BLUE CHEESE WEDGE SALAD (Café Society)

The gorgeous tashas Inspired is the second cookbook by restaurateur Natasha Sideris, founder of the popular tashas boutique cafés. We bring you four recipes from her inspired take on café culture, to get you thinking like a restaurateur, with table settings and music for every menu!

SERVES 4

This enduringly popular salad was derigueur among New York’s fashionable set of the 1920s, and right up until the late ’80s was standard on every steakhouse starter menu. Now its being revived, and with good reason– crunchy iceberg lettuce and tangy blue cheese dressing are perfect partners. If you find blue cheese too pungent, substitute it with its milder cousin Gorgonzola, or simply adjust proportions according to taste. For a vegetarian salad, leave out the Parma ham.

SALAD

• 140g Parma ham

• 1 large head of iceberg lettuce

• 16 cherry tomatoes, halved

• 8 slices red onion

• handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

• 1 ½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• salt & black pepper

BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

• 150g blue cheese (Roquefort for a pungent taste, or a milder Gorgonzola)

• ½ cup buttermilk

• salt & black pepper

BLUE CHEESE DRESSING: Blend all the ingredients to a smooth, creamy consistency.

PARMA HAM: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lay the Parma ham on a baking tray, taking care not to overlap. Bake for about 6 minutes, or until crisp. Once cooled, break the slices into bite-size pieces, but keep a few bigger pieces for the garnish.

SALAD: Cut the head of lettuce into 8 wedges, and place 2 wedges each on 4 plates. Combine the tomato, onion and half the chopped parsley with the bite-size pieces of Parma ham. Pile on top of the lettuce wedges and drizzle generously with dressing. Trickle over some extra-virgin olive oil, season to taste and garnish with chopped parsley and ham.

STAND A CHANCE TO WIN

We have a copy to give away of tashas Inspired, courtesy of Quivertree publishers. To stand a chance to win, send an email to info@silverdigest.co.za with'tashas Inspired' in the subject line.