Delicate rice salad
( Insalata di riso delicata )

Delicate rice salad recipe

Preparation and cooking

• - Cook rice "al dente" stage in a pot of salt water.
  Drain it in the colander and run under cold water to stop its cooking.
• - Meanwhile dice your prosciutto cotto (cooked ham or cotto ham).
• - Shell eggs and separate every yolk from its white for six of them (set aside two eggs for decorating).
  Cut separetd whites into little pieces and mash yolks with a fork.
• - Put all ingredients in a large bowl, bell peppers included.
  But remember to put apart some bell pepper strips to garnish your dish.
• - Transfer boiled and drained rice into the bowl.
• - Add chives and olive oil and stir gently.
• - Blend in mayonnaise and stir.
• - Taste to determine if your rice salad needs added salt.
• - Slice remaining eggs and decorate rice salad top using some strips of bell peppers too.
• - Your rice salad is ready!

Just before serving

• - Let sit your rice salad before serving, at least 2 hours. If chilled first, bring back to room temperature to serve.

Note

Tips

• - Do not leave boiled rice in the colander too much. Once drained well, if you are not yet ready with the other ingredients, put it back into the pan in which you've cooked it and season with a couple of tablespoons olive oil.
• - Your rice salad will taste much more if you use fresh chives.
• - If you have any rice salad left don't worry, it's fantastic the day after too!

Menu planning

• - This rice salad is perfect for your daily menu and for a special occasion menu too.
• - Prepare this delicate rice salad for your Sunday menu and serve it as one-plate meal. You can increase the suggested portion. Follow my tip below, in "Healthy eating".
• - Delicate rice salad can be served in other occasions too: alfresco dinner, BBQ, a cold buffet, everytime you have to prepare some dishes ahead.
  But remember you can prepare it for a buffet party in cold months too.

Healthy eating

• - Rice salad is a dish rich in ingredients and so it is necessary to calculate the right amount of everything we use not to exceed calories, fat and sugars. That's why I used less than 50g (1 3/4 ounce) rice per head ;)
• - If you like the combination of its ingredients and want to prepare it for your dinner or lunch, use these amounts per head: 60g (2 1/4 ounce) rice, 2 quail eggs or half an hard-boiled egg, a medium-size strip of bell peppers, 25g (1 ounce) prosciutto cotto, the amount you prefer of aromatic herbs, 1/2 Tbsp mayonnaise and 1 tsp olive oil. With these doses here are your nutrition facts:
  energy: 384 kcal (1606 kJ)
  protein: 10.2g
  total fat: 17.1g
  carbo: 50.2g
  sugars: 0.5g
  fibers: 0.3g
  Complete your menu with fresh seasonal fruit and raw vegetables if you're still hungry.
  I remember you rice should be eaten preferably at lunch.
• - As you can see it's a tomato-free recipe, ideal for people intolerant or alergic to tomatoes.
• - Browse our website and find other new and traditional Italian recipes! Look always at green button (Italian cooking), our home page for recipes.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Delicate rice salad "?

My husband Carlo and I generally pair Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi (wine of Marches - Italy) or another white Italian wine with this rice salad.