insalata di campo
You can make a salad from many varieties of leaves: young sorrel leaves when they first shoot out of the ground; small, soft thistle leaves that grow in rosettes in short grass; and wild garlic leaves which start to appear at the end of March. Dandelion leaves are delicious, and slightly bitter: pick small leaves only, and from plants that have not yet produced flowers. Mix these with watercress, land cress and rocket. If you have a vegetable garden, you can add to this salad small leaves from any chicory plants or cavolo nero, mint leaves, young borage leaves, and spinach and beet leaves.
for 6
1 large bowl of mixed leaves (see here)
100 ml new season extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 large lemon
Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons aged thick balsamic vinegar
Mix the oil with the lemon juice, season, and pour over the leaves. Toss to coat each leaf, then drizzle over the balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately.