Watermelon & Ricotta Salata Salad with Olive Salt

During these warm summer days the panther craves foods that are light and refreshing and packed with flavor.  A recipe she recently came across is so delicious and refreshing and uses one of summer's seasonal ingredients... watermelon.

This recipe comes from one of our favorite little cookbooks, Salt, cooking with the world's favorite seasoning, by Valerie Aikman-Smith.

This is such a great little book.  Not only does it contain delicious recipes, it is also an informative resource about different types of salts and where they come from, and how to use them.

different types of salts

The panther would like to share the wonderful recipe for a refreshing watermelon and ricotta salad from this book.

"This is a delightfully pretty and refreshing salad in which the olive salt brings out the sweetness of the watermelon.  Ricotta salata, a lightly salted cheese made from sheep milk, originates from the island of Sicily.  If you can't find a mini watermelon, buy the smallest available and cut it in half.  You can use feta cheese if ricotta salata isn't available."

-Salt, cooking with the world's favorite seasoning  p.40

Watermelon and Ricotta Salata Salad with Olive Salt

1 mini seedless watermelon

6 oz. ricotta salata cheese

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

olive oil, to drizzle

freshly ground black pepper

Olive Salt

10 black olives, pitted

2 1/2 tablespoons sea salt

Peel the watermelon and cut it into bite-size chunks.

Put in a serving bowl, crumble the ricotta salata over the watermelon, and sprinkle with the oregano.

To make the olive salt, chop the olives roughly.  Grind them with the salt using a mortar and pestle until the olives are mashed.

Drizzle the olive oil over the salad and season with black pepper.  Sprinkle with a generous amount of the olive salt.  Put the remainder of the salt in a bowl to use on other dishes.

Enjoy!

-The Panther