Pizzeria Style Romaine & Artichoke Salad

One sweltering late-summer night, my husband and I decided to go out for pizza. We’d seen a place around the corner from our hotel in Brooklyn, an unpretentious shop that had seemingly been left out of the social media hype pieces about the best pizzerias in New York. We walked there, ordered our slices, a side salad (I’m very cognizant of eating my greens when I travel), and a couple of beers, and miraculously sat at one of the two tables in that tiny shop. There, amidst the pizza-scented air that spilled right from the oven through the open doors, we had one of the most memorable date nights ever.

Best Pizza (on Havemeyer in Williamsburg) is aptly named. Their pizza is truly amongst the best I’ve eaten, but it’s that salad I impulsively ordered that lives (rent free, as the kids say) in my mind. It’s a classic Italian-American salad, one that undoubtedly has doppelgängers in pizzerias and sandwich shops across the country. Romaine, red onions, shreds of carrots, pepperoncini, tomatoes, and olives tossed in a red wine vinaigrette.

At home, I make a simplified version of that salad, adapted to my preferences and what I happen to have on hand. That Best Pizza salad added this salad to my rotation at home, but this recipe is not meant to be a dupe of the Best Pizza salad. In fact, it’s fairly different if you look at the ingredients. Instead of using sliced red onions, I finely mince a shallot and add it to my dressing, as I find that I can only eat a small amount of raw onion before the heartburn seeps in (sigh). Soaking the shallot in vinegar seems to take a bit of the edge off for me. I also omit the carrot, having never been a fan of raw carrot, and add cucumbers for crunch and marinated artichoke hearts for a bit of that pickly tang.

This is a salad that beautifully balances a rich main like a baked pasta. It’s crisp and clean, just acidic enough to cut through the heavier flavours of a hearty main. It’s also a salad that comes together quickly and one that I would recommend pairing with delivery pizza if you don’t feel like cooking but would like an easy fresh side. I whisk the dressing together in the bottom of my serving bowl, then add the rest of the ingredients right on top. If you play your cards right, you dirty very few dishes and everything goes in the dishwasher except for a knife (if you’re a monster, you might stick that knife in the dishwasher too). You really can’t beat it.

Oh, and this is my husband’s favourite salad. He wanted that to be known.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 head of Romaine (200-225g, ideally Romaine heart), roughly chopped or torn into bite-size pieces
• 150g cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced into halves
• 1 small shallot (20-25g), minced or finely chopped
• 1/4-1/3 cup marinated artichokes, roughly chopped
• 2 mini cucumbers (150g), sliced into bite-size pieces
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or 1 1/2 tbsp salad Balsamic vinegar¹ + 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar)
• freshly ground black pepper
• Kosher salt

1. This should be your run-of-the-mill grocery store Balsamic vinegar, not expensive traditional Balsamic vinegar. ↩︎

Directions

1. In a large salad bowl, combine the minced shallot with the olive oil (1/4 cup), red wine vinegar (2 tbsp), several grinds of black pepper, and a big pinch of Kosher salt. Whisk together and optionally set aside for a few minutes.
2. Add the cucumbers, artichokes, tomatoes, and romaine to the bowl. Toss thoroughly (I use my hands), ensuring all the lettuce and cucumber slices are coated in the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Serve.