Part 1: Italian Beach Salads - Tuscan Tomato Tuna Farro

Plus: the stunning mosaics of Ravenna, Casual Italian book club, and Antifascist pasta

Lolly Martyn

Jul 28, 2024

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Ciao friends!

How’s your weekend? We are just back from a road trip to my son’s summer camp in the middle of nowhere Emilia-Romagna, the center of Italy. While Matteo camped, I worked remotely nearby (with my dog, Coco) in Ravenna and Cervia. But first! I asked and you answered, forte in last week’s poll, so here is the first in a series of 2 irresistable farro salads that are perfect for summer. Beginning with a classic combination inspired by lunch at a Tuscan lido. It’s salty, creamy, fruity and fresh, everything you want on a hot day. Jump directly to the farro salad recipe here - or come with me first to the Italian beach!

Farro salad with tuna, cherry tomato, basil and mozzarella. Note: flavors will be enhanced by eating under a beach umbrella with toes in the sand

Lunch at the Lido

Picture the Italian lido: the blue sea flat to the horizon, sand too hot to touch outside the circular shade of the ombrelloni. Children’s voices mixing with sound of small lapping waves. The slap of Nonni playing cards on a wooden table as the nonni play burraco in the shade, and teenagers braving the Italian sun’s rays over the beach volleyball net or strategizing for after sundown. The lido is where everything is happening at the Italian beach in the summer. It is the Italian beach club.

start top left: me and little Matteo at the sea, early morning lido,ombrelloni at midday, lunch view and caffè at the lido

With 7,600 km of coastline, the importance of beach culture in Italy is no wonder. While American beaches have wide expanses of sand where you can DIY your own set up with towels and rolling coolers, Italian beaches are pre-set social scenes with rows of beach umbrellas aka ombrelloni and lounge chairs. From the sea or shore, you can see where one lido ends and another begins by the change in umbrella color.

All lidi (the plural of lido in Italian) will offer services which likely include a restaurant or bar, with cabins for seasonal renters to store beach toys and towels. There will certainly also be showers, a play area for little kids, sand volleyball and ping pong for big kids, and possibly animatori (entertainers for little kids), courts for basketball or padel. There’s something for everyone.

One summer when my son was toddler-sized, my dear Italian friend, Roberta, invited us for a weeklong beach holiday at Forte dei Marmi with her and her toddler amico of my son. Forte dei Marmi is striking, with the tall grey Apuan Alps as a backdrop to the beach. Carved chunks of exposed white Carrara marble shimmer on their peaks looking like displaced snow in the Tuscan heat. Some days Roberta and I would bring lunch. She taught me how to make a rice salad for the beach. Some days we would eat at the lido. That’s where we had The Farro Salad in this post.

Rules for an Italian beach salad

Extreme minimalist cooking required. Only the farro or rice needs to be cooked.
The rest is from the pantry or fridge.
Can be made the night before and,
Will be equally delicious or even more delicious the next day.

What is Farro Salad?

Although pasta salad gets all the hype in the United States, in Italy I haven’t seen it on menus. I believe this is because Italians are passionate about their pasta being cooked just right, al dente. If the pasta has time to sit and absorb other ingredients and get mushy, that is not acceptable.

So at the lido, you will see the cooked pastas, a risotto, and vegetable salads for lunch. Pokè - a deconstructed cold rice bowl with raw protein and veggies is also di moda. But cold pasta salad, no. Farro or spelt makes it’s appearance at say a good quarter of lido menus. The way farro maintains it’s texture, remaining a chewy, makes it an ideal choice for mixing with pasta ingredients and storing for days even, without losing it’s bite. Farro also has a lightly nutty, rustic flavor which pairs so well with summer ingredients.

Food quality and deliciousness is always paramount, at the beach, on the ski slopes, at a highway, or truck stop. There is no compromising quality.

Road Trip to Ravenna

I just wanted to share a quick sneak peak of Ravenna’s UNESCO heritage site mosaics. Ravenna blew me away. I’ve been wanting to see the 5th and 6th century Byzantine mosaics here for years. Ravenna was also once the home of Dante Alighieri. Even the street signs are stunningly colorful works of moasic art. I’ll share tips on what to see and eat separately!

Squid, Katie Parla, and the Casual Italian book club!

What are you reading this summer? Here’s what I just finished, started, and my next book in the lineup, which we’ll discuss as part of the virtual Casual Italian book club! Who wants to join us?

CASUAL ITALIAN BOOK CLUB: Cari amici, who hasn’t read, watched, or listened to Elena Ferrara’s My Brilliant Friend a.k.a. L'amica Geniale yet? or wondered who is the mystery author?

I’m dying to devour and discuss this iconic book. Who wants to do the same and meet at the end of September over virtual aperitivo to discuss? We’ll call it the Casual Italian book club.

I’m not fussy about how you ingest Elena Ferrante’s 1st book of the series, just that we discuss it and also the enigmatic author. There are so many options!

Read it in English: My Brilliant Friend
Read it in Italiano L’amica Geniale
Listen to the audiobook in Italian or English
Watch the 1st part of the series on HBOMax or RAIPlay.

I started the audiobook in Italian in 2011 when I barely spoke Italian. I stopped almost immediately. Now, 13 years later and fluent, I’ve borrowed a copy in Italiano from my dear friend, Beatrice, who read it in Italian as a native French speaker. Inspiring? Oui! Sì!

Meanwhile, last night I started Risotto with Nettles by Anna Del Conte. I was introduced to Milan-born Anna, by the wonderful Angela Clutton who’s focusing on Italian cookbooks this month. The title of Anna’s memoir grabbed me immediately as risotto with foraged nettles is an annual spring recipe for me since moving to Italy! Then her intro hooked me further:

‘True I was born in one country and then lived mostly in another, so I am nè carne nè pesce - neither meat nor fish - as we Italians would say…’ - ADC

BTW, Angela runs a virtual cookbook club and Friday I attended from my hotel room in Cervia. Such a joy! As Angela recounts: ‘We discussed the rights / wrongs of cream in risotto, talked over many beloved ADC recipes, and as ever it was a lovely mix of some who were really familiar with the book and others for whom it was a discovery.’ Check out her The Kitchen Bookshelf for more and her in person Rachel Roddy meetup (jealous)!

Oooh, in case anyone is in the mood for a last minute Cookalong today with the ever-knowledgeable and entertaining Katie Parla for her Food of the Italian Islands with QB Cucina! I’m joining from Italy this evening July 28th (my time!) which is 11am EST for her Calamari Ripieni Stuffed Squid recipe. Can’t wait!
Recommend: The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza. I started reading in Como, continued in Noceto, and finished in Ravenna. This book surprised me, digging deep into gender roles in both Italy and the US. I didn’t fall in love at the very beginning but by the end I cried. The plot is twisty and the women characters are compelling!

Antifascist Pasta

Sharing a couple fascinating posts about Mussolini’s agressive stance against pasta and the importance of July 25th, the day Antifascist Pasta is celebrated, marking the end of Fascism in 1943 with Pasta al Burro e Parmigiano. These two beautifully written articles explain in history and personal family accounts.

Back to today and this fresh, fresh, fresh 30 minute farro salad I ate gleefully 3 days in a row before my road trip. It has a lovely consistency and bite with the al dente farro, meaty tuna, and mozzarella. The tangy onion, fruity tomato, and basil give a little kick and contrast. It’s just lightly salty and you could add pepper but I didn’t. Good olive oil is a MUST. I used our favorite oil from Sardinia which is intense and a little bit spicy. Your oil doesn’t have to be from Sardinia, it just has to be extra virgin and cold-pressed.

pst! Scroll to the very bottom to download recipe pdf!

Farro salad with tuna, tomato, basil and mozzarella

Insalata di farro con tonno, pomodorini, basilico e mozzarella

FOR 4 PEOPLE

The ingredients

250 g spelt aka farro or you could easily substitute with barley
6g / 1 tsp salt
200g cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters, I used a mix of yellow and red datterini
250g canned tuna in olive oil
1/2 onion, Tropea or red onion, chopped and let sit in water for 5 minutes to extract spiciness
185g mozzarella, cut into cubes about the same size as the tomatoes
6 large leaves or 12 small leaves of fresh basil - roll them all together and slice along the short side, resulting in long thin strips
14 Tbls good quality extra virgin olive oil
Optional: freshly ground pepper, to taste

The method

1) Fill a big tall pot with water and salt and set on high heat stove burner. Taste the water to make sure it’s salty like the sea (and add more salt if needed).

2) Meanwhile:

cut your tomatoes into quarters
drain oil from tuna and flake with a fork into chunks
drain mozzarella and mozarella into cubes
slice basil into thin slices
chop your onion and put it in water for 5 minutes to take away bitterness, then drain

Mix all intogether in a bowl with the olive oil.

3) Once the water is boiling, add the farro. Cook until packet instructions (utually 15-30 minutes). Strain and let cool about 15 minutes until not boiling hot anymore, so it won’t melt the mozzarella.

4) Add to the tuna, tomatoes, mozarella and basil. Stir to combine flavors.

5) Add pepper if you like pepper. Taste for salt and add more salt if you need.

Spoon into pasta bowls. Or into your beach container for transport!

Buon appetito!

Notes:

Salt: It’s important not to skimp. This salt is flavoring your farro.
Farro: you can substitute with barley or quinoa!
Extra virgin olive oil: The olive oil is your sauce so its important! Don’t skimp! If it says ‘extra virgin olive oil’ and ‘cold pressed’ on the glass (not plastic) bottle, that’s a good start! Reference Olive Oil Unfiltered for more tips on selecting an olive oil you like.