Grilled Romaine and Barilotto Cheese
The combination of the hot grill marks on cold crisp lettuce makes this simple salad appear like much more effort than it really takes.
Ingredients
- stalks Romaine lettuce, rinsed and cut lengthwise hearts only · 2
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil · 8 tablespoons
- Lemon juice · 2 tablespoons
- Shallot, finely chopped · 1
- Salt · ½ teaspoon
- Pepper,fresh ground · ½ teaspoon
- Hazelnuts, toasted and halved · ½ cup
- Barilotto Cheese · ¼ pound
- Roma tomatoes, diced · 2
Instructions
To make toasted hazelnuts buy them plain, cut in half, peel and toast in a pan with hazelnut oil or simply buy them already toasted.
Emulsify the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, lemon juice, shallot, salt and pepper by whisking it in a bowl. This will be your dressing and your glaze for the lettuce and cheese.
Start with organic romaine hearts. If you have a full head of romaine, peel off the outer layers and wash and dry your lettuce. Make sure the romaine is totally dry before you grill it or you will end up with a soggy salad. Do not trim the end that is what holds the lettuce together. Simply slice the romaine heart in half, lengthwise.
Place the romaine cut-side up on a plate. Brush the Romaine quarters with vinaigrette then lightly salt them.
Grill them on your really hot BBQ until you get good, dark char marks. Don’t leave it on for too long or it will lose its crunch.
Set Romaine aside and grill the cheese on both sides. Get good, dark char marks on the cheese - it won't melt, honest.
Once grilled, plate the Romaine, sprinkle with dressing, crumble the cheese on top, sprinkle the nuts and tomatoes then dress lightly again.
Serve warm
NOTE: At this point the recipe is Vegetarian. You could substitute blue cheese and crumble crisp bacon or prosciutto.