Dina Nikolaou Recipes

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Seves 4

2 medium carrots
2 medium courgettes (zucchini)
2 small cucumbers
½ cup sundried tomatoes, preseved in olive oil, cut into julienne strips

For the yoghurt sauce:
4 tbsp strained yoghurt
2 tbsp water
Juice of ½ orange
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ cup fresh dill, thinly sliced
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp smoked grated botargo

Wash and pat dry all the vegetables. Using a potato peeler, clean the carrots and cut them with the peeler into ribbons (or tagliatelle). Repeat the same with the other vegetables to form courgette and cucumber tagliatelle. Transfer the courgette and cucumber tagliatelle into a big bowl filled with ice cold water and ice cubes. Blanch the carrot tagliatelle into boiling salted water for 90 seconds. Strain well and add them to the bowl with the ice cold water and the ice cubes. For the yoghurt sauce, put the yoghurt and the water into a bowl. Add the lemon and orange juice. Season with salt and pepper. Add the fresh dill and mix well. Add the olive oil and stir.

To serve, strain the vegetables well and wrap them in a kitchen towel to absorb the remaining water. Put all the tagliatelle and the julienned tomatoes on a serving plate and pour the yoghurt sauce over it. Sprinkle the grated smoked botargo over the salad.

Variation: You may serve the tagliatelle warm instead of cold. In that case, blanch the courgette and cucumber tagliatelle in boiling salted water for 30 seconds, strain them well and transfer them onto the serving plate.