We finally made our way to the Italian trattoria Via Carota in New York City‘s Greenwich Village this summer. There’s a been a lot of talk about Via Carota’s perfect salad (even in The New York Times), but we’re obsessed with their Piselli salad. It consists of layers of butter lettuce, prosciutto, and peas. We’ve been making our version of this pea salad at home all summer, and it’s super easy. We make the salad with raw peas, but you can use thawed frozen or blanch fresh ones.
For the whipped robiola cheese dressing, we’ve been using Alta Langa Il Nocciolo cheese from Piedmont. Try spreading any leftovers of this creamy cheese on crackers. It’s delicious! You can use any soft-riped cheese that will whip well. We hope you enjoy it too!
Whipped Robiola, Prosciutto, and Pea Salad
Adapted from Via Carota
Ingredients
- 1 head butter lettuce
- 8-10 slices prosciutto
- 1 cup peas, thawed frozen or fresh shelled
FOR THE DRESSING:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup champagne vinegar
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 oz robiola or nocciolo cheese
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
To make the dressing:
- To a small bowl add the cheese, olive oil, vinegar, a pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper. Whip with a whisk to create a creamy dressing. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
To make the salad:
- Toss the butter lettuce in the dressing or drizzle it as you create layers.
- Layer leaves of butter lettuce with prosciutto, dressing, and top with peas, reserving extra peas for the top.