Christmas Eve Salad from Naples- Insalata di Rinforzo

Happy Holidays! This Christmas Eve Salad is a new favorite in our house. Bringing a little Southern Italy into Tuscany. I can’t get enough cauliflower which is in season now, we have had it in so many ways. Baked, boiled, battered and roasted. The Markets are filled with such a variety. Have you seen the Cavolfiore Romanesco? Isn’t it beautiful?

our little Italian Christmas tree

Also a little trivia, when we were recently in Sicily, the white cauliflower is called Broccoli. That is confusing.

Mercato Centrale in Florence all decked out for the holidays in Southern Italian style

Normally when we are home, we do a Tuscan Christmas Boiled Beef dinner, which is a Andrea’s favorite.more than the savory, Christmas for me is making sweets!

If we wanted fish, which is traditional for Christmas Eve  I do Cacciucco, a Tuscan Fish soup.

What is on your table? Is it always the same menu? Do you have Christmas Eve, Christmas, Boxing day ( Santo Stefano here in Italy) then New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day?

Break out the stretchy pants and have a lovely holiday.

This year my nephew’s are coming from San Francisco and we are meeting up in Rome for Christmas and then heading to Naples. I have been to Naples often since I moved to Italy in 1984. It reminds me a lot of San Francisco being by the sea, but also I think most of the Italian Americans in San Francisco had their roots in Naples. The local bread, called Pane Cafone almost makes me cry when I eat it as it is obviously where San Francisco sourdough bread came from.

Not being at home to cook for Christmas I started making some recipes to post and decided to be inspired by Naples. My friend Marlena Spieler just wrote a book on the culinary history of Naples, called A Taste of Naples  (affiliate link from her site, there is also a ebook version). I have made several recipes from the book and they are all fabulous. It is not a normal cookbook, but rather the story behind the recipes as well. Naples has a fascinating history rich with invaders, nobility and street food.  I taught a class on “Culture through Cooking” in Florence for American college kids for years and I find that combining flavors and history is a winner.

I am looking forward to sharing the food and history of Naples with my nephews. We will start with the markets.

One of the blessings of cooking with the seasons, is that you are inspired to try all sorts of different recipes when you are shopping and see the same seasonal vegetables every time you go to the market.

Right now we have tons of cauliflower, but we have 4 kinds. They are so beautiful, who can resist. Mostly I like to simply roast cauliflower.

This cauliflower matched the color I just put on my hair! Purple is the color of the city of Florence, so was having some fun. To cook and maintain the color though, you need to add acid while cooking. I baked this in smaller flowerettes with extra virgin olive oil, salt and lemon juice and sliced lemons. WOW, I was blown away by the color and the flavor. Nothing could be easier. Also roasting your house doesn’t smell like cauliflower.

From Marlena’s book, I did a simple recipe that has always caught my eye in the local neighborhood street markets in Naples, Insalata di Rinforzo. It is boiled cauliflower salad, dressed with more pickled vegetables which give it a kick. I adore the way Italians preserve vegetables, they use a combination of vinegar and salt water to cook the vegetables, then they are also preserved in the same liquid. Marlena’s recipe ( page 161-162) has you boil the cauliflower with the celery and carrots and then add the pickled peppers, capers, olives and a chopped fresh chili pepper! She also then has more ideas on building on that when she “reinforces” the salad.

Most Italians simply use the jarred Giardiniera, the Italian name for these mixed pickled vegetables. There are a huge variety of vegetables, carrots, red and yellow peppers ( in Naples they have lovely red pappacelle peppers), celery, onions. You can basically pickle anything that is crispy. You preserve them when they are in the peak of the season to have all year long. Small bowls are often on the table as antipasto.

Once you have broken the cauliflower up into smaller flowerettes, then parboil in salted water until tender, but still a little crunch left. For more of a kick you can also boil the cauliflower with vinegar in the water as well. They are much larger pieces than what you get in a jar and will taste differently.

Prepare your “dressing”. Make a mixture of your giardiniera, green and black olives, some tiny cornichon pickles and capers.

Add your cooked cauliflower and anchovies, cut into small pieces. I used to hate anchovies until I had the really good anchovies and now I am a huge fan.

Dress the salad with extra virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar.  Traditionally the salad was “riforzata” reinforced with new vegetables daily, hence the name. It is part of the traditional Christmas Eve meal. I also think that salads with a nice vinaigrette, help you digest these huge mega-galactic meals.

Here is a simple recipe on making your own giardiniera. I hope it becomes part of your pantry, dispensa in Italian. Usually, I will buy my pickled cipolline and cornichons to add to my seasonal giardiniera that I make and keep in my pantry. I love to make pickled anything. Recently I also did pickled brussel sprouts.  I will also make Mexican pickled onions or radishes as well. Just jars of pickled string beans. When you shop the markets and see a great price on something, get a lot and start preserving. I always do the tiny baby artichokes, which is also a labor of love. For my American pantry, I make this simple Bread and butter pickles as well.