LITTLE GEM LETTUCE WITH SUMMER SQUASH, WALNUTS, AND PECORINO

Little Gem Lettuce with Summer Squash, Walnuts, and Pecorino image

Little Gem lettuce, a smaller, sweeter, very crunchy variety of romaine, appeared recently in Los Angeles the way burrata did: one day nobody had heard of it and now it's everywhere. Also like burrata, I love it so much that I have found multiple uses for it in my restaurants. The first time I saw Little Gem lettuce was at the Atelier of Joël Robuchon in Paris seven or eight years ago, when I took my daughter Vanessa there for her birthday. A large percentage of Robuchon's perfectly simple, perfectly executed dishes came with a dressed quarter of this tiny oblong-shaped lettuce with a beautiful, pale green color; I fell in love with Little Gem at first bite.

Yield serves 4 to 6

Number Of Ingredients 8

Ingredients

12 to 18 1/8-inch-thin round slices of red onion
1 cup walnut halves
1 tablespoon walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 pound summer squash, thinly sliced on a mandoline (about 1 heaping cup)
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Lemon Vinaigrette (page 29), plus more to taste and for drizzling
1/4 cup freshly grated pecorino romano, plus a wedge of pecorino romano for grating
4 heads Little Gem lettuce or 4 small hearts of romaine

Steps:

Place the onion slices in a small bowl of ice water and set them aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients for the salad.
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325°F.
Scatter the walnut halves on a baking sheet and toast them for 10 to 12 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally for even toasting, until they're lightly browned and fragrant. Remove the walnuts from the oven and set them aside to cool to room temperature. Transfer the walnuts to a small bowl, drizzle with the walnut oil, sprinkle with salt, and toss to coat the nuts with the seasonings.
Drain the onion, pat dry with paper towels, and place it in a medium bowl. Add the squash, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette, season with salt, and toss to coat the vegetables with the seasonings. Add the grated pecorino romano and toss gently to distribute the cheese. Taste for seasoning and add more vinaigrette or salt, if desired.
Discard any brown or unappealing outer leaves from the lettuce heads. Pull the leaves away from the cores, putting them in a large, wide bowl, and discard the cores. Season the lettuce with salt and toss gently to distribute the salt evenly. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup of vinaigrette over the lettuce and toss, gently massaging the vinaigrette into the leaves. Taste for seasoning and add more vinaigrette or salt, if desired.
Building the salads in three layers, place three of the largest lettuce leaves in the center of each of four plates like a triangle. Scatter one-third of the squash and onions on the leaves, dividing them evenly. Lay two onion rings and scatter several walnut halves on each salad. Build two more layers the same as the first, using the medium leaves for the second layers and reserving the smallest leaves for the top layers. Grate fresh pecorino romano and coarsely grind black pepper over each salad. Scatter the remaining walnuts around the salads, dividing them evenly, drizzle about a teaspoon of vinaigrette around each salad, and serve.
Friulano (Friuli)