Recipe: Rizzo's Wedge Salad
This salad is my idea of an Italian wedge steakhouse salad. The green bell peppers are very, very important. I used to hate green bell peppers, but why? My daughter Rizzo loves them, and I think I've grown because now I love green peppers too. But there's a lot more to this salad than the pepper- the pancetta is so great, and the blue cheese dressing is perfect for real. I obviously love Rizzo way more than this salad, but this salad is 10/10.
Yield: Serves 4, Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
- 3⁄4 cup mayonnaise
- 1⁄2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
- 1⁄2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1⁄2 cup sliced or diced pancetta
- 1⁄2 head iceberg lettuce, cut into 6 pieces
- 1 Roma tomato, diced
- 1small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1⁄2 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 large (6-ounce) wedge blue cheese
- 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano Extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. We're going to make the dressing first. In a blender, add the mayonnaise, gorgonzola, buttermilk, vinegar, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth.
Place the pancetta on the prepared baking sheet and press with another baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and put the pancetta on paper towels to dry.
We're going to put it all together on a beautiful platter. First put down your iceberg lettuce. Then top with tomato, onion, bel pepper, pancetta, and blue cheese. Dress with the dressing, oregano, good olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
Excerpted from Soups, Salads, Sandwiches.