Italian Salad with Garlic & Fig Jam Dressing - The Most Talked about Salad

 

This salad is craving worthy. If you know an Italian you know figs and prosciutto just go hand in hand.   Each time I make it for an event, my husband and I wonder why it's not in our regular rotation. One reason for this is because of the special nature of it. Let me warn you that when I bring this salad to a party, it usually goes pretty quickly so make sure to grab yourself a plate before its gone. If you're looking for the perfect dish to bring to a gathering, you can go ahead and thank me for this one. It is also possible to make it either gluten or dairy free if needed. The dressing alone is the star that makes an amazing addition to most salads and can be used for an incredible marinade for chicken, pork, or even fish. Its tangy, a little sweet, and very fresh. 

Another incredible part of this salad is the roasted veggies. I don't know about you but a lot of salads leave me hungry and wanting. The roasted veggies help to solve this issue. If I were to teach you how to elevate any salad it would be to top it with a variety of roasted vegetables. The added mozzarella and Prosciutto and homemade croutons add in even more hearty-ness creating a well balanced variety of textures. I am personally not a fan of a cold 1 textured salad. Alas that's enough of my salad opinions, lets get to the recipe. It might sound like a lot at first, but read it all the way through and know it's worth the time it takes. It isn't a lot of active cook time, only some time invested in roasting and making the dressing. 

Recipe:

Ingredients for salad:

2 containers/bags of pre-washed (wash again if you're nervy like me) mixed salad greens,

1 red pepper thinly sliced, 

1 pint container of cherry tomatoes washed and sliced in half, 

1 red onion thinly sliced, 

1 sweet onion thinly sliced, 

2 medium sized cloves of garlic chopped, 

3 T avocado or high heat cooking oil for roasting,

1 T Italian seasoning,

1 tsp salt and pepper,

1 tsp red pepper flakes. 

Approx. 1/4 cup of torn fresh basil leaves,

3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary,

 1-2 cups of homemade croutons (can use store bought bread for this too, fairly easy to make, or don't it's up to you), 

1 ball of fresh mozzarella,

1/2 (4oz) of prosciutto sliced into strips. 

Ingredients for salad dressing:

1/2 cup of a good olive oil,

3 T of fig jam,

1 T honey, 

1 T red wine vinegar,

2 medium cloves of raw garlic,

1 tsp Italian season (feel free to throw in some extra fresh Italian herbs here),

1 tsp course sea salt,

1 T stone ground mustard.

Directions for Dressing:

*You can make this dressing the day before and store in the fridge and it will taste just as great. It also keeps in the fridge, sealed in a jar, for up to a week. 

1. In a food processor or in a blender, add in all of the ingredients for the dressing. 
2. Blend the dressing, pulsing until emulsified. It should look somewhat creamy, have an even texture, and you shouldn't see any evidence of fresh garlic pieces. 
3. Use a spoon to pull up a scoop to see if the blending did its job or if you need a little more time. 
4. Save or enjoy right away on your favorite salad. 

Directions for Roasting Veggies:

*You can also make this a day ahead and store in the fridge if needed. I like to make the croutons halfway through the roasting of the veggies. 

1. pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. 
2. Prepare baking sheet with possible aluminum foil or non-stick oil coating for ease of rotating and clean up. 
3. Spread out the sliced red onions, sliced sweet onions, halved cherry tomatoes, and red pepper slices. 
4. Sprinkle all the sliced veggies with chopped garlic, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper, and sprinkle and toss with the cooking oil. 
5. Make sure all is in a light even layer tossed with the oil. 
6. Bake for about 25 minutes rotating the pan and flipping over veggies with a spatula half way through. 
7. Keep an eye on the veg to make sure they aren't getting too dark in color. You do want some caramelization but nothing blackened. 
8. Pull from the oven and allow to cool to room temp.
9. Store or use after they have cooled. Do not add warm/hot vegetables to salad greens unless you want them to wilt and it turn into a mess. 

Directions for Putting the Salad Together:

*Pro-tip - If you are taking this salad to an event, I suggest holding off on adding the croutons and the majority of the salad dressing until you arrive, if possible. Also, if you leave off the croutons to the side you then have a gluten free salad. 

1. Using a large salad bowl, add in your packages of mixed greens. 
2. Toss with about 1/3 of the salad dressing to lightly coat the greens. 
3. Mix in about half of the roasted veggies into the greens and then top the greens with the other half. 
4. Top green mixture with prosciutto slices, torn pieces of the fresh mozzarella, and the fresh torn basil. 
5. If serving salad now- Drizzle a good amount of the dressing over all of the ingredients, but don't drown them. It's ok to have leftover dressing. You can always add more later but can't take it away if you add too much.
6. For the razzle dazzle and garnishing of the salad, I like to arrange some vine tomatoes on the side as in the photo. I stick in some fresh basil leaves through the tomatoes which gives it a wreath like effect.  
7. Sprinkle some fresh rosemary leaves around the top or arrange the stems how you like.
8. Top with croutons as a last step so they remain crunchy. 

Serves 6-8 people as a generous side.