Entertaining Side

Yotam Ottolenghi's melon and buffalo mozzarella salad with kasha

Name: Yotam Ottolenghi's melon and buffalo mozzarella salad with kasha recipe
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 large banana shallot, finely sliced into rounds; 2 lemons, finely grate the zest to get 1/2 tsp, then juice to get 3 tbs; 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil; 30 fresh curry leaves (if you can’t get any, use 20 basil leaves instead, patted dry); 1 tsp black mustard seeds; 1 small watermelon, skin on or off, halved lengthways, then cut into 2cm-thick triangles (700g skin-on weight); 2/3 rockmelon (600g skin-on weight), skin on or off, seeds removed, cut into 8 wedges; 2-4 (400g) balls of buffalo mozzarella, drained, roughly broken into 10 pieces; 1 tbs kasha toasted buckwheat groats, roughly crushed (optional); Flaked sea salt

Rate now

Jump to recipe

by Yotam Ottolenghi

Oct 01, 2020

This glorious starter from Yotam Ottolenghi says spring like no other salad. Extracted from Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage (Ebury Press, $55). Text © Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage 2020 Photography © Jonathan Lovekin 2020.

1 large banana shallot, finely sliced into rounds
2 lemons, finely grate the zest to get 1/2 tsp, then juice to get 3 tbs
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
30 fresh curry leaves (if you can’t get any, use 20 basil leaves instead, patted dry)
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 small watermelon, skin on or off, halved lengthways, then cut into 2cm-thick triangles (700g skin-on weight)
2/3 rockmelon (600g skin-on weight), skin on or off, seeds removed, cut into 8 wedges
2-4 (400g) balls of buffalo mozzarella, drained, roughly broken into 10 pieces
1 tbs kasha toasted buckwheat groats, roughly crushed (optional)
Flaked sea salt

Method

1.

In a small bowl, combine shallot with lemon juice and a good pinch of flaked salt.
2.

Put the oil into a small saucepan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, fry the curry (or basil) leaves and black mustard seeds for 30 seconds to 1 minute, swirling the pan, until crisp and fragrant. Strain through a sieve set over a small bowl, setting the oil and aromatics aside separately.
3.

Arrange the watermelon, rockmelon and mozzarella on a large platter and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of flaked salt. Drizzle over the aromatic oil, then sprinkle over the shallots and lemon juice. Leave to sit for 10 minutes, or up to 1 hour, for the flavours to come together. Finish with the lemon zest, fried mustard seeds, kasha (if using) and crispy curry (or basil) leaves, and serve.