An Italian-style Tuscan vegetable salad is like a simple crudite platter. For an elegant appetizer, serve colorful fresh raw vegetables with good olive oil, salt and pepper.

Raw vegetable sticks including bell peppers, radishes and zucchini on a platter with olive oil, and a dish of salt and pepper.

This crunchy Italian salad is called pinzimonio in Tuscany. It’s such a simple salad that really show the essence of how Italians enjoy vegetables.

It might be too simple to believe (or even require a recipe!). It’s just fresh vegetables served raw, with nothing else but olive oil, salt and pepper.

My grandmother would put a similar salad on the table after the pasta and before the pastry, even in the dead of winter. She kept it very simple — usually it was a plate of trimmed celery stalks alongside a shallow dish of olive oil, salt and pepper.

It was a pretty humble snack, but I remember how I loved to dip the crunchy, cold celery into the saucer of oil, then into the salt and pepper, thinking how unlike a potato chip it was, but just as fun to eat.

French breakfast radishes on ice in a pewter bowl.

This is the opposite of those raw “veggie” arrangements served on flimsy plastic trays along with a sloppy container of ranch dressing. I have memories of seeing those at potlucks and professional meet-and-greets and was never tempted.

You don’t need pristine farmer’s market or home-grown vegetables to assemble a raw vegetable plate.

But, one thing I insist: Grab that bottle of special extra-virgin olive oil you were planning to splurge on or were saving for something special. This is the time to use it!

Raw vegetable sticks on a platter with olive oil, and a dish of salt and pepper.
5 from 2 ratings

Italian Raw Vegetable Salad

Karen Tedesco
An Italian-style vegetable salad makes an easy, elegant appetizer. Serve colorful fresh raw vegetables with good olive oil, salt and pepper.
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Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
 

  • 2 pounds assorted crunchy fresh vegetables, such as carrots, colorful bell peppers, small zucchini or summer squash, cucumbers, snap peas, green beans, fennel or radishes
  • Crushed ice
  • Best quality extra-virgin olive oil
  • Flaky salt, such as Maldon or Diamond kosher
  • Black peppercorns in a pepper mill

Instructions
 

  1. Wash, peel and trim the vegetables as needed to make bite-sized pieces or matchsticks.
  2. Arrange the vegetables on a serving plate or large platter. To make them extra refreshing, put them in shallow bowls on top of some crushed ice.
  3. Set out small plates and allow each person to mix salt and fresh ground pepper in one, and some olive oil in another.
  4. Dip the vegetables in oil, then in the salt mixture. Eat.

Notes

  • The vegetables are best when crunchy, fresh and cold. Before serving, you can immerse vegetables in a large bowl of ice water for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry before arranging on a platter.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 73kcal Carbohydrates: 15g Protein: 4g Fat: 1g Sodium: 53mg Fiber: 5g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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