Kale Salad
This salad arrived with Ignacio Mattos in the spring of 2005. We had been looking for a new chef for several months. One day, while I was visiting Francis Mallmann at his home in East Quogue, he suggested a young guy named Ignacio, who worked with him in Uruguay. “He’s a little hot-headed,” he warned, “but super talented.” Okay, I thought, hot-headed I can handle.
Ignacio, affectionately known as Nacho, flew up for a tasting shortly thereafter. He made a squash polenta with crispy sage that melted in my mouth. It was simple but delicious, instinctive. This, I would learn, was Nacho’s genius. The recipe is his version of Judy Rogers’s famous caesar salad from San Francisco’s Zuni Café. Instead of the standard romaine, we use Tuscan kale, which has a bit more body and character. The greens are great, but the croutons are divine, golden chunks of filone bread that are tossed in the dressing.
Ignacio’s arrival coincided with the birth of Joaquin, and I used to eat this protein-filled, iron-rich salad every day while I was breastfeeding him. Amazingly, I never got tired of it and neither have our customers. His salad remains one of the most popular things on the menu for our customers, for me, and, happily, for Joaquin too.
Serves 4 to 6
6 anchovy fillets, packed in olive oil, minced
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 large egg yolk
1 to 2 lemons
4 (1-inch) slices day-old filone bread, torn into 1½-inch chunks
Fine sea salt to taste
2 bunches (about 2 pounds) Tuscan black kale, stems discarded, leaves torn, rinsed and dried
3 ounces freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Place the anchovies and garlic in a mortar and pestle and blend together. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk together ½ cup of the olive oil, the vinegar, and egg yolk. Stir in the anchovy mixture. Slowly drizzle 1 cup olive oil into the egg mixture, whisking continuously to form an emulsion. Whisk in the juice of 1 lemon; add additional lemon to taste.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
4. Place the bread on a sheet pan. Toss the pieces with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toast on the middle rack of the oven until golden, approximately 15 minutes.
5. To assemble, add the croutons to a large bowl and toss with half the vinaigrette. Add kale, the rest of vinaigrette, a squeeze of lemon, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and salt to taste. Toss well and serve, topping with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano and black pepper to taste.
“I think il Buco invented the kale salad that went on to take over the world.”
—MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL