Insalata pantesca
A salad from Pantelleria, the volcanic island between Sicily and Tunisia, famous for capers of exceptional intensity. The construction is plain, but two details set it apart from an ordinary potato salad. The potatoes are dressed while still warm, because only then do they drink up oil and vinegar; cold, they stay dry. And the capers must be salt packed, not in vinegar — those in vinegar taste mostly of vinegar and smother the oregano, the second main aroma here.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Potatoes 25 min
- Capers and vegetables 15 min
- Resting 20 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneRinse the salt from the capers
Cover the salted capers with cold water, soak 15 minutes and rinse twice. Salt-packed capers are inedibly salty straight from the jar — but it is the salt, not vinegar, that preserves their floral aroma.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 400 g tomatoes · 1 pcs red onion · 4 tbsp salted capers · 100 g green olives
A quarter hour and two rinses — otherwise inedible.Boil the potatoes in their skins
Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water, 20–25 minutes, until a knife slides in without resistance. In their skins — peeled they take on water, the salad turns watery and they break up when tossed.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 400 g tomatoes · 1 pcs red onion · 4 tbsp salted capers · 100 g green olives
Peel them hot and break by hand
Peel the potatoes while they still burn your fingers and break them into rough chunks by hand rather than cutting. Ragged surfaces absorb more and hold the oil better than the smooth faces a knife leaves.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 400 g tomatoes · 1 pcs red onion · 4 tbsp salted capers · 100 g green olives
Broken by hand — ragged pieces drink up more oil.Dress the warm potatoes with vinegar
Sprinkle the warm potatoes with the vinegar and half the oil, and toss at once. A warm potato absorbs dressing like a sponge; cooled, it absorbs far less and the dressing sits on the surface.
Ingredients: 80 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp wine vinegar · 2 tsp oregano · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Salt the tomatoes and wait
Cut the tomatoes into quarters, salt them separately and leave 10 minutes. They release juice which you collect and add to the dressing — it flavours the salad without watering it down on the plate.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 400 g tomatoes · 1 pcs red onion · 4 tbsp salted capers · 100 g green olives
Soak the onion in cold water
Slice the onion very thinly and cover with cold water for 10 minutes, then drain. The water softens the harshness and leaves the onion crisp instead of dominating the whole salad with its smell.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 400 g tomatoes · 1 pcs red onion · 4 tbsp salted capers · 100 g green olives
Crumble the oregano between your fingers
Combine everything in a bowl and crumble the oregano between your fingers over the salad. Rubbing releases the essential oils from the dried leaves — tipped straight from the packet, oregano smells noticeably weaker.
Ingredients: 80 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp wine vinegar · 2 tsp oregano · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Oregano rubbed between the fingers — that is when it smells strongest.Rest 20 minutes before serving
Toss with the rest of the oil, the capers and olives and leave 20 minutes at room temperature. The salad needs that time for the flavours to draw together. If you have basil or mint, tear the leaves over the salad just before serving. Do not serve it straight from the fridge — cold olive oil has little aroma.
Ingredients: 80 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp wine vinegar · 2 tsp oregano · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Before you start
Salted capers, not vinegared
Pantelleria capers carry a protected geographical indication and are traditionally preserved in sea salt. That keeps their floral, faintly bitter aroma; those in vinegar lose it entirely and bring only acidity, which the dressing already supplies.
No mayonnaise, no eggs
This is a Mediterranean salad, not a northern one — no mayonnaise, cream or eggs. Oil and vinegar carry the whole effect. Additions of that kind turn it into a different dish and drown out the capers completely.
Two days, better on the second
Insalata pantesca keeps two days in the fridge and is markedly better on the second, once the potatoes have taken up the capers and oregano. Bring it out an hour ahead and add a spoon of fresh oil to restore its gloss.
