Fregola Salad Recipe with Roasted Red Pepper

This fregola salad recipe features roasted red pepper, fennel, olives, and fresh herbs. This simple salad is a delicious way to introduce Mediterranean flavors to your meal. It also makes the perfect side dish for any season!

This dish works great as a side to grilled chicken or baked cod, but it can also hold its own as a healthy salad for lunch!

Jump to:

• Introduction
• What is Fregola?
• Fennel in salads
• Roasting peppers
• Olives in salads
• Mise en place
• Step-by-step instructions
• Tips
• FAQ
• Recipe origins
• Recipe

Introduction

The best salads always seem to be the simplest ones, don’t you think?

Whether a salad contains arugula, Italian greens, or fruit, the key is to let the vibrant colors and fresh ingredients speak for themselves.

This fregola sarda salad is another perfect example! It has few ingredients, but each contributes to the dish’s overall flavor.

The combination of salty olives, sweet roasted red peppers, and fresh herbs is a heavenly mix! And the chewiness of fregola provides the perfect contrast to the other ingredients.

It is also the perfect make-ahead salad.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at some ingredients and learn about their unique properties.

What is Fregola?

Fregola, less commonly spelled as fregula, is a type of Italian pasta originating from the island of Sardinia.

It is made from durum wheat semolina, water and salt. This wonderful little pasta shape comes in the form of small, irregular, round pellets that have been toasted in an oven until golden brown.

The toasted pasta’s distinctive nutty flavor and chewy texture make it special. Fregola can be used in various dishes, from hearty salads to soups to creamy risottos and flavorful pasta dishes.

This toasted Sardian pasta is available in most grocery stores, especially Italian specialty markets. If you can’t find it at your local store, don’t fret. You can always use Israeli couscous as a replacement.

Fennel in salads

Fennel is a vegetable with thick, crisp, celery-like stalks and feathery fronds. It is slightly sweet with a mild, licorice-like flavor.

Fennel is often used in Mediterranean and Italian cooking. It is delicious whether eaten raw, grilled, roasted, or cooked.

When eaten raw, fennel has a crisp, crunchy texture. When cooked, it becomes tender and mellow.

Fennel is a great addition to salads because of its unique flavor and crisp texture.

This fregola salad contrasts the chewiness of the fregola and the sweetness of the roasted red peppers.

Roasting peppers

Roasting peppers is a great way to bring out their sweetness and intensify their flavor.

There are many ways to roast peppers: in the oven, on a bbq grill, or in an air fryer. You can also roast them on the stovetop.

It is also very easy, and the result is always worth the effort!

I recommend roasting a few extra peppers, as they are in so many dishes. You can add them to frittatas, use them as a pizza topping, or create a delicious roasted pepper pasta dish, to name a few. 

If more convenient, grill your peppers a day or two ahead of time, and store them in the fridge until you are ready to use them for this recipe.

For more details, refer to this comprehensive guide on roasting peppers. 

Olives in salads

Olives come in many different colors, sizes, and shapes. They can be eaten fresh or cured, pickled and marinated.

Olives are another common ingredient in Mediterranean and Italian cuisine. They are used to add flavor and texture to various dishes. The most common ones used in salads are black and green olives.

Black olives have a salty, briny flavor and a firm texture. Green olives are slightly milder in flavor and have a softer texture.

In this fregola salad, black olives add a wonderful layer of flavor. They also contrast nicely with the other ingredients, providing a nice pop of color.

Now that we know a little more about the ingredients, let’s begin prepping them.

Mise en place

Before you start cooking, gathering all the ingredients and doing a little prep work is always a good idea. This is called mise en place and helps make the cooking process smoother. You can start prepping the ingredients while the fregola is boiling.

Make the red wine vinaigrette: Whisk together ½ cup olive oil extra virgin with ¼ cup red wine vinegar in a small bowl or mason jar. Set aside.

Dice the fennel: Cut off the stalks and reserve the fronds for garnish from 1 fennel bulb. Slice off a thin layer from the root. To dice the fennel, cut it horizontally first, from the stem to the root. Then, make horizontal and vertical cuts to each fennel half to create small bite-sized pieces.

Chop the herbs: For this recipe, you will need 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil.

Slice the olives: Pit and slice the olives about ¼-inch thick. You will need about ½ cup.

Prep the roasted red peppers: As we mentioned, you can roast the peppers a day in advance. For this recipe, you need ⅔ cup of diced roasted red peppers.

Toast the walnuts: Place about ⅓ cup of chopped walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat. Cook, frequently stirring, until they are golden brown and fragrant. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Step-by-step instructions

Bring a large pot of salted cold water to a rolling boil and add 500 grams of fregola. Stir and simmer over medium-high heat for approximately 12- 15 minutes or until al dente. Refer to the package directions to guide you for exact cooking times.

Add ½ cup Corinthian raisins during the last minute of cooking.

Once the fregola is cooked, drain it in a colander and transfer it to a large mixing bowl.

Add the red wine vinaigrette and toss gently together with a wooden spoon.

Add 1 medium fennel (diced), ½ cup pitted oil-cured black olives (chopped), 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, and a tablespoon chopped fresh basil. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Gently combine with ⅓ cup walnuts (toasted) and ⅔ cup roasted red pepper (chopped).

This salad is versatile enough to serve warm, at room temperature or cold. Simply cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

Tips

• If you cannot find fregola pasta, you can use Israeli couscous.
• Time-saving tip: While the fregola is cooking, you can chop and prep the other ingredients.
• Attempt to use fresh herbs whenever possible for the best flavor. Using frozen herbs is a great alternative. Although you can substitute them with dried herbs, the flavor will not be as intense. Use 1 teaspoon of dried herbs for every tablespoon of fresh called for in the recipe.
• If you do not have the time to roast your red peppers, you can easily use jarred red peppers. If you can, purchase a high-quality brand. Look for them in the international aisle of your grocery store.
• The flavors will meld and taste even better if you can wait a few hours or the next day to serve this dish. Add a drizzle of olive oil over the dish and gently combine for the best results before serving it.
• Use the fennel fronds to garnish the dish before serving, if desired.

FAQ

Recipe origins

I visited Sardinia about thirty-five years ago. That was my introduction to amaretti cookies and the food of Sardinia, and I’ve been on the lookout for fregola recipes ever since.

A couple of years ago, I came across a recipe in the Food Section of the Montreal Gazette, submitted by a Montreal chef named Michele Forgione.

Thank you, Chef Michele, for inspiring one of the best salad recipes.

I played around with the ingredients to make it my own. 

What changes will you make to call it your own?

Enjoy!

★★★★★ If you have made this Italian fregola Sarda recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!
 

Recipe

This post was originally published on December 31, 2014, and republished on October 27, 2022, with updated content, photos and a video. Thanks for sharing.