As the mercury rises, it’s difficult to come up with dinner ideas especially as – apart from my husband – none of us are fans of conventional green leafy salads. Thankfully, we’re all good with pasta and rice salad.
This particular rice salad is roughly based on what my Italian aunt makes. However, in true Italian style everyone has a different take and the final result is often dictated by what you have in the cupboard/fridge; if you Google Italian rice salad you’ll be confronted with 1000s of varied recipes… fish, cheese, ham, peas (yuk), carrots, the list of ingredients seems almost infinite.
My version of rice salad
Whilst I would recommend sticking to the amount of rice, the other ingredients can be adjusted according to taste or even substituted completely.
Ingredients (serves 5)
- Long grain rice – 500g
- One pack of frankfurter sausages (I use Herta Frankfurter x10 classic)
- Several salad tomatoes
- Three hard boiled eggs
- One ball of mozzarella
- Parmesan or Grana Padana for shaving
- Capers to taste
- Whole olives to taste (green or black)
- Olive oil
- Mayonnaise
- Salt & pepper
Method
This rice salad can be prepared well ahead or even in stages.
- Boil the rice as per instructions being careful not to overcook. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Transfer the rice into the final serving bowl and mix in a good glug of olive oil
2. Cook the frankfurters as per instructions and allow to cool. Then chop into discs and add to the rice alongside a few squirts of mayonnaise
3. Put the bowl in the fridge covered with cling film whilst you sort the rest of the ingredients
4. Boil three eggs. Delia has some advice on this. Again, chop into small pieces
5. Drain the mozzarella, cube and sprinkle with a bit of salt
6. Deseed the tomatoes, cut into small pieces and sprinkle with salt
7. Add the previous ingredients to the rice along with as many olives as you fancy. I cut some up so they infuse a little more and add the rest whole
8. Put in the capers to taste
9. Grate in some Parmesan or Grana Padano on the biggest setting on the grater
10. Add more oil, salt and pepper to taste and give a good mix. Check the seasoning and serve
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You might also like:
Pork, chorizo and cannellini stew
Easy Pancetta and Cheese Muffins
