Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [259]
8. Detach and discard the artichoke stem, and trim away all the hard portions as described, taking a little more off the top of the leaves than you might if you were cooking it. Split the artichoke in half to expose the choke and spiky inner leaves, which you will scrape off and discard. Cut the artichoke lengthwise into the thinnest slices you can. Squeeze a few drops of juice from the lemon half over all cut parts to keep them from discoloring, and add them to the other ingredients in the bowl.
9. Skin the raw tomatoes, using a swiveling-blade peeler, cut them into wedges, remove some of the seeds, and put the tomatoes in the salad bowl.
10. Sprinkle liberally, if judiciously, with salt, toss once, pour in enough olive oil to coat all the vegetables, add a dash of vinegar, and toss repeatedly and thoroughly, but not roughly. Serve at once.
Garlic-Scented Tomato Salad
WHEN I GAVE a series of classes in Bridgehampton, Long Island, one summer, I had devised a curriculum of pasta sauces, risotto, and fish dishes that I hoped my students would find interesting and fitting vehicles for the extraordinary products of Long Island’s farms and waters. As an afterthought one day, I included in the menu this tomato salad, done the way my father used to prepare it when I was a young girl. The response to the pastas and the fish was as enthusiastic as I could have wished, but it was the salad that stole the show. When all the tomato salad was gone, students fought for possession of the serving platter, to sop up the juices with bread. It seems difficult ever to make enough of this tomato salad, so you too may find it expedient, when you serve it, to send it to the table copiously accompanied by slices of good, crusty bread.
For 4 to 6 servings
4 to 5 garlic cloves
Salt
Choice quality red wine vinegar
2 pounds fresh, ripe, firm, round or plum tomatoes
1 dozen fresh basil leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
1. Peel the garlic cloves and mash them rather hard with a knife handle. Put them in a small bowl or saucer together with 1 to 2 teaspoons salt and 2 tablespoons vinegar. Stir and let steep at least 20 minutes.
2. Skin the tomatoes raw, using a swiveling-blade peeler, cut them into thin slices, and spread the slices out in a deep serving platter.
3. When ready to serve the salad, wash the basil leaves in cold water, shake off their moisture, tear them by hand into 2 or 3 pieces each, and sprinkle them over the tomatoes.
4. Pour the garlic-steeped vinegar through a wire strainer, distributing it over the tomatoes. Add enough olive oil to coat the tomatoes well, toss, taste and correct, if necessary, for salt and vinegar, and serve at once.
Shredded Carrot Salad
SHREDDED CARROTS with lemon juice is one of the most refreshing of salads, and may well be the simplest to prepare.
For 4 servings
5 to 6 medium carrots, washed, trimmed, peeled, and shredded as described in the recipe for Great Mixed Raw Salad
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Combine all ingredients, using enough olive oil to coat the carrots well. Toss thoroughly, taste and correct for salt and lemon juice, and serve at once.
Variation with Arugula
To the ingredients in the preceding recipe, add ½ pound fresh arugula, and replace the lemon juice with red wine vinegar. Trim, soak, drain, and dry the arugula as described in the recipe for Great Mixed Raw Salad Combine all ingredients in the manner described above.
Finocchio Salad
For 4 servings, if the finocchio is a large one
1 squat, round finocchio
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Note No vinegar or lemon juice is used on raw finocchio when it is served alone.
1. Trim the finocchio, cut it into very thin slices, soak it, and dry it as described in the recipe for Great Mixed Raw Salad.
2. Toss in a serving bowl with salt, enough