Sugar Snap Pea Salad With Radishes, Mint and Ricotta Salata

I recently devoured a sugar snap pea and radish salad at Locanda Verde, a new restaurant in TriBeCa, that was so succulent and sprightly that I became more determined than ever to make sure my next haul was large enough to accommodate both prodigious snacking and salad. Inspired, I also picked up some radishes, which have a gentle bitterness that pairs well with the crisp sugariness of the peas. Locanda Verde’s chef, Andrew Carmellini, dressed his salad with two pestos, a Sicilian one made from sun-dried tomatoes, almonds and olive oil, and a regular basil pesto. I thought about trying to recreate Mr. Carmellini’s dish, liking the idea of those Sicilian flavors. But because I didn’t have any sun-dried tomatoes and wasn’t in the mood to run back out to the market, I decided to get as close to Sicily as I could with the ingredients I had on hand.

There was plenty of mint in the pots on the deck. I wasn’t sure whether mint is used in Sicily, but mint and peas is a classic combination. So I went with it, tossing the picked leaves into the bowl with the sliced peas and radishes. Next I thought about adding a rich, decadent element to keep the salad from veering into abstemious territory. The nuts and good olive oil in Mr. Carmellini’s salad served that same purpose.

I chose crumbles of pale ricotta salata. Mixed into the dressing, ricotta salata, which is pressed and salted ricotta, breaks down slightly, adding a creamy texture along with its milky cheese tang. I also added garlic and lemon because I thought they should be present in any dish edging its way toward the Mediterranean. I mixed everything together and took a big bite. It was nothing like the pristine salad I ate at the restaurant, but it was sweet, salty, creamy and fresh tasting in its own way. And best of all, the peas stayed on the fork.