Chef Nancy Silverton is the co-owner of Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles, where you will find her Chopped Salad on the menu.
I was lucky enough to eat there years ago shortly after it opened while we were visiting my son in LA on one of our trips from Maryland.
Nancy has said she has been making various chopped salads since the 70′s , but considers this to be her best yet. I can now say I see why.
I wanted to bring a salad to our potluck bocce picnic a few weeks ago, and after mulling it over remembered I had saved a newspaper clipping of this recipe years back and had never gotten around to making it.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it, but did find it on the internet.
It has most of the components of a traditional Italian sandwich (or Hoagie), but without the bread. I had no doubt I was going to love it!
It turned out to be a great choice to take on a picnic. I simply prepared the individual ingredients and chilled them in separate bags, mixed the vinaigrette and kept it chilled in a jar, all the day before.
When we were ready for lunch I poured the amount of vinaigrette I wanted into the bottom of my serving bowl. I then added the salami, provolone, red onion, garbanzo beans and pepperoncini, to marinate a bit in the dressing.
I topped that with the shredded lettuce, radicchio, and tomatoes, and gently tossed it all. Delicious!
You may decide to tweak the recipe to your liking, but here is her original recipe.
Nancy’s Chopped Salad (Nancy Silverton)
Make Ahead: You’ll have leftover vinaigrette, which can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Servings :4-8
Makes 8 first-course servings or 4 main-course servings
Ingredients
For the Vinaigrette
2 and ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons dried oregano
Freshly squeezed juice from ½ lemon (1 tablespoon), or more to taste
2 medium cloves garlic, 1 smashed and 1 grated
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 and ½ cups extra-virgin olive oil
For the Salad
½ small red onion, cutting half from top to bottom
1 head (22 ounces) iceberg lettuce
1 head (11 ounces) radicchio
1 pint small, sweet cherry tomatoes, such as Sun Golds or Sweet 100s, cut into halves
Kosher salt
1 and ½ cups no-salt-added chickpeas, drained
¼ pound aged provolone, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices, then cut into1/4-inch-wide strips
¼ pound Genoa salami, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices, then cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
5 pepperoncini (stems discarded), cut into thin slices (about ¼ cup)
Freshly squeezed juice from ½ lemon (1 tablespoon), or more to taste
Dried oregano (preferably Sicilian oregano on the branch), for sprinkling
For the vinaigrette: Whisk together the vinegar, oregano, lemon juice, the smashed garlic and grated garlic, and the salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes (to marinate the oregano).
Add the oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly to form an emulsified vinaigrette.
Taste for seasoning, and add salt or lemon juice as needed.
The yield is a generous 1 and ½ cups; you’ll use up to ½ cup for this salad, and the remainder can be refrigerated for another use (up to 3 days).
For the salad:
Separate the layers of the onion and stack two or three layers on top of one another, then cut them lengthwise into 1/16-inch-wide strips.
Repeat with he remaining onion layers.
Place the onion in a small bowl of ice water to sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Drain the onion and pat dry with paper towels before adding to the salad.
Cut the iceberg lettuce in half through the core. Remove and discard the outer leaves, and discard the core.
Separate the lettuce leaves, stack two or three leaves on top of one another, then cut them lengthwise into ¼-inch-wide strips.
Repeat with the remaining leaves, thinly slice the radicchio in the same way.
Cut the tomatoes in half, season with salt to taste, and toss gently.
Combine the lettuce, radicchio, chickpeas, provolone, salami, peperoncini, and onion in a large, wide bowl. Season with salt to taste, and toss to thoroughly combine.
Drizzle 6 tablespoons of the vinaigrette over the salad, then sprinkle with the lemon juice; toss gently to coat the salad evenly.
Taste, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette, plus salt and/or lemon juice as needed.
Transfer the salad to a large platter or divide it among individual plates, piling it like a mountain.
Sprinkle the dried oregano leaves on top and serve.
I will also give a shout out to Smitten Kitchen’s version of Nancy’s Chopped Salad, which I referred to as well, when preparing mine.
However you decide to tweak your version I assure you it is one terrific salad, and a real crowd pleaser!