Insalata (Salad)
- Preparation time: 20 minutes.
- A good mixture of various kinds of salad such as radicchio, endive, rocket, chicory, valerian, lettuce
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Wine vinegar.
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Carefully wash all the salad leaves, dry thoroughly and chop finely. Put in a large salad bowl and add the dressing. For a perfectly mixed and dressed salad, first sprinkle with salt, then add just a small quantity of vinegar and toss well. Now add the oil and toss again thoroughly to combine all the flavours. If you prefer, you can also prepare the dressing separately. Whisk the oil, salt and vinegar together in a bowl, pour over the salad and toss. Depending on the season, you can make a mixed salad adding thin slices of fennel or fresh baby courgettes, green celery, cress and tomatoes.
For a quick and handy summer lench, add some chopped, diced pecorino or other tasty hard cheese, or flaked Parmesan to the salad.Pliny the Elder recounted thet, "The Emperor Augustus recovered from a serious illness by eating only salad". Apicius suggested, "Dress salad leaves, fresh from the field, with garum, oil and vinegar".
Bartolomeo Sacchi claimed that "Rocket is an amazing stimulus to the pleasures of Venus".
