As promised, here is the salad that showcases the yummy pickled red onions. While I love escarole, it’s a major pain to find it (at least, high-quality bunches) and even more painful to clean, as it’s loaded with dirt on virtually every leaf. If you live near a Wegman’s by chance, the best grocery store in PA, they sell bags of escarole already cleaned and chopped. Since the grocery stores in West Chester don’t sell it that way, I went with something much easier to find and clean–red leaf lettuce.
I teared those beautifully colored leaves apart, and got them nice and clean.
Next I measured out the hazelnuts (toasted first, of course, to bring out the flavor), grated pecorino, and parsley and gave it a whirl.
Once everything is whirled together (just a couple taps on the lever), you get this awesome crumble. Finally, you throw in the red leaf lettuce, a handful of those awesome pickled red onions, a tablespoon or two of the pickled red onion liquids and some olive oil (to taste). Once that’s mixed, sprinkle on the cheese/hazelnut/parsley crumble. A little sprinkle of salt and pepper, and you’re done! I had a bunch of the crumb leftover, so we enjoyed the salad a few times during the week.
This salad is so deliciously simple and fresh. Nick even said “this is the best salad I’ve ever had.” Awesome.
Adapted from Anne Burrell, FoodNetwork.com
For the Escarole Salad:
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino
- 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
- 1 head escarole, washed, spun dry, cut into bite size pieces
- High-quality extra-virgin olive
To make the Escarole Salad: Combine the pecorino, hazelnuts and parsley in the food processor and pulse until they are coarsely chopped. Toss together the escarole, hazelnut mixture and some of the pickled red onions and dress with some of the pickling liquid and olive oil. Season with salt.
