Summer dinner: 3 fresh, gourmet dishes for a midsummer night

Perhaps neither Shakespeare nor Alex Britti dedicated their texts to food, but we are Italians and we can do it!
Here we are in August, a breath away from September and more than half a summer has passed (of which we are almost at the end unfortunately)!
Don't despair, we still have time to enjoy the latest heat. It's not yet the time for soups, good for goodness sake, but there's... in the air... (Do you get the quote?) summer, synonymous with dinners at sunset with delicious cold dishes.

We have thought of three very delicious and simple to prepare gourmet dishes that for us represent a bit of the summer dinner par excellence, obviously with only fresh and artisanal products that are our specialty!

Summer dinner: gourmet appetizer with bruschetta for all flavors 1, for a perfect start

They

certainly couldn't miss tasty bruschetta of fresh whole wheat bread. Just cut the bread into slices and toast it, also because the word bruschetta derives precisely from “bruscato bread”, or “toasted”.

The bread can be toasted both in a pan without adding oil, and in the oven with grill function at 200°C for about 7-8 minutes. After roasting it well, it is recommended to rub a clove of garlic over it and drizzle with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

And why bruschetta all flavors 1? Because after this step, you can proceed by placing a few spoonfuls of bruschetta dressing on top.
We recommend three in particular, very tasty and excellent: Bruschetta with Porcini Mushrooms, sweet Bruschetta Tropeana and Bruschetta with Zucchini.
A trio you should definitely try!
As an alternative to bread, you can use Friselle, to be soaked with water and seasoned with tomato, oregano, salt and extra virgin olive oil.

Summer first course: cold pasta with mozzarella and Genovese pesto

Simple, genuine and knows about Italy, tradition and, of course, summer. It is easy to prepare, it requires only fresh, quality ingredients.

Just cook the pasta and after draining it, pass it under water to stop cooking.
Separately, in the meantime, you need to prepare the ingredients: mozzarella cut into slices, we recommend the Campania buffalo braid, and some Genoese pesto.
Finally, just add the ingredients to the pasta and you're done!
A delicious gourmet dish that is incredibly fresh and fragrant.

Fresh and delicious second course: zucchini rolls with raw ham and quartirolo

As a last dish we decided to present something easy and tasty at the same time. Zucchini skewers are a tasty dish typical of the summer season, as they should be eaten cold. You can use any cold cuts and cheese to fill them, depending on your tastes and what you have available.
The best combination for us is the one with raw ham and quartirolo!

To make about 16 rolls, the following ingredients are needed:
- 2 medium-sized and rather thick zucchini;
- 80 g of raw ham cut into slices (Alpine Crudo recommended)
- about 70g of Quartirolo Lombardo
- q.b. EVO oil
- q.b.

First you need to think about zucchini: peel them off and cut them into long and thin slices, then proceed by grilling them on a grill pan and salting them gradually.
After cooking them, you need to add a drizzle of olive oil.
Wait for them to cool down and spread them with the quartirol. If you wish, you can flavor it with aromatic herbs.

In the next step, a slice of raw ham that is about the same length is placed on top and each slice of stuffed zucchini is rolled up, forming cold zucchini rolls.

You can stop the rolls with toothpicks, or stick them on wooden sticks to form skewers.
Here are the rolls ready, to serve immediately or keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
If you want to enrich the filling, you can add a tomato in oil, a tuna cube or olives.

Bruschetta, cold pasta and zucchini rolls are the three dishes that represent the summer season, as they are fresh, tasty and simple to prepare. You can enjoy them wherever and with whoever you want: here is the Spaghetti