Insalata di Zucchine (edizione doppia, double edition)

...the Zucchini Chronicles continue with TWO raw preparations to beat the August heat.

Week two of our zucchini chronicles, and we’re stripping things down and going for it raw. We’re talking fresh, herby, zingy salads that hit particularly hard in the heat of August. The first, a highly riff-able classic zucchini carpaccio, insalata, whatever you want to call it, that stands the test of time. Its ingredients are molto accessible, and you should make it for dinner tomorrow. The second, is a recipe from a few summers back at Enoteca L’Antidoto in Rome, that features perfectly jammy figs and bottarga (cured mullet roe), two of my absolute favorite ingredients, that are slightly more difficult to procure, but totally worth the effort.

But if the thought of eating raw, spongy, watery zucchini sends a shiver up your spine, stay with me. When handled correctly, their porous nature actually allows for excellent flavor penetration of a minty vinaigrette. Their ever-so-slightly spongy characteristics can actually add contrasting texture to your crunchy nuts or shards of crystalline aged cheese. I used to make variations of zucchini salads all the time, but admittedly, was fairly quiet about this particular culinary love affair as I felt it was vaguely reminiscent of zoodles, and, by proxy, diet culture. I didn’t feel this dish was a culinary revelation, but rather an American way of eating carb-free. When I began staging at Enoteca L’Antidoto in Rome—still my favorite wine bar in a city of the best—we had a version of a zucchini salad on the menu that was downright breathtaking in its simplicity. It helped me realize that my preconceived notions of zucchini salad were hogwash, and I was in fact honored to plate up this vegetable in its raw elegant form. 

Zucchini Salad w Pistachio, Aged Cheese & All the Herbs

Insalata di Zucchine con Pistacchi, Parmigiano e tutte le erbe

This salad is the one that I began with many moons ago, and have riffed on approximately one million times since. Not a big fan of pistacchio? Snag some pine nuts. Don’t have parm? Add ricotta salata, burrata, even a good feta*. I list a few common herbs in the recipe below, but this summer I’ve been obsessed with experimenting with shiso, anise hyssop, and different types of basil. This is a really fabulous and low-stakes place to test some wild ones. Thinly sliced red onion or a smokey chili flake, like aleppo, would also be lovely additions.

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