so that it retains the pieces of garlic. Emulsify the mixture with the oil. The bell pepper sauce is ready.