Summer Black Rice Salad with Prawns and Citrus
Our Il Moro, seared prawns, orange, pink grapefruit and lime.
A cold summer salad with Il Moro Acqua e Sole wholegrain black rice boiled English-style for 30-35 minutes and cooled under running water, peeled prawns seared for just 2 minutes in garlic-scented water, fresh-cut segments of orange, pink grapefruit and lime, rocket, Taggiasca olives and toasted flaked almonds. It keeps in the fridge for up to 4 hours, where the flavours bind together better. A single-plate meal, naturally gluten-free and lactose-free.
In summer, when you want to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen, Il Moro becomes our ally. The wholegrain black rice of our plain has the firmness that only pigmented grains have: we boil it in the morning, let it cool under running water, dress it straight away with a drizzle of oil, and at lunch or dinner we find a salad that looks just made. Crisp, fragrant, fresh at just the right point.
Here we pair it with freshly seared prawns, with fresh-cut citrus (orange, pink grapefruit, lime), with rocket and with a full-bodied extra virgin olive oil. The contrast between the black of the grain, the pink of the prawn, the orange of the citrus and the green of the rocket makes a dish you eat with your eyes as well, before the fork ever reaches it. The toasted note of Il Moro, that hazelnut flavour which is its signature, talks to the tart sweetness of the three citrus fruits: the orange gives the base, the pink grapefruit brings an elegant bitterness, the lime lifts the fragrance.
We grow our Il Moro on the 350 hectares around Lumellogno, a hamlet west of Novara, and we dry it at low temperature in our own drying plant. This step leaves the outer bran and the germ of the grain intact, and it is the reason why, even after four hours in the fridge, the salad stays loose, very firm at the centre, crisp on the fork. It is the summer dish we make when someone turns up for a long aperitivo, or when we want something light that satisfies for hours without weighing you down.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 320 g Il Moro Acqua e Sole Wholegrain Black Rice
- 400 g medium peeled prawns (fresh, or carefully thawed)
- 1 large unwaxed orange (for the fresh-cut segments)
- 1 medium unwaxed pink grapefruit (for the fresh-cut segments)
- 2 unwaxed limes (juice and zest)
- 100 g fresh rocket, a generous bunch
- 80 g pitted Taggiasca olives
- 30 g flaked almonds, toasted in a dry pan
- 6 tablespoons full-bodied extra virgin olive oil (Ligurian or Garda)
- 1 small garlic clove (to scent the prawns’ water)
- 3 L water for cooking the rice
- 30 g coarse salt (for cooking the rice)
- to taste fine salt, black pepper freshly ground
Notes from Home
- Il Moro English-style: 30-35 minutes in plenty of salted water, no lid
- Cool immediately under cold running water to stop the cooking
- A drizzle of oil over the grains as soon as they are drained: keeps them from sticking
- Prawns cooked for only 2 minutes in scented salted water, drained and cooled at once
- Citrus strictly fresh-cut (clean segments, no skin or membranes)
- The salad keeps beautifully in the fridge, covered, for up to 4 hours: the flavours bind together better
Method
Cooking the black rice English-style (30-35 min)
We bring 3 litres of water to the boil in a large pan and season with 30 g of coarse salt. We scatter in the 320 g of Il Moro, stir once, and let it cook over a lively heat without a lid. The cooking time for wholegrain black rice is 30-35 minutes. We taste a grain five minutes before the end: it should stay slightly al dente (firm to the bite) at the heart, never mushy. The wholegrain grain of Il Moro holds this cooking beautifully, indeed it is made for boiling.
Cooling under running water (3 min)
We drain the rice in a large colander. We run the grains straight under cold running water for two or three minutes, stirring gently with our hands, until they feel cold to the touch: this is the gesture that stops the cooking at once and fixes the crispness we are after. We let it drain well. We transfer it to a wide bowl and dress it straight away with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, stirring gently: the oil keeps the grains from sticking to one another as they cool completely.
Prawns seared for 2 minutes (5 min)
We put a litre of water in a small pan, season lightly, and scent it with one lightly crushed garlic clove in its skin. We bring it to the boil. We drop in the peeled prawns and cook them for exactly two minutes, counted from when the water returns to the boil: not a second longer. We drain them, remove the garlic, and cool the prawns at once in a bowl of cold water with a few ice cubes, again to stop the cooking. We pat them dry with kitchen paper and set them aside.
Fresh-cut citrus (10 min)
With a sharp knife we cut away the two caps of the orange and of the pink grapefruit. We stand the fruit on the board and peel it to the flesh: we run the blade down following the curve of the fruit, taking off all the peel and the white pith until the flesh is fully exposed. Holding the fruit in our hand over a bowl, we lift out the segments by sliding the knife between the membranes, letting the clean segments drop into the bowl. The same gesture for the pink grapefruit. Of the two limes, we grate the zest of one (only the green part, never the white) and squeeze the juice of both.
Toasted almonds (2 min)
In a dry pan, without oil, we toast the flaked almonds over a medium heat for two minutes, shaking the pan now and then. They must turn golden and fragrant, without burning: as soon as they begin to colour at the base, off the heat. We transfer them straight to a plate so they don’t keep cooking in the heat of the pan.
Citrus emulsion (3 min)
In a small bowl we make the emulsion: the juice of the two limes, two tablespoons of the juice gathered while cutting the citrus to the flesh, four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the grated zest of one lime, a pinch of fine salt and a light grind of black pepper. We whisk with a fork until the emulsion binds and turns creamy. We taste and adjust: it should be fresh, slightly tart, never sour.
Assembling the salad (3 min)
To the bowl of cold rice we add the prawns, the fresh-cut orange and pink grapefruit segments, the Taggiasca olives, and the rocket torn coarsely by hand (never with a knife: the cut blackens the leaves). We pour over the emulsion and fold carefully from the bottom upwards, lifting gently with two wooden spoons so as not to crush the citrus segments or break the prawns.
Finishing and resting (up to 4 hours in the fridge)
We scatter over the toasted flaked almonds, a final grind of black pepper, and a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil. We can serve it straight away at room temperature, or cover it and let it rest in the fridge for up to four hours: the flavours bind together even better, the citrus scents the rice, the oil soaks into the grains. Before bringing it to the table, we fold gently again and adjust, if needed, with a few drops of fresh lime.
Why Il Moro is made for cold salads
Pigmented rices like Il Moro are made for cold salads. The outer bran we do not remove, the one that gives the grain its deep black colour and its anthocyanins, is the same one that gives it its structure: after cooking the grain stays whole, firm at the heart, crisp on the fork. Even four hours in the fridge won’t soften it. That is the reason why, here in summer, when you want to spend less time in the kitchen, Il Moro is the rice we use most.
Lumellogno · Novara plain
Low-temperature drying of pigmented rices
We grow our Il Moro on the 350 hectares around Lumellogno and we dry it at low temperature in our own drying plant. For wholegrain rices this slow process matters even more than for the refined ones: the outer bran is the delicate part, and it is where the oils, the B-group vitamins and the antioxidant pigments of the grain are concentrated. Drying it with high heat to go faster damages them. With us they all stay intact: this is the reason why Il Moro’s toasted, hazelnut flavour comes through fully in cooking, and in the salad it is felt right down to the last grain. A closed supply chain, ISO 9001 certified production, from the paddy field to the bag on site.
«Extra virgin olive oil over the grains while they are warm, just drained and cooled, never later when they are cold and already closed. It is the gesture that fixes the crispness, and that makes the difference between a good rice salad and a salad you remember.» From the Acqua e Sole kitchen, Lumellogno
One word of caution we feel we should give: respect the two-minute rule for the prawns and the immediate cooling in iced water. Prolonged cooking toughens the flesh and loses that clean sweetness which talks to the elegant bitterness of the pink grapefruit. The same care for Il Moro: drained at the right point, cooled well, dressed at once with the oil. It is in those quick gestures that the salad finds its voice.
Questions about the black rice and prawn salad
How long should I cook Il Moro for a cold salad?
Can I replace the prawns with other seafood?
Can I make it the day before?
Recommended Pairing
To go with this summer salad we like fresh, mineral Piedmontese whites, able to support the sweetness of the citrus and the toasted note of the black rice without covering them. We happily open a still Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG, or a young Roero Arneis DOCG, served well chilled from the cellar.
As an alternative, a young Vermentino di Liguria works just as well, above all for the saline note that binds with the prawns. For anyone after some fizz, a brut nature rosé made by the classic method, dry and taut, holds up to the freshness of the fresh-cut citrus. Avoid reds and whites that are too structured or oaky, which at a summer table cover the contrasts of the dish.
Il Moro Acqua e Sole Wholegrain Black Rice
Our Italian black rice (naturally pigmented Oryza sativa), a medium round grain, 100% wholegrain. No added colouring, no refining: the black comes from the natural pigments of the bran, the same anthocyanins found in blueberries and black grapes. We grow it in Lumellogno and dry it at low temperature in our own drying plant, in a closed supply chain with ISO 9001 certified production. The round Italian grain stays loose and crisp even after hours in the fridge: the right variety for cold summer salads.
Bring Il Moro homeOriginal Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen in Lumellogno.