Pigs Do Fly

This week features Anne Burrell, who apparently has her own show on food network.  I had no idea — I only knew her as Mario Batali’s sous chef on Iron Chef America.  I guess her show is one they only show on weekends, and I don’t get to watch FoodTV on weekends, only during the weekdays when the kidlet and DH aren’t around.

So, for the Challenge, hosted by I Blame My Mother, I wanted to prepare “Asparagus, Pecorino and Red Onion Salad”.  I could NOT find pecorino cheese.  I tried three different places, and aside from travelling across the city with a 4 month old to find a gourmet shop (not happening), I ran out of places to look.  So a quick check of the internet said that any of the semi-hard to hard salty cheeses could be substituted – parmasan, asiago, romano.  Well, pecorino is a sheep’s milk cheese, and the potential substitutes are all cow’s milk cheese, so I’m guessing that none are ideal for getting the original flavor the recipe is going for.  I ended up picking asiago.  It USED to be made of sheep milk, so maybe it will be the closest (I’ve never had pecorino, so I wouldn’t know the difference ;)).  [I’m having some trouble with my site, pictures aren’t uploading properly, and when they do, I can’t re-size them.  They are either gigantic or smaller than a postage stamp.  I’ll try and fix it later, until then, sorry for the weirdness!]

Asparagus, Pecorino and Red Onion Salad

 

Recipe courtesy Anne Burrell

 

1 bunch pencil asparagus, tough bottom stems removed

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 cup coarsely grated aged pecorino

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

 

 

Cut the asparagus, including the tips into very thin slices, crosswise and place in a medium bowl. Add the red onion and pecorino and toss to combine.

  

 

Dress with the vinegar, olive oil and salt and toss again. This salad should be fairly heavily dressed. The vinegar will sort of “cook” or tenderize the asparagus. It is best to do this about an hour or so in advance to let the flavors “marry”. Semplice!

 

 

I thought the asparagus would be too crunchy for my taste, but after an hour+ of marinating, it was perfect. It would make a really refreshing summer salad as an alternative to a heavier potato salad.  I didn’t love the texture of the asiago.  Possibly I grated it too coarsely, or else pecorino is different in texture.  However, the flavors are good – I’d make this again; but I’d grate the cheese smaller. I’d wait until Spring though.  This is a very expensive recipe with asparagus out of season and the spendy cheese.  Not budget conscious!