My aunt Nanette always made this delicious anchovy dressing. Sometimes she would make it with anchovy paste and sometimes with anchovies from a can. She liked to experiment every time we had this gorgeous dressing. I think that you should do the same.
I created a guide for you below to make a delicious salad dressing but I will always say that you should be constantly testing and experimenting on your own with food.
Taste your dressing at the end and add what you need based on your preferences. That being said, you can’t go wrong with these simple, bright, salty and flavorful ingredients.
For the salad, you’re going to have to have faith in me when I tell you to “massage the kale”. I used to be a nanny and when I taught the kids about massaging their kale they would ask for this salad weekly. It breaks the kale down to a more digestible leaf and it gives it a much more tender quality. Your family may look at you strangely, but wash your hands and get them in your salad bowl for at least three minutes. It will change the way you make a kale salad, believe me!
Now onto the breadcrumbs. My local market sells day-old focaccia for half off and whenever I see this I jump for joy. I take it home, dice it into large cubes, stick it in the oven and dry it out fully. I then grind it into my family's favorite breadcrumbs.
They can stay in your fridge, or an airtight container in the pantry, for about two weeks. If they lose that crisp edge, simply toast them on top of the stove for a few minutes to get that bite back. Of course if you’re not as adventurous as me, or you just don’t have all day to spend in the kitchen, then a simple breadcrumb from the store will do just fine here!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bellemille olive oil
- 1 ½ Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 5 anchovy filets
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 small clove garlic
- 1 lemon
- 1 bunch curly kale
- 1 bunch lacinato kale (optional)
Recipe
Clean, dry and roughly chop Kale into bite size pieces
Squeeze half a lemon, a drizzle of olive oil and a ¼ teaspoon salt onto kale. Massage lemon and oil into kale with your hands for 3-5 minutes
Roughly chop garlic and place it on the bottom of dressing container.
Add anchovies, the juice of a quarter of a lemon, a sprinkle of salt and vinegar. Let sit on the counter for about five minutes.
Use an immersion blender to blend all of the ingredients
Slowly start pouring Bellemille into the container until you have a steady stream. This will help the dressing emulsify. Stop the blender and taste test for how much oil your finished product needs.
Place breadcrumbs into a small sauté pan and turn to medium low heat. Toast until golden brown.
Plate with cherry tomatoes, sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and enjoy!
