Rice Salad with Sausages

I can provide you with a recipe for rice salad enriched with sausages. Here is an Italian variant of the dish that is quite common during the summer, especially for picnics or packed lunches. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 300 g rice for salads (such as Arborio, Vialone Nano or parboiled rice)
• 200 g sausages
• 150 g fresh or frozen peas
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 100 g cheese cut into cubes (fontina or provola)
• 50 g pitted green olives
• Salt to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• White vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
• Fresh herbs for garnish, such as parsley or basil

Preparation

1. Start by cooking the peas, if fresh, by boiling them in salted water until they are soft but still crunchy. If the peas are frozen, they can be added directly at the end of the rice cooking time.
2. For the rice, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the rice according to the package instructions to keep it al dente. Then drain and quickly cool it under cold running water, draining very well again.
3. While the rice cools, cut the sausages into slices or cubes, depending on your preference.
4. Wash and dice the tomatoes, removing the seeds.
5. In a large bowl, combine the rice, peas, sausages, tomatoes, cubed cheese and green olives.
6. Season with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice and adjust the salt.
7. Gently mix all the ingredients, then let the rice salad rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.
8. Before serving, stir the salad again and, if desired, garnish with chopped fresh herbs.

Curiosities

Rice salad can be customized in many ways depending on personal tastes and the seasonality of ingredients. For example, some prefer to add tuna, while others replace the sausages with chicken or ham. In addition, it lends itself well to vegetarian variations, replacing the sausages with legumes or grilled vegetables for a meat-free version.