Caprese-style Rice Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella, Cherry Tomatoes and Basil
Sunday lunch on a summer’s day under the portico: our Arborio, Campanian buffalo mozzarella DOP, seasonal cherry tomatoes and plenty of basil.
Summer caprese-style rice salad: Arborio boiled all’inglese (cooked in plenty of water and drained) and cooled under running water, Campanian buffalo mozzarella DOP in cubes, cherry or datterino tomatoes, fresh basil leaves torn by hand, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Vegetarian and naturally gluten-free. It takes 20 minutes of active work, 16 of cooking and 30 of resting in the fridge. The mozzarella goes in only in the last five minutes, so it doesn’t release whey into the dish.
The rice salad we like to make on a summer Sunday, when here at Lumellogno the air stops moving and we eat under the portico, is this one: cooled Arborio, Campanian buffalo mozzarella DOP in cubes, seasonal cherry tomatoes cut in half, plenty of basil leaves torn by hand. A caprese-style variation on the classic Italian rice salad, rich and colourful without being heavy, perfect for lunch with guests.
The rice we use for this dish is our Arborio Rice from the closed supply chain of Lumellogno. It is a round grain, generous with its surface starch but with a core that stays firm: boiled all’inglese and cooled at once, it holds up to resting in the fridge without going to mush. It is the right variety for cold salads with delicate ingredients such as buffalo mozzarella, where the rice should act as a base without stealing the show.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 320 g Arborio Acqua e Sole rice
- 250 g Campanian buffalo mozzarella DOP (1 large ball or 2 small)
- 300 g ripe cherry or datterino tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 10 sprigs plenty of fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon lightly toasted pine nuts (optional)
- to taste fresh or dried oregano (optional)
- to taste fine salt, freshly ground black pepper
Notes from Home
- Buffalo mozzarella drained well of its liquid, cut into cubes and patted for five minutes on kitchen paper before use
- Mozzarella added only in the last five minutes, never sooner: it dries out and releases whey that thins the oil
- Seasonal July-August tomatoes, ripened in the sun: in February under glass it isn’t worth it, switch to the basic recipe
- Campanian buffalo DOP, not cow’s milk: buffalo brings savouriness, milky sweetness, aroma. Cow’s milk is neutral
- Basil torn by hand, never cut with a knife: the steel blackens the edges and loses part of the aroma
Method
Boiling the rice all’inglese (16 min)
We bring a large pan of generously salted water to a gentle boil (about 2 litres for 320 g of rice, with a level tablespoon of coarse salt). We add the Arborio rice and cook over a medium heat for 16 minutes, stirring now and then. Boiling all’inglese (the rice cooked in plenty of water and drained, not absorbed) is the right technique for cold salads: the grains stay separate, lose the excess starch in the cooking water and don’t stick together as they cool.
Cooling the rice (5 min)
Once cooked, we drain the rice and run it straight away under cold running water, stirring with a spoon to stop the cooking evenly. We let it drain well, then transfer it to a wide bowl. We dress it with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and stir: the oil stops the grains from sticking while we prepare the rest.
Buffalo mozzarella drained and cut (7 min)
We drain the Campanian buffalo mozzarella DOP from its storage liquid. We cut it into 1.5 cm cubes and lay them on a sheet of kitchen paper for five minutes: the mozzarella keeps releasing whey, and this step keeps it off the bottom of the salad. We set it aside, covered, in the fridge until needed.
Tomatoes cut (5 min)
We wash the cherry or datterino tomatoes, dry them, and cut them in half (or into quarters if very large) to the same size as the mozzarella cubes, about 1.5 cm. If the tomatoes are very juicy, we let them drain for a minute on kitchen paper before adding them to the rice. If they are perfectly ripe and in season, they release little liquid.
Basil torn by hand (2 min)
We rinse the fresh basil leaves and dry them by patting with kitchen paper. We tear them by hand into rough pieces: at least twenty good leaves. We don’t cut them with a knife, because the steel blackens the edges and loses part of the aroma. Tearing by hand keeps the colour bright and the aroma whole.
Dry-toasted pine nuts (3 min, optional)
If you use them, put a non-stick pan over a medium heat with no fat. When it is hot, add a tablespoon of pine nuts and toast them for two or three minutes, shaking the pan often, until they turn golden and smell lightly fragrant. Transfer them straight to a small plate: they would carry on cooking in the pan’s residual heat and burn in a matter of seconds.
Assembling the base (3 min)
In the bowl with the cold rice we add the cut tomatoes, the torn basil leaves, and the toasted pine nuts if using. We dress with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of fresh or dried oregano if you use it. We stir gently, from the bottom up.
Resting in the fridge (30 min)
We cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest in the fridge for thirty minutes. This is when the flavours come together: the basil perfumes the rice, the tomatoes give their sweetness to the oil, the base binds. The mozzarella isn’t in yet: it will arrive at serving.
Buffalo mozzarella at serving (2 min)
Only at the very end, before taking it to the table, we add the buffalo mozzarella in cubes and stir gently with a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil. Never sooner: if the mozzarella sits in the fridge with the rice even for half an hour, it loses elasticity, releases whey and the salad turns watery. A fresh grind of pepper on top, a few whole basil leaves for decoration, and we serve.
The Sunday salad of a summer’s day
Here for us on the Novara plain, when the real heat arrives and the seasonal cherry tomatoes start to ripen in the crates at the greengrocer’s, rice salad comes back to the table as if it had never left. On Sundays we eat under the portico, and this is the version we like to make when guests come: our Arborio cooled, the Campanian buffalo mozzarella that arrives fresh that day, the ripest tomatoes from the basket, the basil picked on the spot from the plant on the windowsill. It is a colourful dish, generous without being heavy, that looks its best on the table even just to see it.
Lumellogno · Novara plain
Arborio for cold salads with buffalo mozzarella
For cold salads with fresh, delicate ingredients such as Campanian buffalo mozzarella DOP, there is one variety here that wins over all the others: our Arborio. It is a round, generous grain, with plenty of surface starch and a core that stays firm. Boiled all’inglese and cooled at once under running water, it holds up to resting in the fridge without going to mush and without sticking together. We grow it at Lumellogno and process it in our own mill: a closed supply chain with ISO 9001 certified production, which lets us guarantee the same quality in every pack.
«For summer rice salads we always keep Arborio in the larder: the grains stay separate even after an hour in the fridge, the surface starch binds the oil, the firm core holds up to resting. For the caprese-style with buffalo it is the right variety.» From the Acqua e Sole kitchen, Lumellogno
One word of warning we feel we should give: don’t skip the step under running water. The rice should be cooled well and all the way through, drained with care, dressed with a tablespoon of oil before it touches the other ingredients. It is in those minutes that the dish finds its structure.
Questions about caprese-style rice salad
Can I use cow’s milk mozzarella instead of buffalo?
When do I add the mozzarella and why not sooner?
Can I make this salad ahead of time?
Recommended Pairing
To go with this summer salad we like fresh Piedmontese whites, with good acidity and little oak, that stand up to the milky sweetness of the buffalo and the sweet note of the ripe tomatoes. We happily open an Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG, or a white from the Colline Novaresi of our parts, served well chilled.
Alternatively, a Gavi DOCG from our cousins nearby in the Alessandria area works just as well. Avoid whites that are too structured or oaky, which weigh the dish down at a summer table. If you prefer a rosé, a young Chiaretto delle Colline Novaresi served chilled is the right choice.
Carnaroli Classico Acqua e Sole Rice
For this caprese-style salad we use Arborio, which with its round grain holds up to cooling without going to mush. For those after an even sturdier rice, for important composed salads or characterful risottos, from our larder we offer the Carnaroli Classico: the same closed supply chain of Lumellogno, the same ISO 9001 certified production, a longer and more tenacious grain that holds its cooking even with richer dressings. The reference variety for Italian cooking that looks for body.
Bring the Carnaroli Classico homeOriginal Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen in Lumellogno.