Credit Adrianna Glaviano
Endive salad with walnuts and ubriaco rosso by Ignacio Mattos
Garlic cloves: 2
Large anchovy fillets, rinsed and patted dry: 4
Garnacha vinegar: 2 tbsp
Extra-virgin olive oil: 1/4 cup
Cracked black pepper
Cubes of day-old sourdough (you want a few pieces with some dark crust): 1 1/2 cups ½-inch
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Walnuts: 1 cup
Freshly ground black pepper
Chili flakes
Irregular pieces ubriaco rosso: 1/3 cup
Irregular pieces pecorino duro: 1/3 cup
Endives: 4
Kosher salt
Medium orange: 1
Recreate Estela at home, with this simple salad recipe from chef Ignacio Mattos
- Pound the garlic cloves into a paste in a mortar with the pestle.
- Add the anchovies and pound until everything is fairly smooth but still slightly chunky.
- Add the vinegar, olive oil, and cracked black pepper to taste and mix to combine. The idea is to get a broken vinaigrette with pieces of anchovy still visible.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Put the bread cubes on a baking sheet and toss with a few teaspoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt, then spread them out. Spread the nuts out on a separate baking sheet.
- Toast the bread and walnuts in the oven, tossing them every few minutes. Remove the nuts once they are dark and well toasted, about 8 minutes. Remove the bread once it’s dark brown and toasted all the way through, about 10 minutes.
- While the nuts are still warm, put them in a mortar, add a teaspoon of olive oil, a pinch of salt, a few generous cranks of black pepper, and a pinch of chili flakes and crush them into coarse chunks with the pestle.
- Using the bottom of a heavy pan, crush the bread cubes into chunks between ¼ and ½ inch. (With each component, you want a mix of textures and sizes.)
- Combine the croutons, walnuts, and cheeses in a medium bowl. Dress with the vinaigrette, mixing well. Let sit while you prepare the endives so the croutons get a little softer and the flavors come together.
Cut an inch off the bottom of each endive and discard. Gently peel back the leaves, continuing to trim the root as you go, until you get to the core (it’s the sweetest part of the endive). Cut each core in half lengthwise, or into quarters if it’s large, and toss them into the bowl.
- Season the endives with a generous pinch of salt. Grate the zest of the orange evenly over the top of the endives, then halve the orange and squeeze the juice over the leaves. Add the vinegar and gently toss the leaves to coat, as you don’t want them to bruise.
- Spread the granola mixture evenly on two plates. Arrange the endive leaves on top so that they make little cups for the dressing. Sprinkle with salt, spoon on the orange juice mixture left in the bottom of the bowl, and drizzle on a bit of olive oil.
Excerpted from Estela by Ignacio Mattos (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2018.
