Snow peas salad with mint dressing and goat cheese croutons

As promised here I am with an easy recipe for days like this: very, very hot days!

It's a salad dressed with a fresh mint sauce. It's light, but complete, thanks to the goat cheese. If you don't like the taste of this kind of cheese you can use a creamy and fresh cow cheese and the result will be equally amazing!

The main ingredient is the snow pea. In Italy we use to call them "piselli mangiatutto", which means "eat-all peas" (hemmm I'm not sure about this translation!). In fact they are like peas but you eat everything, also the pod!

For what concerns the dried tomatoes, prepare them some days in advance with my recipe, so that they can be soft and tasty when you use them.

TOOLS:

• 1 pot
• 1 pan
• a mixer

TIMING:

• 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz snow peas (2 etti circa piselli mangiatutto)
• 4 1/2 oz fresh goat cheese (1 etto circa di formaggio di capra fresco)
• 6 dried tomatoes (pomodori secchi, vedi ricetta di questo blog)
• 2 celery stalks (2 gambe di sedano)
• 1 tablespoon of pine nuts (20 grammi di pinoli)
• 1/2 lemon (mezzo limone)
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 mint leaves (5 foglie di menta)
• a baguette (pane tipo baguette)
• salt

FIRST STEP:

• To clean the snow peas just cut the two edges. Than wash them.

per pulire i piselli basta tagliarne le due piccole estremità e poi lavarli

• Boil in boiling and lightly salted water the snow peas for about 10 minutes. Dry and let them cooler

cuocete i piselli mangiatutto in acqua bollente e salata per circa 10 minuti. Una volta scolati lasciateli raffreddare

• Clean and wash the celery

lavate e pulite le gambe di sedano

SECOND STEP:

• Prepare the bread croutons: cut a baguette in slices of about 1/2 cm (yes, cm! I hate inches!), toast them in a hot frying pan with just a drop of oil and some salt. When they become golden they are ready! Set apart

preparate i crostini: tagliate la baguette in fette di circa mezzo cm di spessore, tostatele in una padella bollente con qualche goccia d'olio e un pò di sale. quando diventano dorate sono pronte. tenetele da parte

THIRD STEP:

• prepare the dressing: put 3 spoons of lemon juice, 5 spoons of oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 5 mint leaves in a blender and mix until the dressing emulsifies and thickens.

preparate il condimento: mettete 3 cucchiai di succo di limone, 5 d'olio, 1/2 cucchiaino di sale e le foglie di menta in un frullatore ed emulsionate finchè il composto non si ispessisce

• Spread the top of the croûtons with the fresh goat cheese.

spalmate il formaggio di capra sopra i crostini

FORTH STEP:

• cut the celery in little pieces, and do the same with the dried tomatoes. Mix them with the snow peas, dressing with the mint sauce.

tagliate il sedano in piccoli pezzi e fate lo stesso con i pomodori secchi. Mescolateli con i piselli condendo con la salsa alla menta

• arrange the salad on a plate and decorate with some pine nuts. Dish with the goat cheese croûtons.

sistemate l'insalata su un piatto, decorate con i pinoli (eventualmente tostati). Servite con i crostini di formaggio di capra

Enjoy, Buon appetito!