Zucchini and Mozzarella Salad

I have been meaning to post this Zucchini Salad with Mozzarella for weeks now.  We serve it often at The Assembly Hall and I have had several requests for the recipe…so here it is (finally!)  It’s such a simple salad and you can substitute a few of the ingredients without too much fuss – don’t have mint? No problem, just use basil, dill, flat leaf parsley or any combination of these herbs.  Similarly, I have added pine nuts to my version because I adore them – you can choose to leave these out, or put some crispy oven baked almonds in instead (just leave them with their skins on and roast them dry in the oven for 10 minutes and then give them a rough chop before adding them to the salad).

As with most basic salad recipes, the success lies in the quality of the ingredients.  So use beautifully soft buffalo mozzarella and good quality fruity olive oil (my favourite is Greek extra virgin but I have also made this with lemon infused olive oil which was also delicious).

I like to serve this for lunch with a roast potato caramelised leek quiche.  And I often use this salad as an accompaniment to a barbecue.

Zucchini Salad with Mozzarella

Serves 4 as a side dish.  
Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver

2 large zucchini
1 spicy red chilli
1 ball buffalo mozzarella
zest of 1/2 lemon
handful of toasted pine nuts
handful of fresh mint
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Shave the zucchini with a potato peeler working from top to bottom to create long strips.  Don’t use the first strip that you shave as it will be all skin.  Try and shave the zucchini so each strip has a sliver of skin and soft pale green flesh too.  Work your way around the zucchini shaving strips off until all the skin is peeled and you only have the soft inside of the zucchini left (you don’t need the rest of the zucchini for this recipe but save it and chop it up to use in something else).  Put the zucchini strips aside in a colander to drain slightly.

Next, drain your mozzarella ball and squeeze all the moisture from it.  Thinly slice your chilli and finely chop your mint.  When you are ready to assemble your salad, pat the zucchini dry a little with some kitchen towel to stop it from making the salad watery.  Place the zucchini strips on your platter and tear the buffalo mozzarella into bite sized pieces and dot over the zucchini.  Sprinkle with the chilli, mint and toasted pine nuts.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required.

Enjoy.