Risoni Orzo Salad With Crispy Salami Bits

The crispy salami bits!

Meet the star player in today’s line up – crispy salami. Literally just chopped up salami, fried in a pan until crisp. Think, bacon. With even more flavour! Wait – what do you mean you’ve never fried up salami before??!! OK, truthfully, I hadn’t either until I started down this “I want to make an interesting pasta salad!” warpath. A familiar state I find myself in pursuit of this (delicious!) life I have chosen sharing recipes with the world. 🙂 I had a vision of a pasta salad version of my Mega Italian Salad. I wanted big, I wanted statement, and I wanted something different to the usual “just add an Italian dressing and then you can call it an Italian pasta salad”. Multiple iterations later – “mm, I mean, it’s fine but it’s just pretty ordinary, ya know?” – I arrived at today’s version. The crispy salami bits was the clincher!

Just briefly – orzo vs risoni

The little rice shaped pasta bits of pasta are a firm favourite. My pantry is never without multiple boxes! Called risoni here in Australia and orzo in most of the rest of the world (UK, US, Canada). But risoni is actually the correct name used in Italy because orzo means barley in Italian. And risoni is not made from barley, it’s made from flour like normal pasta! So there you have it. Here in Australia, it’s labelled risoni in the mainstream grocery stores but in speciality grocers and Italian stores, I’ve also seen it labelled as orzo.

What you need for risoni / orzo salad

This is a big orzo / risoni salad filled with a medley of fresh vegetables, a handful of cheese, then tossed with an Italian dressing and the crispy salami bits.

1. Risoni / orzo

Find risoni /orzo in the pasta aisle, usually sold in small boxes. It costs around the same as spaghetti. Suggestions for alternatives below. Substitute with cooked rice of choice (use 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice) – white, brown, basmati, jasmine – or quinoa (directions here). Other little pasta will work too – like ditalini, the really small macaroni or the novelty shapes for kids (dinosaurs! alphabet!).

2. The add-ins

The add-ins for this recipe are inspired by everybody’s favourite Mega Italian Salad. But there’s lots of alternatives – go wild with salad add-ins of your choice! Even the crispy salami bits, as much as I harp on and on about them, can be substituted with bacon, ham, prosciutto, or anything else that’s crispy/salty. Or nuts!

Salami – I use the deli pre-sliced rounds because I’m lazy and it means less chopping for me because the job is half done. Else, slice your own salami stick!Substitutes – As noted above, anything fryable that goes crispy will work great as a substitute. And if you prefer no meat, add a handful of roughly chopped pistachios, pine nuts, or sunflower or pepitas. Tomato – I like using cherry tomatoes because they hold up better if keeping this for a few days. However, you can use 3 large tomatoes instead. Scoop out watery middle then dice the flesh. Rocket/arugula – My leafy greens of choice for ease of use (grab handfuls and rip into smaller pieces) and also because it holds up best in leftovers. But other leafy greens will work fine, chop into small(ish) pieces. Capsicum/bell peppers – For crunch! Cucumbers would make a great sub. Oh, and you don’t HAVE to use green capsicum! 🙂 Yellow or red will be fine too…. Red onion – Substitute with something similar for oniony freshness. 1 large green onion stem finely chopped, or 1 eschallot (US: shallot ie the baby onions), or 1/2 a white onion. Olives – I like using sliced olives here for better dispersion, though I was tempted to use whole ones so you can big meaty bites of olives. You choose! Substitute with other briny things. I’m thinking: pickles, artichokes, fire roasted capsicum, other pickled veg. Just want something with tang to balance out everything else going on in this salad! Cheese – What, you’ve never added a handful of shredded cheese into “rubble” type salads before? It’s so good! Instant flavour uplift. I used colby – a great all-rounder that works for melting in cheesy sauces (Mac & Cheese), on things (pasta bakes), on tacos, in burritos, in salads! Substitute with cheddar, monteray jack, pepper jack, gruyere, swiss etc. Not mozzarella (not enough flavour) and not parmesan (too much flavour!).

3. Italian dressing

This is the same dressing from my Mega Italian Salad, minus the parmesan cheese – because we’re using a big handful of shredded cheese instead. Substitutes – As noted above, anything fryable that goes crispy will work great as a substitute. And if you prefer no meat, add a handful of roughly chopped pistachios, pine nuts, or sunflower or pepitas. Substitute with other briny things. I’m thinking: pickles, artichokes, fire roasted capsicum, other pickled veg. Just want something with tang to balance out everything else going on in this salad! Substitute with cheddar, monteray jack, pepper jack, gruyere, swiss etc. Not mozzarella (not enough flavour) and not parmesan (too much flavour!).

Extra virgin olive oil – The better the quality, the better your salad! Red wine vinegar – Substitute with white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Dried basil and oregano – Substitute with an Italian herb mix or dried parsley. Chilli flakes – Optional, for the tiniest hint of warmth. Sugar – Just 1/2 teaspoon. Cuts through the vinegar so you can get away with using less oil. Garlic – Fresh please! Jarred stuff barely resembles the real deal, and is also weirdly sour. So wrong!

How to make risoni/orzo salad

Practical matters of Italian risoni/orzo salad

Some final words on this pasta salad! Tumble everything into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with reserved salami then eat!

Making ahead – If I’m making ahead intentionally (eg taking to a gathering), I’ll keep the components separate so it’s fresh and perky for serving. Especially the crispy salami! It does soften once it’s mixed through so keep it separate to preserve crispiness. Shelf life once dressed – Still very good after 2 hours, good after 3 days. If I know I’m keeping it, I usually dial up the dressing slightly, and hold a little back so I can freshen it up with a little extra dressing. Gluten free – As suggested above in the ingredients chatter section, switch the pasta for rice to make this gluten free. It’s literally perfect – similar size and shape. Serve at room temp – If you made ahead or have leftovers, bring to room temp before eating. You’ll taste everything better than when fridge cold. Eat with a spoon – Perhaps a strange point to finish on but this is a characteristic of this pasta salad that really appeals to me!! For some reason, I find it really satisfying that I can eat this pasta salad with a spoon. Convenience (eg multi-tasking: eat without taking your eyes off the TV, or in my case, moving around the kitchen while cooking something else) and the ability to scoop up and eat big mouthfuls of it.

Are you judging me? 😂 Love to know what you think if you try this recipe. Especially, of course, the crispy salami bits!! – Nagi x