From www.101cookbooks.com
Serves 4-6
I made a meal of this by introducing a hard boiled egg – on the side. That said, you could chop and sprinkle one over each plate. Or you could work some chopped egg into the dressing. This recipe makes more dressing than you’ll likely use, in part because it’s nice to have a bit of leftover on hand throughout the week.
1 lb / 16 oz / 450 g baby broccoli / broccolini, trimmed, and each stalk halved if you like
3 bunches scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 small serrano chile pepper, deveined, seeded and minced (opt)
1/2 cup / 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
3 big handfuls of big, rustic croutons
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
1 cup / 4 oz / 115 g sliced almonds, toasted
4 – 6 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into big chunks
Fill a big pot with water and bring to a boil. Salt the water well and cook the broccolini briefly, about a minute, or long enough to take a bit of the snap out of the stalks. Drain, run under cold water to stop the cooking, and pat dry with a clean cloth. Set aside.
Combine the scallions, serrano pepper, olive oil, and a couple pinches of salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a sizzle, stirring all the while, and remove from heat. Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice.
To assemble the salad, just before serving, place the broccolini and croutons in a large serving bowl. Scoop about 1/2 of the green onions into the bowl, allowing most of the oil to drain off. Toss well and continue to add more green onions until everything is coated to your liking. Have a taste at this point to get a sense of whether you need to adjust the seasoning at all – with more salt or lemon juice. Add the almonds and toss, then one last (gentle) toss after adding the mozzarella.
Use the leftover oil (refrigerate) to cook eggs, drizzled over potatoes, drizzled into soup, etc.
