Receta de Ensalada Catalana con Bacalao, Anchoas y Aliño - Catalan Salad with Tuna, Cod and Anchovies Recipe

Ingredients

• For the Salad:
• 2small heads curly endive (frisée), cored and leaves cut into pieces
• 2heads Belgian endive, root end removed and cut into ¼-inch slices
• 2tsp sherry vinegar with Pedro Ximenez
• 2tbsp olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 14oz bacalao, cooked and torn into small pieces
• 5oz Bonito del Norte tuna, drained and gently separated into big pieces
• 12anchovy fillets
• 1cup Arbequina olives or black Empeltre olives (or mix of both)
• For the Sauce and Plating:
• 1/2cup Marcona almonds, crushed
• 1/2cup roasted hazelnuts, crushed
• 3dried ñoras peppers, (about 3 tsp pulp)
• 2fire-roasted piquillo peppers, chopped
• 2slices (1-inch thick) toasted crusty bread, broken into small pieces
• 1head garlic
• 1/2cup tomate frito sauce
• 3tbsp sherry vinegar with Pedro Ximenez
• 1/3to 2/3 cup olive oil, depending on desired thickness
• Sea salt
• Sweet smoked paprika, for garnish
• 4eggs, hard boiled, peeled and halved (optional)

Preparation

STEP 1

Prepare the ñoras peppers by pricking a few holes in the dried peppers and soaking them in a heatproof bowl with 1 cup boiling water for 30 minutes. Remove the peppers from the water, cut the peppers open, remove seeds and lay flat on a cutting board skin side down. With the back side of a knife or a spoon scrape the inside flesh away from the skins. 

STEP 2

Preheat oven to 400°F. Rub off any excess skin from the head of garlic and cut ½ inch from the top. Place garlic on a piece of foil large enough to enclose the garlic well. Drizzle the cut top of the garlic with olive oil and lightly rub it into the cloves. Bring the corners of the foil up and twist tightly (making sure the foil is not touching the top of the garlic). Roast garlic in the oven for about 30 minutes. Unwrap garlic and let rest until needed.

STEP 3

Place the almonds, hazelnuts, toasted bread, ñoras pepper pulp, piquillo peppers, roasted garlic (squeezed from its skins), tomate frito and sherry vinegar into a food processor and pulse until thoroughly blended. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt to taste and set aside.

STEP 4

To plate the salad, whisk the sherry vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl. Toss the endives together in the oil and vinegar, mixing gently to coat. Divide endives among individual plates and top with the cod pieces, flaked tuna, anchovy fillets and olives. Spoon desired amount of sauce over the salads. Sprinkle with a little paprika and place the optional boiled egg halves around the salad.

Serve as an appetizer before a grilled meat dish or for lunch with Spanish tortilla.