Antipasto Salad with Italian Vinaigrette
Antipasto Salad with Italian Vinaigrette
How pretty is this salad! I absolutely love all of the colour that is going on here. Side note: I also love that we have the ability to have FUN with food and make it into a beautiful masterpiece that can be enjoyed by many. This Antipasto Salad is the perfect appetizer to share if you are hosting. Not only is it pretty to look at, but it’s full of flavourful ingredients, easy to prepare and it takes less than 10 minutes to put together! Once assembled, everything is drizzled with an easy, homemade dressing made of only a few simple ingredients.
Though this is a salad recipe, you can also make it into more of a finger food type of appetizer. Simply omit the lettuce and place all of the ingredients in their groupings on a cutting board or platter and serve! This Italian-style salad is completely gluten-free, grain-free, keto and incredibly healthy although many would love to serve it with crusty bread on the side. Yum! I love the mix of pickled vegetables and fresh vegetables along with the fresh herbs and grated parmesan cheese. It’s all so yummy!
Let’s go over some of the main ingredients:
Lettuce - Fresh, crisp romaine lettuce makes the perfect base for this salad. Romaine is a good and hefty leafy green that can hold it’s shape underneath all of the toppings and dressing on the salad. Be sure to get organic romaine lettuce as leafy greens are often one of the most sprayed types of produce here in Canada and the U.S.
Cherry Tomatoes - Adding some juicy cherry tomatoes gives the salad a boost of colour as well as adds texture to the salad. If you don’t have cherry tomatoes, you can use grape tomatoes or chopped Roma tomatoes instead.
Olives - An antipasto salad is not complete without olives! You can use any kind that you like. If I’m being real, olives are the only food on this planet that I do NOT like, but if I had to choose I would use kalamata olives. Their deep purple colour adds a nice contrast to all of the other brighter colours in the salad. Green or black olives would work as well. Just make sure you use pitted olives! It will make your life so much easier.
Artichoke hearts - I love artichoke hearts, especially in a warm artichoke dip, but they are also delicious on this salad too! They add a tasty, pickled sourness to the salad and their neutral colour helps to tone down all of brightness of the rest of the toppings.
Pepperoncini - Also known as “peperone” and “friggitello,” these spicy pickled peppers are one of the key ingredients in this salad! They add a bit of zing and spice and help to balance out the rest of the flavours in the salad. If you don’t like it spicy, you can use marinated bell peppers instead.
Cured meats - I chose prosciutto and soppressata for the cured meats in this salad, but the list of cured meats that you can choose from is endless. Anything from salami to chorizo would work great! Prosciutto is one of the finer, fattier meats that you can choose. It also looks really pretty curled up on the salad. Soppressata is kind of like a spicy salami; delicious!
Parmesan cheese - I didn’t want the salad to be too heavy on the cheese, so I opted for a little fresh grated Parmesan cheese. It’s really all you need! It adds a delicious salty flavour and texture to the salad. I recommend using freshly grated, and finely grated parmesan cheese. I wouldn’t use coarsely grated or powdered parmesan for this salad as texture is important in the overall delivery.
Fresh parsley - I absolutely love the addition of fresh herbs to this salad! Parsley, being an Italian herb works beautifully in this recipe. It adds hints of flavour as well as another layer of colour amongst the other ingredients. Chop your parsley fine for best results.
For the Italian vinaigrette:
Olive oil - The base of the dressing is olive oil. I recommend using extra virgin olive oil.
Lemon juice - The lemon juice adds an element of acid as well as flavour to the dressing which helps to balance out the other ingredients.
White wine vinegar - The white wine vinegar also adds an element of acid which contrasts with the olive oil. You can use red wine vinegar instead if you prefer, but it will have a bit of a stronger flavour.
Garlic - I always add fresh garlic to my salad dressings and this one is no exception! A little goes a long way when it comes to fresh garlic, so you will only need one clove.
Spices - You will need a pinch of salt and pepper to liven up the dressing as well as a little Italian seasoning to bring the flavour of the salad home! If you don’t have Italian seasoning, some dried oregano will work just as good!
Antipasto Salad with Italian Vinaigrette
Antipasto Salad with Italian Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 6 cups organic romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup pitted olives, halved
- 3/4 cup marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
- 1/2 cup pepperoncinis, sliced
- 1/2 cup prosciutto
- 1/2 cup soppressata, sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- pinch salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Add the olive oil, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to a small jar. Screw on the lid and shake vigorously until all of the ingredients are combined. Set aside.
- Prepare a large platter for the salad and arrange the chopped lettuce on top in an even layer.
- Begin adding the toppings, arranging them in a way that is pleasing to the eye. Start with the cherry tomatoes, placing them in two groups at opposite ends of the platter.
- Continue arranging the rest of the ingredients; the olives, artichoke hearts, pepperoncini, prosciutto and soppressata.
- Garnish the salad with fresh chopped parsley, grated Parmesan cheese and a little fresh cracked black pepper.
- Drizzle the Italian vinaigrette all over the salad and serve.