Reinforcement Salad

Name: Reinforcement Salad
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Cauliflower (about 1 medium) 1.8 lbs; Pickled vegetables pickled 1 cup; Papaccelle peppers pickled 3.5 oz; Green olives sweet ½ cup; Black olives from Gaeta 3.5 oz; Anchovies in salt 2.1 oz; Salted capers 6 tbsp; Extra virgin olive oil to taste; White wine vinegar to taste; Salt to taste

Difficulty: Very easy
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Serving: 4 persone
Cost: Average

PRESENTATION

The reinforcement salad is one of the typical Christmas recipes that is never missing from the tables in Campania! As with every regional recipe, there are various versions of this typical Christmas side dish, and every family has its own. Even regarding the origin of the name, there are different versions: one suggests that this dish, prepared for the evening of December 24th, is “reinforced” day by day with new ingredients until New Year's Eve. Others claim that the term “of reinforcement” is due to the fact that one of the main ingredients is vinegar, which “strengthens” the flavor of the dish. According to another interpretation, this tasty side dish serves to “reinforce” the Christmas Eve menu, which traditionally should be light, with dishes mainly based on fish, like spaghetti with clams or cod fritters. Have we piqued your interest with these pearls of folklore? Then enough chatter, grab your small round peppers: it's time to prepare the reinforcement salad!

Discover more recipes for Christmas lunch:

INGREDIENTS: Cauliflower 1.8 lbs (800 g) - (about 1 medium); Pickled vegetables 1 cup (250 g) - pickled; Papaccelle peppers 3.5 oz (100 g) - pickled; Green olives ½ cup (100 g) - sweet; Black olives 3.5 oz (100 g) - from Gaeta; Anchovies 2.1 oz (60 g) - in salt; Salted capers 6 tbsp (50 g); Extra virgin olive oil to taste; White wine vinegar to taste; Salt to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Reinforcement Salad

To make the reinforcement salad, first clean the cauliflower by removing the stem and leaves, then divide it into florets 1. Boil the florets in salted boiling water for 5-10 minutes 2. When they are cooked but still crunchy, drain 3 and cool under running water. Let the cauliflower drain and set aside.

Soak the anchovies in fresh water for about ten minutes to soften them 4. In the meantime, take the small round peppers, remove the top and the seeds inside 5. Slice the small round peppers into slices a few mm wide 6 and set aside.

Pit the olives 7, then drain the pickled vegetables and cut the larger ingredients, like the pickles, into chunks. At this point, drain the anchovies and gently pat them with kitchen paper 8, then remove the bone 9 and cut them into pieces.

Place the cauliflower in a large bowl, then add the small round peppers 10, the pickled vegetables 11, and the olives 12.

Add the anchovies 13 and desalted capers 14, then season with the oil 15.

Also add the vinegar 16 and mix everything well 17. Let your reinforcement salad sit in the fridge before serving it 18!

Storage

The reinforcement salad can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Freezing is not recommended.

Advice

The small round peppers are a slow food presidium, a variety of peppers from Campania with a pleasantly spicy taste. Alternatively, you can use common pickled peppers.

If you prefer, you can omit the anchovies.

In the past, it seems that curly endive was also added to the ingredients.

Don't throw away the cauliflower scraps but use them to make a delicious cauliflower soup!

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.