The Valdostana salad is a rich and tasty main dish: an explosion of flavors. Apples, DOP fontina cheese, mocetta, and walnuts to bring memories and scents of a week spent in the Aosta Valley to the table. It’s a simple, quick recipe that can also be served as an appetizer. The idea comes from a restaurant menu and then, as always, I added that “something my way,” my beloved tears of onion from Valdelsa by Gusto Toscano capable of enhancing any dish, including this delicious Valdostana salad.
Not to be missed
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Aosta Valley
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 head lettuce
- 1 apple
- 7 oz DOP fontina cheese
- 5 oz mocetta (sliced)
- to taste walnut kernels
- to taste salt
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tears of onion from Valdelsa
Tools
- 1 Salad Spinner
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Kitchen Knife
- 1 Serving Plate
Steps
Remove the outer leaves of the lettuce, cut it into strips and wash well under running water. Then pass it in the salad spinner to dry it well. Cut the fontina into strips or if you prefer into cubes. Wash the apple, dry it, peel it (you can keep the peel if you like) and cut it into cubes. Compose the salad on the serving plate: lettuce seasoned with oil and salt then add the apple, fontina, sliced mocetta, and walnuts. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the tears of onion from Valdelsa. Serve immediately.
Curiosity
Mocetta is a typical Aosta Valley cured meat. It is made with the leanest parts of the animal, muscle or leg, from beef, sheep, goat, and game (chamois or ibex) but as far as I know, today it is mostly beef. It is very lean and therefore perfect even in diets. It is somewhat similar to bresaola but be careful not to let the Aostans hear that because there is a difference between bresaola and mocetta. Bresaola is stuffed. Mocetta is not! It is dried and cured by hanging for about four months.
Notes
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