Two Italian Salads

It is now generally pretty well known and understood that the worldwide popularity of Italian cuisine lies with its simplicity.

Simple combinations + ingredients packed with flavour = a recipe for success.

I was lucky enough to start my domestic cooking career in Italy. My mother is a great cook but my scant interest as a teenager was quickly dampened by the fact that whenever I offered to help in the kitchen she always started interfering with what I was trying to do. Nothing more annoying! (I now, of course, find myself falling into the same trap – sneaking into the kitchen when hubby’s not looking to taste his Bolognese sauce and asking, with as much nonchalance as I can muster, infuriating questions like, ‘Did you put a bay leaf in? And a touch of brown sugar?’ He steadfastly refuses to do the classic Italian base mix of chopped onion, chopped celery and chopped carrot – but I guess I’ll have to let him off that. It tastes pretty good without – and I don’t want to put him off as it’s the only thing he cooks!)

So, yes, my interest in cooking really began when I first went to live in Italy as a 27 year old, courtesy of Boring Accountant’s career (not so boring accountant, after all?). We were based in a small apartment in Padova (Padua) in the Veneto region of North East Italy, just down the train line from Venice. Not a bad place to start one’s culinary journey.

Venice has a cuisine all of its own – largely based around seafood from the Adriatic of course, but infused with more exotic elements, too, which were embraced during the glory days of the mighty Venetian Republic and its status as Europe’s foremost trading post with the East. So alongside dishes of salt cod, seafood risottos and pasta infused with the black ink of cuttlefish, you will find the Eastern accents of cloves, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. The Veneto region, meanwhile, has its roots firmly in its farming past despite the prosperity it now enjoys from its manufacturing revolution (more on this another time, perhaps – it’s a fascinating story). As such, the basis of its cuisine is simple, wholesome, unfussy food centring around the famous Arborio and Carnaroli rice that it produces on its plains, and the potatoes and cured meat dishes which stem from the stunning mountainous region of the Dolomites. Put this together with a magnificent array of cheeses from myriad small producers and the famous, and unique, gem-red radicchio of Treviso, and you have a banquet fit for a king.

One of the things that I loved most about Padova was its three ancient central piazzas. On the Piazza della Frutta there was a daily market with stalls exquisitely displaying the fruit and vegetables of the moment. In Autumn it would be earthy scented mushrooms of every variety, with porcini being the most prized; in Winter bright orange clementines and red radicchio dominated; in Spring there would be a sea of bright green asparagus, artichokes and peas and in summer the heady scent of basil and tomatoes – another explosion of green and red. Now, put these last two together with the white of creamy mozzarella and you not only have the colours of the Italian flag, but one of the simplest and tastiest combinations you could ever hope to find. It simply sings with the optimism of summer, bursting with flavour generated by the heat of the sun.

Ah yes, the sun. This is why I have chosen to write about salads today. At the beginning of the week we had the most glorious Spring sunshine, imbuing everything with the most extraordinary clarity of light which had one rushing outdoors to soak it all in. Salad was the only thing I could think of to eat at my table outside on the terrace, the sounds of nature all around me. I wanted something quick, easy, healthy and flavoursome. I had some dolce rosso (small and sweet - available at Morrisons) tomatoes and the remains of a bag of rocket (rucola) in the fridge, basil on the windowsill, onions in my vegetable store and tinned cannellini beans and a tin of tuna in the larder. All I had to do was throw them all together – and this is how:

Chop one small white onion into small cubes (or throw it in the blender).
Open the cannellini beans (pinto beans would do too) and drain them.
Open and drain the tin of tuna.
Slice about 10 to 12 tomatoes in half.
Throw all that in a mixing bowl.
Add a generous slug of good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Squeeze a small lemon and add.
Add a touch of good quality balsamic vinegar (a good shake or two) but if you don’t have this a decent quality red wine vinegar would probably do.
Salt and pepper.
Pick off a handful of basil leaves, tear and add to the mix, together with a little fresh flat leafed parsley if you have it – but not to worry if you don’t, it’s just as tasty without.
Give it a good stir round, taste and adjust flavours/seasoning as necessary.

When you are happy with the balance of flavours, put into a bowl, put a handful of rocket on top and Bob’s your uncle (or should that be Roberto e il tuo zio?).




I went outside, laid up a place setting for one, opened a bottle of Italian pinot grigio from Trentino, the northern neighbour of the Veneto, (acquired from Waitrose, half price), slopped on some more olive oil and feasted like a king. It was only Monday, but it was a fantastic start to the week.


The second salad I had recently was just as simple:

It was comprised of two of the same ingredients as above – rocket and dolce rosso tomatoes. The addition was a couple of big chunks of mozzarella di bufala (FAR superior to the cheap rubbery flavourless stuff – click the link for more information) and some fine spears of asparagus, lightly grilled (they could also be steamed).


Again, all you need do is season the whole with ground salt and black pepper to taste, then drizzle with quality olive oil and either lemon or balsamic vinegar. Simplicity itself.

Footnote: for these recipes to work, you really do need quality Mozzarella (see above)and tomatoes. I used Dolce Rosso, but any small cherry or plum tomato from a hot country (but preferably Italy - fewer air miles than Israel) should do. Good quality extra virgin olive oil is also a must. I was using Jamie Oliver's, available in Sainsbury's and elsewhere.