“TRICOLORE” SALAD – INSALATA TRICOLORE

To celebrate the 150 years of the Unification of Italy I thought of creating a special theme menu.  In the next few days I will post 3 recipes (an entree, a main and a dessert) with one thing in common: they will all have the colors white, red and green in honor of the Italian flag (also called “tricolore” which literally means “3 colors”).  These dishes have another characteristic in common: they are all very simple recipes.  Italian cuisine is quite simple, we don’t usually like to mix too many flavors as we prefer to savour each component of the dish.  So, let’s start with the entree or, as we would say, the “antipasto”.  I thought of sharing one of my favourite antipasti with you.  It is a rocket and tomato salad with slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano served with bresaola.  Bresaola is a cured meat typical of Valtellina, a valley of the Alps in Lombardy.  It is a very lean meat and is made of beef.  I like to eat it with a light lemon and extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette.  I am also sharing this post with my event 150 years of the Unification of Italy.

Ingredients for 4 persons:
200 gms bresaola, sliced thin
Lemon juice
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Pepper

Baby rocket
Cherry tomatoes
Slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pinch salt

For the bresaola, prepare a vinaigrette by mixing together the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil in a proportion of 1 to 2.  Add some freshly ground pepper and whisk well.

Put a layer of bresaola in a bowl and pour some vinaigrette on it, then add another layer of bresaola and some more vinaigrette.  Keep doing this until you finish the bresaola. The meat has to be well coated with the vinaigrette.

Keep aside for at least 2 hours to allow the vinaigrette to soak into the meat.

Prepare the salad.  Wash the baby rocket and tomatoes and cut them in half.

Put the rocket and tomatoes in a bowl, add some extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt and mix well.

When ready to serve, take a plate, put the salad in the middle, top it with some slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano and put the bresaola all around it.  Serve at room temperature with a glass of white wine.

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