Words by Colu Henry. Photo by Tara Donne.
As I write this, I am desperate to be anywhere but here in the Hudson Valley. My wanderlust has peaked, and in my mind I’m in Italy with friends in a big house by the sea. It’s July. We likely have just gotten home from the beach and are rummaging through the kitchen to make a late lunch. I find some cucumbers and some local mozzarella and begin to assemble a salad so simple, it deserves the very best of ingredients. I place it on the table with some thickly cut pieces of toasted bread rubbed with garlic and perhaps a plate of sliced, still-warm-from-the-sun tomatoes, and figs too. We sit outside and drink fizzy wine and afternoon slips into evening and we laugh a lot. I’m hoping maybe we’ll be together there next summer. For now, I’ll make the salad and eat it barefoot on my front porch.
If this salad has you dreaming of Italy, you’ll love the recipes in Colu Cooks. Click here to explore the cookbook and bring more vibrant, authentic flavors into your kitchen!
Pretending I’m Vacationing in Italy Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (910 g) heirloom cucumbers, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
- 8 ounces (225 g) fresh mozzarella, at room temperature, torn into bite-size pieces
- kosher salt
- 4 ounces (115 g) prosciutto, torn into bite-size pieces
- 1 cup (80 g) loosely packed fresh basil leaves (torn if large)
- 1 teaspoon fresh marjoram leaves, optional
- good-quality olive oil, for drizzling
- freshly ground black pepper and flaky salt
Instructions
- On a medium platter, arrange the cucumbers and mozzarella and season with salt. Gently and evenly add the prosciutto and top the salad with basil and marjoram, if using. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over everything. Season with a few good turns of black pepper and a few pinches of flaky salt and serve.
Excerpted with permission from Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food by Colu Henry, published by Abrams, February 2022.