Alma Blu Salad
The Alma Blu Salad
This wintery salad is inspired by one of my favorite restaurants that used to be in SoHo many years back. It’s one of the places that made me fall in love in food, in a way that it started to drop seeds of what my true calling was. I used to go there at least once a week with my bff’s or even solo since I became friends with the owner. We’d chat about new dishes, or their daily semifreddo’s they’d make based on seasonal ingredients. This salad was one of my go-to’s. It’s not exactly the same, as I don’t have their recipe, but it’s heavily inspired by the flavors I’ve tasted at Alma Blu.
Super important; this salad shines with the sweetest-in-season pear. I used Abate pears for this recipe.
Note:
Dressings hold their emulsification so when you slowly drizzle in the oil, blend.
I’m very practical when making a salad at home. I find it quite easy to add the ingredients to a jar, shake and serve. It will separate in the jar as it sits, but you can quickly give the jar a shake every time you’d like to use it.
I’m what I like to call ”a balanced dresser”, by adding just enough, as I don’t like soggy lettuce but use as much that makes you happy. I find this measurement of salad dressing ingredients will yield enough for this salad and plenty of extra.
Alma Blu Salad
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 to 2 pears
100 grams (1 cup) Gorgonzola Piccante, crumbled
50 grams (1/3 cup) Walnuts
2 handfuls of Frisee salad
50 grams (½ a cup) Pancetta
100 ml (½ cup) EVOO
100 ml (½ cup) Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1.5 teaspoons Honey
1 small shallot
A couple sprigs of thyme
White pepper
Salt to taste
Alma Blu Mise en Place
Sliced Gorgonzola
Method:
Dice your pancetta. Place the pancetta in a cold pan, and turn on the heat to medium. Sautee about 6 to 8 minutes until the fat has slowly rendered and rhe diced pieces are crispy. Remove the pancetta from the pan, and place on a paper towl to blot the oil while you assemble the salad.
Wash the frisee salad really well, spin dry, and chop into bite sized pieces. Place the chopped frisee salad in a large bowl for mixing, while you assemble everything else.
Add EVOO, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, salt to taste and a crack of white pepper to a small mason jar. Dice the shallot, add to the dressing. Remove the thyme from the stem, add to the dressing. Cover and shake really well.
Place the walnuts in a dry pan with no oil, toast them on medium heat until they’re golden which takes about 5ish minutes. Coarsely chop them and set aside.
Now that the salad components are ready, you can work on the pear which oxidizes easily so I always leave this for the end right before serving..
You can choose to peel or not peel the pear, the peel has alot of nutrients such as fiber. If you don’t peel the pear, make sure to wash it well and dry. Dice them into large dice.
Add the pear and ¾ of the walnuts to the frisee lettuce in the large bowl. Add about 2 tablespoons of dressing, mix well. Add half of the gorgonzola crumbles, mix again. Plate the salad with the other half of the gorgonzola crumbles, crispy pancetta and additional walnuts.
