Recipe
Insalata di riso
The unwritten Italian summer rule: from August 10 onwards, no one turns on the stove for more than twenty minutes. The insalata di riso is the national response. Every nonna makes it differently, every mamma insists hers is correct, and every beach towel from Jesolo to Otranto has a Tupperware of it by noon. It is the only Italian dish that actively benefits from being made the day before, which is a revolutionary property in a culture that otherwise insists everything should be eaten the moment it's cooked.
Our first proper insalata di riso memory is from age nine, at a small beach club in Sardinia where our family used to spend three weeks every August. The signora who ran the bar would serve it in waxed-paper cones, the kind you normally get chips in, and she charged five euros for a full portion. We would eat it with plastic forks on the sand, peas and tuna and little cubes of Emmental and pickled vegetables all tumbling together, and then go straight back into the sea and regret everything twenty minutes later. Years afterwards, our mother tried to recreate that specific version for a family lunch, and it was fine, but it wasn't the beach-club one. We understood then that some dishes are inseparable from the place they were first eaten.
What follows is our adult version, built to be packed into a lunchbox on a Sunday evening and dragged through the week like a competent friend. It gets better overnight as the rice drinks up the olive oil and the tomato juice, and it makes any grey office Tuesday feel slightly less grey. If you can find jarred condiriso (the pre-mixed pickled cubes), it's a legitimate shortcut. No nonna will be told.
- Prep 15 min
- Cook 15 min
- Serves 2
- Cost €€
Method
- 1
Cook the rice in well-salted boiling water until tender. In the last 2 minutes, add the frozen peas so they cook with the rice.
12 min
- 2
At the same time, bring a small pan of water to the boil, lower the eggs in carefully, cook for 9 minutes. Lift out and plunge into cold water.
9 min
- 3
Drain the rice and peas, rinse briefly under cold water to stop the cooking, drain well.
2 min
- 4
Spread the rice on a large plate or tray to cool faster.
5 min
- 5
Peel and quarter the eggs. Dice the bell pepper and the mozzarella.
3 min
- 6
Tip the cooled rice and peas into a big bowl. Add the tuna, mozzarella, bell pepper, olives, capers, and pickled veg if using.
2 min
- 7
Dress with olive oil, lemon juice, a good pinch of salt, and a crack of pepper. Toss gently, taste, adjust.
1 min
- 8
Lay the quartered eggs on top. Eat now, or refrigerate for up to 3 days.
1 min
Variations
Swap tuna for diced cooked ham or chickpeas. Add diced cucumber for crunch. A spoon of pesto stirred in at the end is a Ligurian move we won't complain about. If you can't find giardiniera, use gherkins or a few sun-dried tomatoes. The classic Italian supermarket version uses a jar of condiriso, mixed pickled cubes; it's a legitimate shortcut and no nonna will be told.