A three-part seasonal recipe to carry us into summer by the ever-inspiring Vilda Saskia Gonzalez. Find more of Vilda online at @vildasaskiagonzalez and read our full interview with Vilda here.
RADICCHIO, PEACH & BURRATA SALAD
Ingredients:
1 head of radicchio, preferably a heartier varietal like perseo
2 balls of burrata, torn into bite sized pieces
1 just ripe peach, thinly sliced
Fresh basil to garnish
Calabrian chili bread crumbs, recipe follows
Pickled shallot and peach leaf elixir vinaigrette, recipe follows
PROCESS
Dress the radicchio leaves with the vinaigrette. Assemble the radicchio with the cup side facing up, as this is where you will nestle the rest of the ingredients. Add a piece of torn burrata and a slice of peach to each leaf - this isn’t an exacting science, but you do want to make a point of having a little bit of every ingredient in every bite. Garnish with torn basil and a generous scattering of the breadcrumbs.
CALABRIAN CHILLI BREAD CRUMBS
Ingredients:
Stale sourdough bread, cut into 1 cm pieces
Olive oil
Calabrian chili paste
Salt
This is less of a recipe and more of a technique for making irresistible breadcrumbs. Scale up or down as you wish.
PROCESS
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper.
In a bowl large enough to fit the amount of bread you're working with, add a generous glug of olive oil. Add a small dab of calabrian chili paste, and mix to combine. Toss your tiny pieces of bread in this mixture until every dry nook has been saturated in oil. Season generously with salt. Evenly spread the seasoned bread onto your prepared parchment lined sheet tray, and bake until they are teeth shatteringly crunchy.
When your bread bits are sufficiently crunchy, take them out of the oven and let them cool. Now for the magic trick of this recipe: I opt for a big zip lock bag and a rolling pin over the usual food processor. In my opinion, a food processor too quickly turns breadcrumbs to dust.
Add the cooled bread to a large zip lock bag, seal it, and lay it on a wooden cutting board. Now pretend this zip lock bag was pie dough, and start rolling it out. This process gently crushes the crumbs, allowing for a more rustic and even texture. Keep rolling and smooshing until all of the bigger pieces have broken down into oily, delectable crumbs.
Store in an airtight container for however long you can manage to keep them around.
PICKLED SHALLOT & PEACH LEAF VINAIGRETTE
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
1.5 tbsp red wine vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 droppers Peach Leaf and Wild Rose tincture
PROCESS
Submerge the sliced shallots in the red wine vinegar with a pinch of salt. Set aside to gently pickle as you prepare the rest of your salad mise en place. At least 10 minutes later, add the peach leaf and wild rose tincture, olive oil, and a grind of black pepper and whisk to emulsify.