Antipasto Salad with Zesty Italian Dressing
Take everything you love about Italian antipasto or a charcuterie board and chop it up into a salad! A big glug of Italian dressing gets poured over chopped antipasto salad chock full of salami, sopressata, picante provolone cheese and crispy veggies. This main course salad is one to whip up for game day or an easy weeknight meal. Makes approximately 2 cups of salad dressing leaving enough for another meal
Servings 8
Ingredients
For the salad
- 3 oz package of pancetta
- 1 large head fresh romaine
- 4 oz Genoa Salami sliced thin
- 3 oz sliced soppressata sliced thin
- ½ cup sun dried tomatoes sliced thin
- 8 oz sharp provolone cubed
- 2 celery stalks diced
- ¼ red onion thinly sliced
- ¼ cup banana peppers drained and sliced thin; or more. Can use hot or mild.
- ¼ cup cherry peppers drained and sliced thin; or more. Can use hot or mild.
- ½ cup lupini beans drained
- sliced black olives optional
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
For the Dressing
- ½ c canola oil
- ½ c olive oil
- 2-3 minced garlic cloves
- ½ c red wine vinegar
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 2 T sugar
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
For the salad
- In a small skillet over medium heat, cook pancetta until crispy. About 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
- Wash and dry the lettuce. Stack the leaves one on top of each other and use a sharp knife to thinly slice the lettuce. If the leaves are really large, cut them lengthwise down the middle first before slicing crosswise.Add the lettuce to a large bowl
- Thinly slice the salami, sopressata and sun dried tomatoes. Cube the cheese and dice the celery.Prep the rest of the ingredients (draining pepper rings; olives, if using; and lupini beans.
For the dressing
- Add both oils to a medium sized mixing bowl. Whisk in the remaining ingredients until an emulsion is formed and the seasoning is all mixed. Taste and correct for seasoning.½ c canola oil, ½ c olive oil, 2-3 minced garlic cloves, ½ c red wine vinegar, ½ cup white vinegar, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon thyme, 2 T sugar, ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Add the ingredients, one by one, in sections to the large serving bowl. Toss with about ⅓ of the dressing. Taste for seasoning. Sprinkle on some freshly grated parmesan and toss again with more dressing as needed. Garnish with more peppers.
Notes
- Can be made up to a week ahead. Store in a mason jar or airtight container.
