anchovies make salads taste better
recipe for the anchovy dressing served with radicchio variegato, curled endive and radish 🐟
The key points to make a salad:
dry your leaves well
emulsify your dressing
season, taste and season again
Portions: 4
Ingredients:
half of radicchio variegato
half of the curled endive
8 radishes
1 garlic clove
6 anchovy fillets in olive oil (17g)
10g agave syrup
20g lemon juice
5g dijon mustard
60ml extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
Method:
Prep veg:
Wash leaves and use a salad spinner to remove excess water. Ensure the leaves are dry, otherwise, the anchovy dressing won’t cling to the leaves and the salad gets soggy and all the dressing goes to the bottom of the salad. Well-dried salad can stay fresh longer in the fridge.
Cut half the amount of the radishes in half, and the rest thinly slice using a mandolin or a sharp knife. If the stems and leaves are attached, don’t throw them away, add them to your salad, they’re full of tasty peppery flavour.
Make anchovy dressing:
Mince the garlic and using a fork mash anchovy fillets on a chopping board until they become paste-like.
Roll the lemon on a counter to loosen the membranes (so it’s easier to juice), cut it in half, and squeeze it into a bowl.
In a medium bowl whisk lemon juice and the emulsifier: dijon mustard. Add garlic and anchovy paste and whisk (I suggest putting a wet kitchen towel under your bowl so it doesn’t move around). Place olive oil in a small jug and slowly stream into your mixture while whisking rapidly. Season according to your taste with salt, freshly ground pepper, and agave syrup.
If you have any anchovies left in a jar, you can later make some bagna cauda, a Piedmontese warm dip, or add them to salade niçoise, or simply, use them to add depth of flavour to a meat dish.
Dress the salad:
In a big bowl arrange your leaves and radish, add a couple of tablespoons of the dressing and toss the leaves with your hands for better distribution of the dressing (don’t use a spoon or other utensils for this task and try to be gentle which means don’t bruise the leaves).
Try the salad, drizzle more dressing, toss, taste, perhaps season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then, enjoy.
