My in-laws decided to take myself, my husband, and the rest of the family out to celebrate our January birthdays. They treated us to Bucca de Beppo which is an Italian family style restaurant. This was the first time I had been there, and it was a great experience. I loved the atmosphere, the food, and the serving style. One of the items we tried was an antipasto salad, which I always thought was called an anti-pasta salad. I am always looking for a new salad recipe to add to my rotation of work lunches, and since everyone gobbled it up quickly, I thought I should add the antipasto salad to my repertoire.
What is antipasto salad?
The salad consists of several delicious components like artichokes, banana peppers, olives, cheese, and more. Its a nice mix of salty, savory, and intense flavor that keeps you shoveling every bite into your mouth. I have to admit that I went a little overboard again with the number of components in a salad, but since a few of the components didn’t require lots of time to chop, I will forgive myself. In addition, the recipe I tried wasn’t exactly like the one from Buca de Beppo, but it does the job.
The dressing dressing was pretty simple. I tend to try to avoid chopping things for a dressing by throwing all the ingredients into the blender; therefore, I have a feeling that blending the garlic in these recipes vs mincing, will a much stronger garlic flavor then what was intended. But I like garlic, so I don’t mind as much. Lastly, the person you are talking to after you eat might have a problem with your breath though, so keep a mint close by.
Lessons Learned:
- For salad with lots of ingredients, get as much pre-cut or good quality canned items.
- It is antipasto not antipasta.
- Reduce amount of garlic in recipe when blending recipe and not whisking.
- Ingredients (2 servings):
- 10 oz bad of romaine lettuce
- 2 oz salami, thinly sliced
- 2 oz mozzarella cheese, chopped
- ⅓ cup banana peppers
- ⅓ cup kalamata olives
- ⅓ cup sliced red onion
- ⅓ cup roasted red peppers, chopped
- ½ cup canned artichokes
- ½ cup diced cucumber
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- Dressing (3/4 cup of dressing):
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ cup olive oil
- For the salad, combine all ingredients in a bowl and lightly toss.
- For the dressing, add all ingredients to a blender and blend for a few seconds until smooth. Let sit for about 10 minutes for flavors to blend.
- Toss the salad with about ½ cup of the salad dressing and add more as desired.
(adapted from recipe by Lindsay Olives)
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