Insalata Pantesca

Warm potato with salted capers, tomato and oregano, and no mayonnaise anywhere.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 800 g waxy potatoes
• 4 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed
• 400 g ripe tomatoes, in wedges
• 1 red onion, sliced thinly
• 100 g black olives
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins until a knife goes in easily, then peel them while hot and cut them into thick slices.
2. DRESS THEM WITH THE OIL AND VINEGAR WHILE STILL WARM. A warm potato absorbs dressing and a cold one sheds it, and this is the only step with any timing in it.
3. USE SALTED CAPERS, not ones in vinegar, and rinse them well. On Pantelleria they are packed in salt and they keep a floral quality that the vinegar sort has lost entirely.
4. Soak the sliced onion in cold water 10 minutes and dry it.
5. Add the tomatoes, onion, olives and capers to the warm potatoes and turn everything gently.
6. Oregano over the top, crumbled between the palms.
7. NO MAYONNAISE, NO EGG AND NO LETTUCE. It is not a potato salad in the northern sense: it is served at room temperature as a dish in itself, and it is better after an hour standing.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes