Le summer salads they are the ideal solution: fresh, versatile and easy to prepare. Just choose light, healthy, nutritious and seasonal ingredients. Especially in one of the hottest seasons in history which puts a strain on the desire to eat, or simply to light the stove. Here are 3 ideas forsummer 2022 devised by food blogger Sonia Peronaci for the Valtellina Casera Protection Consortium and Bitto Dop.
When we talk about salad, we immediately think about diet. Instead, if well balanced, it is a single dish, practical and tasty, which lends itself to a thousand preparations: with fish, meat, vegetables but also with fruit, legumes, cheese and rice eat for both lunch and dinner.
Summer salads: balance the ingredients for a healthy and nutritious dish
The prerogative of the isummer salads is to be seasoned. Generally, salad dressing consists of adding salt, oil, spices and, to taste, also vinegar, lemon, yoghurt, sour cream or other sauces.
You can use raw, cooked, or both ingredients. But obviously you shouldn't exaggerate and pay attention to the balance: when its composition includes food sources of fundamental macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) in balanced quantities such as to be able to have a fair representation of each macronutrient. Do not forget also food sources of micronutrients (vitamins and mineral salts), fiber and other compounds useful for the body.
Their function is not only that, very precious, of providing beneficial substances, but also that of regulating satiety and the speed with which blood sugar increases at the end of the meal, above all thanks to the fiber they are rich in.
Three summer salads: the recipes of Sonia Peronaci
Fregola salad with marinated prawns, swordfish, courgettes, mint and Bitto Dop
"Inspired by the sea and fresh - explains Sonia - it creates an interesting mix of flavors and enhances two great Italian excellences between seas and mountains: the Sardinian fregola, perfect to be enjoyed both hot and cold and the Bitto Dop, an excellent cheese from the high-altitude pastures in Valtellina that fully expresses the flavors of the herbs of the mountain pastures. Inside, marinated prawns, swordfish, courgettes and the fresh and fragrant touch of mint contrast: a winning mix of flavors that will win you over at the first bite!”.
Ingredients for 4 people:
- fregola 300 g
-zucchini 300 g
- prawns 250 g
- skinless swordfish 200 g
- thyme 4 sprigs
- mint 10 leaves
- 1 chilli pepper
-lemon zest of 1/2
- Bitto Dop 200 g
- extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
We start by removing the ends of the courgettes and cutting them into cubes. Then sauté them in a pan with a drizzle of oil, a clove of garlic, salt and pepper, until they become crunchy.
Marinate the prawns by placing them in a container with oil, lemon zest, thyme leaves and chopped chilli for at least half an hour. After the indicated time, sauté them in the pan until they are cooked, leaving them tender and juicy (about 5 minutes).
We then move on to the swordfish: remove the skin and cut it into 1 cm cubes. Once ready, sauté in a pan with a drizzle of oil and 5 chopped mint leaves, adding salt at the end of cooking.
As for Bitto Dop, just cut it into 1 cm cubes and keep it aside. Cook the fregola in boiling salted water, drain it al dente and place it in a large bowl.
At this point, combine the ingredients and add salt if necessary.
Spelled salad with salmon, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, cashews and Valtellina Casera
Salmon, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, cashews and Valtellina Casera Dop are the ingredients that enrich the ancient simplicity of spelled, in a mix that for Sonia represents “a lively salad that once again unites land and sea. The Valtellina Casera Dop cheese, in this case young and with a sweet and milky taste, is enhanced with a tasty diced from a fresh mix of summer flavours. For those who prefer stronger flavours, just vary the choice of seasoning, 180 days, when the Valtellina Casera Dop acquires a hint of walnuts and hay".
Ingredients for 4 people:
- pearl spelled 200 g
- fresh salmon 200 g
- cherry tomatoes 300 g
- basil 1 bunch (15 g)
-oregano ½ tsp
- asparagus 400 g
- vegetable broth to taste
- toasted cashews 100 g
-Valtellina Casera Dop 200 g
- extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Cook the farro until tender but al dente (this will take about 30-40 minutes). Once cooked, drain and set aside. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and dress them with oil, chopped basil, oregano and salt. Cut the Valtellina Casera Dop into 1 cm cubes. Remove the skin from the salmon and cut it into 1 cm cubes, then sauté it in a pan with a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper.
Clean the asparagus by peeling them from the middle of the stem down to remove the tougher outer part. Cut off 3-4cm from the bottom of the stems and then the tips (keep them aside) and cut the stems lengthwise and then into 3-4cm long pieces.
At this point, sauté them in a pan with a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper, adding a ladle of vegetable broth to soften the vegetables. Take a large bowl and put the spelled and all the other prepared ingredients in it.
Pasta salad with herb emulsion, cherry tomatoes, avocado, crunchy chickpeas, olives and Bitto Dop
The latest of Peronaci's summer salads is that of pasta with herb emulsion, cherry tomatoes, avocado, crunchy chickpeas, olives and Bitto Dop is a summer must, as Sonia explains again: "versatile and inevitable on the Italian table, it enriched with vegetables and the scents of the earth thanks to an emulsion of herbs that gives a pleasant touch of Mediterranean freshness and creates a nice mix with Bitto Dop, a cheese with character that goes perfectly with the balance of taste of this first course dish".
Ingredients for 4 people:
-fusilli 300 g
- chives 5 g
-basil 15 g
- parsley 15 g
- extra virgin olive oil 50 g + to taste for seasoning
- cherry tomatoes 300 g
- 1 avocado of about 250 g
-lemon juice and 1/2 zest
- pitted Taggiasca olives 100 g
- Bitto Dop 200 g
-Salt and Pepper To Taste
For the crunchy chickpeas:
- boiled and drained chickpeas 230 g
-00 flour 1 tbsp
-paprika 1 tbsp
-Salt to taste
Preparation:
Starting with crunchy chickpeas. After draining the water from the chickpeas, pat them dry with kitchen paper and place them in a bowl, adding the paprika powder, the flour, the oil and the salt. Mix everything with a spoon to mix the ingredients well on the chickpeas, then arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cook them at 200° for about 30 minutes, turning them halfway through cooking. Once ready, take them out of the oven and let them cool.
Then it's on to the pasta. Put the aromatic herbs in a cutter, add the oil, garlic, pepper and salt and the grated lemon zest and blend everything until you get an emulsion. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and put them in a bowl; clean the avocados, cut them into cubes and add them to the bowl and season them with oil, salt, lemon juice and set aside.
Cut the Bitto into cubes. Boil the pasta and drain it al dente, season it with the aromatic herb emulsion, add the cherry tomatoes with the avocado, the Bitto cheese and the drained Taggiasca olives. Mix the ingredients well and serve by placing the crunchy chickpeas on each plate.
