Chicken and potato salad

 Chicken and potato salad

Chicken and potato salad is a cold one-pot meal that is easy to prepare. An easy recipe ideal for a lunch break at the office that satiates without weighing you down, but is also good for a quick lunch or a summer dinner.

• 1 whole roasted chicken breast
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• 3 boiled potatoes
• 4-5 pickled gherkins
1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Chicken and potato salad is a cold dish that can be made in a short time with simple ingredients, and that can be left over from previous preparations, such as hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes and roast chicken. A complete dish that satisfies the appetite without weighing down.

With its soft, white meat and delicate flavor, chicken can be combined with many other ingredients, making it an excellent base for many different salads. It can be combined with eggs and potatoes as in this recipe, but also with peppers and capers as in the salad of chicken and sweet and sour peppers. It can be combined with lettuce and celery as in the chicken salad and also with onions and olives as in the summer chicken salad. Also super tasty and light is the chicken salad with yogurt mayonnaise and green beans.

All these salads, as well as the chicken and potato salad, can be prepared in advance, stored in the refrigerator and seasoned only at the time of serving. A clever idea to think about even for an aperitif with friends or an informal dinner.

To make the chicken and potato salad, first cut the chicken breast into strips. Then peel the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise first, then into regular chunks.

Drain the gherkins from their water and cut them into chunks. Peel the eggs and slice them. Distribute the potatoes, chicken and gherkins in a serving dish or salad bowl.

Season with salt and pepper and mix. Add the eggs. Dress the chicken and potato salad with the oil and mayonnaise spread in clumps.

Niçoise salad

 Niçoise salad

A mix of flavorful and colorful ingredients come together in this recipe with an unmistakable name and flavor. This is the niçoise salad, a rich single dish ideal for an appetizing summer lunch.

• INGREDIENTS
• 300 g of tuna in oil
• 15 taggiasca olives
• 150 g of green beans
• 5-6 anchovy fillets
• 2 auburn tomatoes
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 head of lettuce
• 1 cucumber
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 celery heart
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• ½ a red onion from Tropea
• 4-5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• salt

The recipe of salad niçoise, as its name suggests, is a specialty of the French Riviera, and in particular of the city of Nice, known all over the world. It is made of many ingredients of different colors and consistencies which make it a rich and tasty dish.

After a day at the beach, for a lunch at the office or a quick dinner, salads of this type are the best solution to bring to the table in a few minutes a dish that is appreciated for the speed of preparation (this is prepared in less than half an hour), for the freshness and for being appetizing and satisfying at the same time.

If you are also fans of the genre, try also the spicy fish salad, an unusual idea to use the sea bass, the summer chicken salad, with boiled potatoes, onions and olives, and the tasty salad with grilled chicken, with tomatoes, olives, cucumbers and red onion.

And if you still haven't found inspiration, also check out the 23 healthy and light summer recipes to fight the great heat.

Start preparing the niçoise salad by cutting the onion into rounds and soaking it in cold water for 30 minutes. Spike the green beans and cook them in boiling salted water for 7-8 minutes. Clean the lettuce, chop it and put it in a salad bowl. Add the tomatoes cut into wedges.

Add the beans cut into smaller pieces. Cut the bell bell pepper into julienne, removing the stalk, seeds and white filaments inside, then add it to the other ingredients in the salad bowl.

Also add the drained onions and the peeled cucumber cut into wedges. Then add the celery cut into chunks, the drained tuna, the hard-boiled eggs cut into wedges and the olives.

Finish the salad with the chopped anchovy fillets. Dress it with an emulsion prepared with vinegar, oil and a pinch of salt and mix well. The niçoise salad is ready to be enjoyed.

Escarole and shrimp salad

 Escarole and shrimp salad

Escarole and Shrimp Salad is a quick and easy recipe to make. The slightly bitter note of this crunchy variety of salad is well balanced by the sweetness of the shrimp in this dish that, in just a few minutes, allows you to bring to the table a seafood main course with a fresh and light side dish.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ head of escarole
• 300 g of shelled shrimp tails
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• ½ tablespoon of salted capers
• 1 lemon
• ½ glass of extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Especially in summer, a salad is always a good idea, if it is enriched with protein, as in this case, and accompanied by a couple of slices of bread, it becomes a complete and satisfying dish, perfect for both lunch and dinner.

Escarole and shrimp salad is a fresh and light seafood second course that can be prepared in a few minutes using shrimp tails already shelled. For a preparation in record time, you can use already cooked shrimps that are now available in many supermarkets. With the same speed you can enhance this simple dish by using more valuable shrimps or other types of crustaceans such as shrimps or cicadas.

Fish is an excellent ingredient from which to prepare tasty salads and cold dishes. Not only crustaceans and mollusks, many other species can be used for this kind of preparations. Swordfish salad, cod salad with polenta chips and spicy fish salad, made with sea bass, are just some of the many tasty recipes that can be made with fish.

To prepare the salad of escarole and shrimp takes very few minutes. First, boil the shrimp tails for three minutes in salted water. Drain them and let them cool. In a salad bowl, place the carefully washed and chopped escarole and the washed and halved cherry tomatoes. Then add the shrimp tails.

In a bowl, prepare a citronette by emulsifying the oil with the lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper. Add the desalted capers to the salad, dress it with the prepared citronette and mix. Serve the escarole and shrimp salad immediately.

Rice salad with mint and feta cheese

 Rice salad with mint and feta cheese

Mint feta rice salad is a fresh dish that is perfect for summer. A quick and easy recipe that can be prepared in advance and enjoyed as a lunch at the beach, for a picnic or at the office. 

INGREDIENTS

• 150 g tuna in oil
• 300 g of rice
• 150 g of cherry tomatoes
• a few mint leaves
• 150 g of feta cheese
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

In summer, rice salads are a real must: practical, quick and versatile, they solve meals with family, friends and even lunch breaks at work. This mint and feta rice salad is no exception, a fresh dish perfect for the summer season with an easy recipe. 

It takes just a few ingredients to prepare it: cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and mint for a mix of Mediterranean colors and flavors. Feta is a Greek cheese made from sheep's and goat's milk that lends itself well to being used at this time of year in tasty and simple dishes: try it for example in rice salad with cherry tomatoes, feta and olives. 

This vegetarian recipe is ready in just over half an hour and presents no difficulty: our advice is to always use good quality rice, of the Carnaroli or Parboiled variety, which does not burn. When cooling it, avoid putting it under running water to stop the cooking process, because this will cause the loss of the starch and therefore a greater stickiness of the grains. 

Preparing this mint and feta rice salad is very simple. Boil the rice in plenty of boiling salted water, drain when al dente, place it well spread out on a dish towel and let it cool. Transfer to a serving plate or salad bowl. 

Start composing your rice salad: add the washed and halved cherry tomatoes as the first ingredient. Continue with the drained and coarsely chopped tuna in oil. 

Add the diced feta and season with oil, salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. 

Before serving, add fresh mint leaves to your rice salad with mint and feta. The dish is ready. 

Sbriciolata of potatoes, zucchini and Stelvio PDO

 Sbriciolata of potatoes, zucchini and Stelvio PDO

If you like savory pies the Sbriciolata of potatoes, zucchini and Stelvio DOP will conquer you. It is an easy recipe to prepare and becomes a unique dish thanks to its delicious filling. And if you have some left over, it's even tastier the next day!

INGREDIENTS

• 700 g of red potatoes
• 200 g of Stelvio DOP cheese
• 2 zucchini
• 1 spring onion
• 100 g of cornstarch
• 40 g of butter
• 2 yolks
• salt
• pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• breadcrumbs
• butter for cooking
• fresh mint

Sbriciolata with potatoes, zucchini and Stelvio is a healthy and hearty recipe, ideal as a single course, perhaps during lunch break or as an aperitif, accompanied by a glass of Pinot Grigio Alto Adige DOC.

When we talk about sbriciolata, we usually refer to a cake, which crumbles, inspired by the more famous sbrisolona. As it often happens in cooking, from the original recipes of a preparation are born new ideas and this is the case of the sbriciolata we are proposing, in its savory version. As opposed to a potato gattò or a flan, this cake has the typical irregular aspect on the surface. This characteristic is achieved by arranging the last layer of mashed potatoes in pieces, in a disorderly and discontinuous manner, so that it can expand in cooking, while maintaining a crumbly appearance.

The potato crumbles enclose a soft and irresistible filling, first a layer of zucchini and on top a generous diced Stelvio DOP cheese, which softened in cooking makes the taste fragrant and delicious. A hint of mint completes the whole.

Preparing the potato, zucchini and Stelvio crumble is easy. First, boil the potatoes in their skins for 20 minutes. Cut the cheese into cubes about 1 cm per side and slice the zucchini into rounds and then in half. 

Saute the zucchini together with the chopped spring onion in a little oil in a large hot pan. Scald over high heat, add salt and pepper and set aside. Once the potatoes are cooked, peel them while still hot and mash them in a potato masher, collecting the pulp in a large bowl. 

Add the butter, egg yolks and starch, season with salt and pepper and mix. The result will be a mixture similar to a puree, but more compact. 

Take about half of the mixture and distribute it in the mold lined on the bottom with a disc of baking paper. Compact it in a single layer with the (greased) palms of your hands. Stuff with the zucchini and chopped fresh mint. 

Add the Stelvio cubes and cover the surface by arranging the remaining potato mixture in irregular, coarse mounds. 

Sprinkle with a light dusting of breadcrumbs, place some butter flakes on top and bake in a static oven preheated to 200°C for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to set for about ten minutes.

Gently transfer to a serving dish and serve your potato, zucchini and Stelvio crumble in slices. 

Pasty polenta with fake sauce

 Pasty polenta with fake sauce

Polenta pasticciata con sugo finto is an easy and hearty recipe, with a very tasty sauce that features a vegetarian ragout that is absolutely worth trying. A unique dish perfect for when the temperatures drop.

INGREDIENTS

1. 280 g yellow flour
2. a level teaspoon of salt
3. 500 g of ripe tomatoes
4. 1 liter of water
5. 2 celery stalks
6. 1 onion
7. 1 carrot
8. 1 tuft of parsley
9. 100 g of grated Grana Padano cheese
10. 1 tuft of basil
11. extra virgin olive oil
12. salt
13. pepper

Polenta pasticciata con sugo finto is an easy, hearty recipe, perfect for when temperatures drop. A unique dish that has its trump card in the sauce. 

Sugo finto is a rustic and tasty meatless ragout, like the vegetarian ragout: very popular in Central Italy, especially in the Marche and Tuscany, it is also defined as a "poor" sauce due to the absence of animal proteins. It is a traditional peasant recipe which features a rich "parterre" of vegetables such as carrot, celery, onion and tomatoes, flavored with aromatic herbs and cooked slowly, which is used here as a condiment for layers of yellow polenta and Grana Padano cheese. 

In autumn and winter, there is no lack of robust dishes with polenta as the protagonist, such as polenta concia, enriched with speck, Asiago and Puzzone di Moena. If instead you want to try another version of veggie ragout, here is our lentil ragout.  

In order to prepare this polenta pasticciata with a fake sauce, first of all prepare the latter, as it will have to cook for about an hour. Wash the tomatoes and blanch them for a couple of minutes in a pot full of water. Peel them, remove the seeds and reduce them to small cubes, recovering their liquid by passing the waste through a sieve. 

Finely chop the celery, carrot, onion, parsley and basil. Heat three or four tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the chopped vegetables for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook semi-covered over low heat for about an hour.

At this point, prepare the polenta. Pour the lukewarm water into a saucepan, salt it and, stirring, add the flour. Keep stirring to avoid the formation of lumps and after 30-40 minutes the polenta should be cooked. In a casserole or bowl, place half of the polenta and half of the dressing on the bottom, adding plenty of grated Grana Padano cheese. 

Form the second layer first with the polenta and then with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with more cheese to taste.

Bread dumplings with salami

Bread dumplings with salami

Bread gnocchi with salami are a very hearty and flavorful first course. Inspired by the many traditional recipes of popular cuisine that call for the use of stale bread, these gnocchi are actually the result of a well-thought-out combination of fresh breadcrumbs and the well-known salami. Perfect for a robust family lunch, and if they don't win in lightness they certainly triumph in taste!

INGREDIENTS

• 400 g of fresh bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 40 g of sliced lard
• ½ liter of milk
• 1 white onion
• parsley
• 120 g of salami
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• extra virgin olive oil
• garlic
• parmesan cheese
• sage
• butter
• salt
• black pepper

Gnocchi di pane al salame (bread dumplings with salami) are a robust and tasty first course that takes up and reworks the traditional recipes of popular cuisine, present almost everywhere in the territory, born to reuse in the kitchen the leftovers of stale bread, cheese, cold cuts or vegetables. Recipes that have then assumed the rank of real regional specialties, as in the case of the famous South Tyrolean dumplings.

In this version, the bread dumplings we are proposing are actually made with fresh breadcrumbs. And if you want to recycle them, don't worry, the leftover bread crust can be kept in a paper bag and dried to become breadcrumbs or large crumbs for crispy breadcrumbs.

After cooking in salted water, gnocchi are seasoned with melted butter and grated cheese. Alternatively, they are also very tasty cooked in vegetable or meat broth, as desired, and served with just a sprinkling of cheese. Maybe they cannot be defined as the lightest dish to propose for lunch or dinner, but they are certainly among the tastiest.

And if you are in the mood to try alternative gnocchi recipes to the classic potato ones, we certainly recommend Gnocchetti di semolina in broth, Cajettes and Gnocchetti with Jerusalem artichokes, Taggiasca olives, pine nuts and lemon.

To make Gnocchi di pane al salame, beat the egg in a large bowl with the milk and add the breadcrumbs in pieces. 

Heat the lard, cut into squares, in a pan until it becomes transparent. In a pan, brown the finely chopped onion in a little oil. Add both the lard and the onion to the crumb mixture. Add the chopped parsley with half a clove of garlic, the chopped salami, salt, pepper and flour.

Knead until the mixture is well blended and firm enough to handle. If necessary, add a little more flour and let it be well absorbed. Let the dough settle for a few minutes and then, with slightly wet hands, form some gnocchi about the size of a large walnut. Place them, as they are ready, on a floured work surface. 

Boil the gnocchi in plenty of boiling salted water. When they come to the surface, gently remove them with a skimmer and place them in a pan where you have melted the butter flavored with sage. Turn the pan so that the gnocchi with salami are seasoned evenly without breaking and then serve them sprinkled with grated cheese.