A16’s Raw Zucchini Salad with Green Olives, Mint and Pecorino
Toss ribbons of raw zucchini in salt, let them sit a few minutes, and their texture completely changes; they become slippery and silky. We adapted the recipe for this terrific salad from A16 Food + Wine, by Nate Appleman and Shelly Lindgren, the 2008 cookbook from their San Francisco Southern Italian spot. The combination of green olives and mint is what makes this dish sing. The book calls for any green olives; we recommend Castelvetrano or green Cerignola. It may sound like a lot of olives, but the dish — which we included in an August 2020 story about zucchini — was perfectly balanced.
Serves 6.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds zucchini (3 large or 6 medium)
Salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup green olives, preferably Castelvetrano or Cerignola, pitted and sliced
2/3 cup loosely packed Italian parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
Block of aged pecorino for shaving
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
1. Trim the ends of the zucchini. Using a mandoline or a sharp knife, slice the zucchini lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick ribbons. Toss the ribbons with about 1 teaspoon salt (we found it easier to do that evenly if we separated the ribbons in a large, wide bowl and sprinkled evenly). Transfer them to a colander set over a bowl, and set aside for 10 minutes. The zucchini will wilt and soften as the salt leaches out the moisture.
2. Rinse the zucchini under cold running water, pat dry and place in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, olives, parsley and mint, and toss to coat the zucchini evenly. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed. Be careful not to overseason, as the olives are salty.
3. Arrange the salad on a platter, distributing the olives evenly. Using a vegetable peeler, shave curls of pecorino over the salad. Finish wiht a grind of black pepper and service immediately — the salad becomes soggy if it sits too long.
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A16’s Raw Zucchini Salad with Green Olives, Mint and Pecorino
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds zucchini (3 large or 6 medium)
- Salt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup green olives, preferably Castelvetrano or Cerignola, pitted and sliced
- 2/3 cup loosely packed Italian parsley leaves, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
- Block of aged pecorino for shaving
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Trim the ends of the zucchini. Using a mandoline or a sharp knife, slice the zucchini lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick ribbons. Toss the ribbons with about 1 teaspoon salt (we found it easier to do that evenly if we separated the ribbons in a large, wide bowl and sprinkled evenly). Transfer them to a colander set over a bowl, and set aside for 10 minutes. The zucchini will wilt and soften as the salt leaches out the moisture.
- Rinse the zucchini under cold running water, pat dry and place in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, olives, parsley and mint, and toss to coat the zucchini evenly. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed. Be careful not to overseason, as the olives are salty.
- Arrange the salad on a platter, distributing the olives evenly. Using a vegetable peeler, shave curls of pecorino over the salad. Finish wiht a grind of black pepper and service immediately — the salad becomes soggy if it sits too long.
