Lucali Salad
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 5smallish tomatoes, halved and cut into fifths
- ½smallish red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1rib celery with leaves, ideally from the heart, chopped
- 18canned, pitted black olives, plus 2 tablespoons olive brine
- 2teaspoons kosher salt
- 1teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1teaspoon lemon pepper
- ⅓cup olive oil
- 1teaspoon red-wine vinegar
- 1head iceberg lettuce, outer leaves and brown bits removed, roughly torn
- 1cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½cup red-wine vinegar
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- ½teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- ½teaspoon lemon pepper
For the Salad
For the Dressing
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
521 calories; 54 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 39 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 684 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the tomatoes, red onion and celery in a large bowl. Add the olives, bruising each slightly between finger and thumb, and the olive brine.
- Step 2
Add the salt, peppers, olive oil and red-wine vinegar to the bowl, and mix gently with your hands or a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for a minimum of 20 minutes and up to 2 hours.
- Step 3
Wash and dry the lettuce, then put in a bowl, cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the salad.
- Step 4
Make the dressing. There will be a lot left over, which you can cover and store in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks. Combine the olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt, black pepper and lemon pepper in a jar or large bowl. Cover the jar, and shake until emulsified, or use a whisk to achieve the same result in the bowl. Set aside.
- Step 5
Assemble the salad. Spoon onto a large platter enough of the tomato mixture and accumulated juices to cover its bottom. Arrange some of the iceberg across the top of the tomatoes, and drizzle a little dressing over it. Add some more of the tomato mixture, then another round of the iceberg. Drizzle with some more of the dressing, and then repeat. Serve immediately, so the lettuce does not wilt, either with Italian bread or topped with meatballs, perhaps alongside spaghetti or pizza.
Private Notes
Comments
Hooray for iceberg lettuce! It's wonderfully crunchy. If you're making a salad for one, try this dressing: measure three "teaspoons" (just use any spoon) of olive oil, one teaspoon of any vinegar, and then add salt, pepper, and a pinch of any other salad spices you like (garlic powder, mustard powder, etc.) into a teacup. Stir it with the spoon, pour it over the salad. It took me a long time to figure out a simple way to make just enough dressing for one.
If you read the accompanying article, the idea is that "fancy" olives overpower the salad. Pizzarias typically use big black pitted olives that come in huge cans. So if you want the "authentic" house salad, you need canned olives. This recipe is for people trying to replicate that salad at home. You could just as easily follow most of the steps and substitute a good lettuce instead of iceberg and a good Kalamata olive, and end up with an inauthentic, but better-tasting salad.
I always reverse oil and vinegar amounts. Less fat, more tart acid, better mouth feel to me.
I make this frequently so feel I have permission to share some hacks tuned to my taste: 1 whole can olives, more olive juice, twice as much celery, cut salt to 1 t, use a couple T of kalamata juice if you have it. It doesn't really need the lettuce or olive oil and is very delicious just to scoop up. And good quality canned San Marzanos can sub quite nicely for fresh tomatoes.
We love this salad so much that it’s a frequently made recipe, but I never make the dressing, instead I serve the iceberg lettuce on a salad plate topped with spoonsful of the remaining salad ingredients, including the tomato juice-infused marinade, (where I substitute lemon zest and extra ground pepper for the lemon pepper, and sometimes lemon juice for red wine vinegar) which serves in the role of dressing.
To make this even more wickedly delicious, I use half canned black olive juice and half Kalamata olive juice and double the amount. Also, I use the entire can of black olives instead of 18 and basically break them apart with my fingers when adding to the mix. Yum. Oh, and sometimes I forget to add the lettuce and just eat the tomato mixture as a salad. Yum again.
Advertisement