THE most simple side dish you can ever whip together and it compliments any dish because of its balance between peppery, acidic and salty, nutty parmesan. Perfectly balanced and perfectly delicious.
I fell in love with this salad somewhere in between Switzerland and Italy while I lived there. It is so ridiculously simple and it's almost not right that it is so good! The key is quality ingredients. When making this I would splurge a little on the Parmesan and shave it yourself. Get that $15 block and make sure you eat every last bit of it and never look back! But I am serious, this is a dish that embodies allowing ingredients to speak for themselves and shine for how good they naturally are.
Nutty beautiful parmesan cheese, with peppery arugula, fresh ground black pepper and an acidic and sweet vinaigrette to tie it all together. Amazing.
I think the first time I had it was actually onto of Carpaccio and oh my was that amazing. That dish turned me onto Carpaccio like no other. Before that you couldn't get me to eat raw meat even if there was a prize at the end of it. But ridiculously thin slices of beautiful beef cooked slightly by lemon and hugged by shavings of parmesan, ugh I wish there wasn't a pandemic and I could hop over there and have a big old plate of that (I say as if my wallet isn't screeching at the thought).
Anyways, this salad can be served on its own, over carpaccio, over a pizza (mmm new levels of deliciousness!) or risotto! You name it and it can be done! Let us know what you tried it with below!
INGREDIENTS
8 oz baby arugula
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 a small shallot, finely minced (about 1 tbsp)
6 oz. parmesan shavings
freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Wash and dry arugula and place in a large mixing bowl
Combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt, honey, mustard, and shallot in a small bowl.
Whisk until vinaigrette is well blended and almost get cloudy in appearance
Pour over arugula and toss salad with some tongs. Transfer to serving dish and top with parmesan shavings and black pepper to taste
Enjoy!