A few months back, a dear old friend of mine, Camille Styles, sent me an email to let me know she was coming up to Seattle, and would I possibly be interested in putting together a dinner party for her blog? I didn\u2019t hesitate to say yes to the opportunity to jump into the roll of of hostess after literal years of not really hosting parties in the way that I used to.<\/p>\n
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I immediately dug into my stack of cookbooks and travel memories to come up with an Italian dinner in the way I like to do it \u2013 family style, not too fussy, dishes that can sit out all evening and be eaten at leisure. The result along with several recipes is up today on Camille\u2019s site \u2013 you can find it right here<\/a> \u2013 and I decided to also share one of my favorite recipes from the shoot with you all here too!<\/p>\n This dish combines some of my favorite flavor profiles \u2013 salty, crunchy, and refreshing at the same time. It\u2019s a lovely little snack, a topper for fresh bread or toast, and of course simply delightful on its own as a side dish too. I adapted this recipe from \u201cPiatti\u201d by Stacy Adimando, a wonderful cookbook for those looking for authentic Italian dishes beyond pasta.<\/p>\n Castelvetrano Olive & Celery Salad \/\/ serves 6-8<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Stacy\u2019s recipe insists that unpitted olives are the best for this recipe \u2013 but in a time crunch pitted and ready to slice olives will do just fine, which is what I did here. Slice them in half, and put in a bowl. Next, take the inner stalks from a celery bunch, slice them diagonally, including the leaves, and add them to the bowl.<\/p>\n While you can add the dressing right on top of the salad, if you are prepping ahead of time, just make it in a small jar like I did, and when you\u2019re ready to serve, add at the last minute. Combine the olive oil, vinegar, and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and give it a good stir to evenly distribute all the flavors. For the record, I upped the garlic (like a true Italian)<\/em> a bit.<\/p>\n As this dish sits it gets even better \u2013 the juices combining to create an addictive crunchy little salad.<\/p>\n For more recipes from the dinner, see our feature on Camille Styles<\/a>! Many of the pieces we used for the feature can be found in the shop at Casa di LaValle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Styled by Cassandra LaValle. Photography by Michelle Nash<\/a> for Camille Styles.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cassandralavalle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/castelvetrano-olive-salad-cassandra-lavalle-3-200x300.jpg\")
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