Mediterranean-style Black Rice Salad
The southern version of our “Il Moro” black rice salad, with cherry tomatoes, Taggiasca olives, buffalo mozzarella and basil.
A Mediterranean summer rice salad: Riso Nero Integrale Il Moro Acqua e Sole boiled the English way and cooled under running water, drained cherry tomatoes, pitted Taggiasca olives, DOP Campania buffalo mozzarella torn by hand, salted capers rinsed of their salt and fresh basil. Naturally gluten-free. It comes together with 20 minutes of active work, 40 minutes to cook the wholegrain rice and 30 minutes of resting in the fridge. The buffalo mozzarella goes on only at serving, never stirred in earlier.
There is a summer day, usually in early July, when the first cherry tomatoes from the kitchen garden and a phone call from Imperia announcing the new Taggiasca olives arrive together at the farmhouse in Lumellogno. From that moment we know it is time to bring the Mediterranean version of our black rice salad to the table. Here our Riso Nero Integrale Il Moro acts as the dark base on which the colours of the south rest: the red of the cherry tomatoes, the violet-black of the Taggiasca olives, the white of the buffalo mozzarella torn by hand. Capers and basil hold the dish together with the salty note and the aromatic one. It is a richer version of the basic recipe, a classic Italian dish, for an outdoor Sunday lunch.
There is a technical reason why for cold salads we use Il Moro and not another rice. It is a wholegrain black rice, with the pericarp left in place, and after cooking it keeps its structure even once it has been cooled under running water and kept in the fridge. We dry it at low temperature in the dryer at Lumellogno, and this slow process is why the grain does not crack on the inside and does not release starch on contact with the dressing. In a Mediterranean salad with buffalo mozzarella, where water is a delicate variable, that is the difference between a clean dish and a mush.
The idea is simple: the rice is boiled the English way and cooled at once, the cherry tomatoes are cut and left to drain so they do not wet the whole thing, the olives and capers bring the saline note, the buffalo mozzarella is torn by hand and added only at the moment of serving. The basil finishes everything off with its fragrance. Half an hour of resting in the fridge before serving, and the dish finds its balance. A modern recipe, with rice we have always grown in our paddy fields at Lumellogno.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 320 g Riso Nero Integrale Il Moro Acqua e Sole
- 300 g ripe, firm cherry tomatoes
- 80 g pitted Taggiasca olives, drained
- 200 g DOP Campania buffalo mozzarella
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed of their salt (or Pantelleria capers), optional
- 1 clove small garlic clove, optional
- 4 tablespoons good-quality extra virgin olive oil
- ½ lemon juice (about 1.5 tablespoons)
- to taste fine salt
- to taste freshly ground black pepper
Notes from Home
- Buffalo mozzarella torn by hand, never with a knife: a smooth cut closes the pores and releases liquid
- Cherry tomatoes drained in a sieve for five minutes with a pinch of salt: this removes the excess water
- Taggiasca olives drained of their preserving oil: otherwise the dish turns oily
- Basil torn by hand and added at the last moment, not during assembly: a knife blackens it
- Salt added only at the end of the recipe: olives, capers and buffalo mozzarella already season the dish
- Garlic rubbed and discarded: fragrance yes, presence no
Method
Cooking the rice (40 min)
We bring a large pot with two litres of salted water (a level tablespoon of coarse salt) to a gentle boil. We add our Il Moro rice and cook over medium heat for 40 minutes, stirring now and then. Boiling the rice the English way, drained and not absorbed, is the right technique for cold salads: the grain stays separate and keeps its structure.
Cooling (5 min)
Once the cooking is done we drain the rice and pass it straight under a stream of cold running water, stirring with a spoon to cool it evenly. We let it drain well, then transfer it to a wide bowl and dress it with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. The oil keeps the grains from sticking while we prepare the rest.
Cherry tomatoes and mise en place (8 min)
We wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them into quarters, or into halves if they are very small. We transfer them to a sieve, season with a pinch of fine salt and let them drain for five minutes over a small bowl to catch the juices. Meanwhile we rinse the salt off the capers under running water, draining the Taggiasca olives of their preserving oil and gathering them on kitchen paper.
Buffalo mozzarella by hand (2 min)
We drain the Campania buffalo mozzarella of its preserving liquid, transfer it to a plate and tear it with our hands into irregular pieces the same size as the cherry tomatoes (about 2 cm). Tearing by hand leaves the edges porous: it melts better in the mouth and the milky liquid stays inside the piece, rather than running to the bottom of the bowl.
A garlic-scented bowl (1 min)
We rub the inside of a large bowl with the garlic clove cut in half, then discard it. It is a Ligurian kitchen trick (the land of the Taggiasca olives) that leaves the scent of garlic on the salad without weighing it down with its presence. It is an optional step, but it makes the difference.
Lemon vinaigrette (2 min)
In a small bowl we mix with a little whisk the juice of half a lemon, a grind of black pepper, and pour in the four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a thin stream, stirring until the dressing emulsifies. We do not add salt now: Taggiasca olives, capers and buffalo mozzarella bring enough savouriness, the salt is adjusted at assembly or at serving.
Assembly (3 min)
In the scented bowl we bring together the now-cold Il Moro rice, the drained cherry tomatoes, the Taggiasca olives, the rinsed capers. We tear the basil by hand (never with a knife, it oxidises and blackens) and add it. We pour in the vinaigrette and stir gently from the bottom upwards so that the dressing coats everything without crushing the ingredients. We taste and adjust the salt only if it is really needed.
Resting in the fridge (30 min)
We cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least thirty minutes before serving. This is the moment when the flavours blend, the lemon works on the cherry tomatoes and the olives, and the dish finds its balance. We do not skip this step: without resting, the salad is more disjointed.
Serving (2 min)
We stir once more gently, taste, and if needed adjust the salt, pepper or lemon. We spoon the salad into shallow plates or individual bowls. Only at this point do we add the buffalo mozzarella torn by hand on top, a drizzle of raw oil, a few whole basil leaves. We serve it cold. The buffalo mozzarella on top, not stirred in: the cream-white above the black of the rice is part of the dish, even to the eye.
From Lumellogno to the south, in the same dish
At our home, here in Lumellogno, the western hamlet of Novara, the Mediterranean black rice salad is the Sunday summer lunch. The first cherry tomatoes from the kitchen garden arrive, the phone call from Imperia announces the new Taggiasca olives, the trusted deli sets aside a fresh, same-day DOP Campania buffalo mozzarella. Our Il Moro acts as the dark base in the dish, the colours of the south rest on top: the red of the cherry tomatoes, the violet-black of the olives, the cream-white of the buffalo mozzarella torn by hand. It is a table set outdoors, under the pergola, where the Novara plain meets the south in a single bowl. We talk of other things, we eat slowly, and that is enough.
Lumellogno · Imperia · Campania
Why Il Moro holds up in the Mediterranean salad
For rice salads to be eaten cold, here at Lumellogno there is a variety we keep on hand at home all summer long: our Riso Nero Integrale Il Moro. It is a wholegrain black rice, with the pericarp left in place, and that gives it the structure it needs. The grain stays whole even after being cooled under running water and kept in the fridge for half a day. We dry it at low temperature in our dryer, and this slow process is the technical reason why it does not crack and does not release starch on contact with the cherry tomatoes and the buffalo mozzarella.
In the Mediterranean version there is one more variable than in the basic recipe: water. The cherry tomatoes bring it in, the olives bring in another, oily share, the buffalo mozzarella releases some at serving. A rice that cracks on the inside, in this context, would end up absorbing too much liquid and would turn gluey. Il Moro does not: the grain stays separate, the dish holds up at room temperature for the half hour of an outdoor lunch, and the next day (without the buffalo mozzarella already mixed in) it stands up to the journey to a picnic.
«On the nutritional side, wholegrain black rice brings anthocyanins, the same antioxidants found in red fruits, along with high fibre and minerals. Here at Lumellogno we grow our varieties in the same paddy fields of the Novara plain, and Il Moro is the youngest in our catalogue.» From the Acqua e Sole kitchen, Lumellogno
A word of caution we feel we should give: the DOP Campania buffalo mozzarella goes on only at the moment of serving, never stirred in earlier. Choose it fresh from the day at your trusted deli counter, tear it by hand into irregular pieces the same size as the cherry tomatoes, set it on top of the black of the rice. The contrast of colour is part of the dish, even to the eye.
Questions about the Mediterranean black rice salad
Which ingredients make this black rice salad Mediterranean?
Which black rice should you use for the Mediterranean version?
How long does the Mediterranean black rice salad keep in the fridge?
Suggested Pairing
To go with this summer salad we like mineral Piedmontese whites, with good acidity and little roundness, that stand up to the sweetness of the ripe cherry tomatoes and the clean savouriness of Taggiasca olives and capers. We happily open an Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG served well chilled, or a young Roero Arneis DOCG from our parts.
If you prefer a rosé, above the black of the rice and the milky note of the buffalo mozzarella a Salento Rosato di Negroamaro works well, or a Bardolino Chiaretto DOC from Lake Garda, both served at cellar temperature. No heavy reds: the Mediterranean salad calls for freshness, not structure.
Riso Nero Integrale Il Moro Acqua e Sole
Our wholegrain black rice, the youngest variety in our home catalogue. Black pericarp left in place, anthocyanins, high fibre and minerals. We grow it in our paddy fields at Lumellogno and process it in our own rice mill, in a closed supply chain with ISO 9001 certified production and low-temperature drying. It is the right rice for the cold salads of the warm season: a firm, separate grain that holds up to cherry tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella without sticking. Our Sunday Mediterranean salad starts here.
Bring Il Moro homeOriginal Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen at Lumellogno.