Apricot salad
Admittedly this apricot salad recipe is a rather sweet, but very refreshing on a hot day.
Last night I watched a rerun of Jamie Oliver in south Italy, where he complained about the innate stubbornness of Italians when it comes to food: People prefer dishes their mothers served while unknown recipes and combinations of ingredients are automatically rejected or treated with the utmost skepticism.
During the show affirmative head nodding left me dizzy, as I have all but given up on trying to repay the kindness and hospitality of Italian friends with homemade food, unless the dishes are an exact replica of their traditional foods. No use introducing foreign ways here. Italians are a population of spoiled schizzinosi and food chauvinists – but given the range and quality of their national cuisine, I think they are entitled to be fastidious. Just don’t offer them a taste of this delicious apricot salad and other fruit and veg combinations like spinach and orange salad or pomegranate and fennel salad that mixes sweet with salty ingredients, unless they absolutely insist;)
Ingredients
10 mature apricots (or 5 peaches or nectarines)
100 g firm white cheese (I use caciotta leccese, but ricotta salata or feta would work as well)
1 red onion
Fresh mint leaves
Vinegar
Olive oil
Preparation
Bring a casserole of water to the boil. Toss in the apricots for a minute, before you slice them in halves and remove the skin and the stone.
Mix a dressing of olive oil and vinegar and pour it over the apricots. Leave them in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Before serving mix the apricots with finely chopped onion, mint and cubed cheese.
Apricot salad is best when served chilled.
I've never heard of Apricot salad before, but it looks very refreshing – perfect on a hot day! I'll have to try this!
Yes, hahaha… We’re a bunch of spoiled schizzinosi! Nice recipe though!
You’re excused. It comes from growing up surrounded by great food in good quality.
Tryed today (with dried apricots): sweet&sour, delightful! Thankyou :)
Glad to hear that. Thank you so much for the feedback.
Had my 1st ever fresh apricots when I was in New Zealand and they were SOOO good. Have only had dried apricots in Canada up to then, still tasty and nutritious, but nothing like the fresh ones.
What an amazing combination of ingredients. Looks like an extremely delicious salad recipe. :)
What a nice memory. Sometimes the joy of discovering something new it greater than the fact of missing out.