Crunchy Sicilian Salad

I didn’t have any plans to travel this year, but as soon as flight restrictions were put into place I became nostalgic for my favorite trips and places. My favorite place in the world to travel to is definitely Sicily. I have some extraordinarily warm and welcoming family members there who always show us the best time and, more importantly, bring us to get the BEST FOOD.

The other day I had a flash of a memory of this beautiful fresh, crisp salad. Now, let me disclaim that this is definitely some of the only green stuff I ate while I was there last in 2018. I mostly ate more than my weight in ricotta salata, in the form of pizza toppings, plain with bread, etc.

But one hot day, I got this crispy, crunchy, fresh salad. Which, by the way, was also served on top of bread. Fresh crisp lettuce, shredded carrots, locally grown capers and olives, juicy tomatoes, and of course, the best cheese on top of crunchy bread…I’m drooling over here.

Since I couldn’t hop on a plane and get back there for this blog post, I decided to try and recreate it, just from the picture and 2 year old memory.

On the left: The original Sicilan Salad! On the right: My recreation. How did I do?

Ingredients:

Salad:

Good, crunchy, fresh baked bread (I used a semolina loaf from The Local LBI and lightly toasted it)

~1 cup romaine

~⅓ cup shredded carrots

1 small tomato

Spanish olives

Capers (I used them in salt, but brine is probably fine, if not better)

⅓ can tuna

Fresh mozzarella

Extra sharp provolone

Dressing:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Pinch of oregano

Instructions:

Depending on your bread, slice it like an open-faced sandwich and lightly toast (if necessary). The bread shouldn’t really be brown, just harder.

Mix equal parts of red wine vinegar and olive oil, seasoning with a pinch of oregano and salt & pepper to taste. The dressing should not be too vinegar-y

Combine romaine, shredded carrots, olives, and capers (use sparingly, especially if in salt). Drizzle ~1-2 tbsp (to taste) of dressing over top and mix.

Place ½ of salad mixture on top of open-faced bread, adding a layer of tuna before adding the rest of the salad mixture on top. Top with tomato wedges.

Top with 1 slice of fresh mozzarella and a couple slices of sharp provolone. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle oregano over the mozzarella.

Notes:

Make sure to shake your dressing up real well! Since there is no emulsifier in the dressing (like dijon mustard), it’ll separate quickly.

There are a lot of sharp flavors in this salad, so start sparingly with the dressing.

If you’re not into these cheeses, feel free to sub them! I couldn’t remember what the hard cheese was on the salad, so I bought sharp provolone, but I don’t even like provolone...so it’s not a big deal if you leave it off or replace it with something else (maybe ricotta salata?).

A fork and knife is best for this although you could just make a salad sandwich if you wanted. It’s a little bit messy to eat, but totally worth it.

Make sure to tag me on Instagram @milanocooky if you decide to make this! Best enjoyed OUTSIDE!

xoxo,

Haley