Ingredients
Method
- Cook the rice in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold running water for about 30 seconds, and drain thoroughly. Spread it out to finish cooling.
- Dice the ham, bell pepper, cheese, shallot, and hard-boiled eggs. Slice the olives and drain the tuna.
- Boil the frozen peas for 2–3 minutes until bright green. Drain, transfer to ice water for 1 minute, then drain and pat dry.
- Add the cooled rice, tuna, ham, cheese, eggs, peas, bell pepper, shallot, and olives to a large bowl.
- Whisk together the olive oil, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt, and black pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the rice mixture and gently toss until evenly coated. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, toss gently, and finish with fresh basil or a little more olive oil, if desired.
Notes
Metric conversions: rice 200 g · tuna 170 g drained · ham 100 g · cheese 100 g · peas 100 g · bell pepper 60 g · olives 45 g · olive oil 45 ml · Dijon 5 g · red wine vinegar 15 ml.
Hard-boiled eggs: the timing above assumes the eggs are already cooked and cooled. If you're starting with raw eggs, add about 12 minutes of cooking plus cooling time, or boil them alongside the rice.
Rinse the rice after cooking, not before. Arborio and Carnaroli release a lot of surface starch; a quick cold rinse keeps the grains separate and cools the rice at the same time.
Ice bath for the peas. Draining alone leaves them cooking in their own heat and turning dull green.
Food safety: don't leave the finished salad at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C).