Saffron citrus fregola

Somewhere between a pasta salad and a grain salad lies a fregola/fregula salad. Originating from Sardinia (and of course I brought back a bag of it with me), it’s a plump semolina pasta that is similar to pearl cous cous, but cooked like risotto, in stock, low and slow. This recipe is vegetarian, with my favorite form of zucchini — yellow summer squash aka petty pans.

I wanted my first dish I cooked once home to be inspired by Sardinia, after all, it’s where I got engaged and the food was so beautiful. Sardinia grows saffron, in fact it’s one of the most important growers of high quality saffron in Italy. I decided to incorporate saffron into the fregola salad, along with honey and blood orange. It’s fantastic! And extra virgin olive oil, of course. The more the merrier.

Another Sardinian ingredient I used is sheep’s milk cheese. This can be soft cheese or hard. It can also be goats cheese! I used sheep’s ricotta salata, sliced super thin and crumbly, my favorite way! It’s mild and gentle but the sheep’s milk gives it a little more flavor than cows milk does, in my opinion!

This is a recipe you can prep and keep in the fridge. It’s eaten cold, like pasta salad, or like a grain salad. It’s easy to make. I just cook the fregola first, in plenty of chicken stock, just like I would risotto. Once it’s cooked to al dente, I’ll leave it to cool in a bowl, prepare the saffron citrus vinaigrette, sear yellow squash and add my ingredients together in a large mixing bowl! I love the texture of fregola! It’s plump but it still has bite to it. In Sardinia I had it two ways, once it was served in a bit of broth, and another time it was served just like risotto, warm and kinda starchy. I really like it this way, it’s perfect for summer because it’s light but big on flavor. I hope you enjoy!!!