Fregola Summer Salad
If this was just called pasta salad, I know I’d have lost most of you already. Too many memories of claggy fusilli and overdressed mayo situations. But this is different, trust me.
Meet fregola — a toasted semolina pasta from Sardinia that looks like oversized couscous and tastes like sunshine on a Mediterranean breeze. Each tiny orb is nutty, chewy, and a little bit golden from the toasting process. It soaks up flavour beautifully, holds its shape like a champ, and turns even the humblest mix-ins into something special.
Here, I’ve tossed it with smoky bacon, sweet corn, bright asparagus, and juicy tomato — a combination that feels like the first proper day of summer. A generous drizzle of olive oil, a hit of lemon, and a handful of herbs and you’re done.
It’s the kind of dish you’ll make once for a barbecue side and then keep craving all season long. Sardinia might be famous for pairing fregola with seafood, but this salad? It’s pure picnic perfection.
ingredients
- 100g fregola
- 2 rashers bacon, diced
- 1 ear corn
- 6 asparagus spears, trimmed
- 1 large ripe tomato, diced
- 1 spring onion, finely sliced
- handful of herbs (parsley, basil, or chervil – whatever’s looking lively)
- generous glug EVOO
- lemon juice
- finishing salt
Boil your fregola in salted water for about 15 mins until it’s tender but maintains a little bite. Drain well and toss with a drizzle of EVOO so it doesn’t get clingy (insert ex-boyfriend joke here).
Meanwhile, crisp up your bacon. Steam or grill the corn and asparagus — or get fancy and do it over the same pot as the fregola. Once the corn and asparagus are cooked, shuck the corn kernels and dice the asparagus spears.
Toss everything in a big bowl: fregola, bacon, corn, tomato, spring onion and dress it like you mean it — extra virgin olive oil, lemon, salt, herbs. Taste. Smile. Maybe dance a little.
Serve at room temp or chill it ahead and bring it out before serving. Just remember: final drizzle of EVOO and a pinch of flaky salt before serving = chef’s kiss.