The Original St. Louis Pasta House Salad
Servings: 4 servings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/3 head of romaine lettuce
- 1 round head of iceberg lettuce cut into 1" - ½" bite size pieces.
- 1 cup of thinly sliced red onions then cut in halves
- 1 cup of canned artichoke hearts packed in it's own juice/brine not marinated, drained well, but not rinsed with water
- 1 cup diced pimentos from a jar, drained well, but not rinsed with water
- ⅔ cup regular olive oil
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- ⅔ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the iceberg and romaine lettuce, drain completely. Refrigerate until nice and COLD.
- Using your hands or a plastic cutting knife (do not use a regular steel-based knife that will discolor the lettuce), cut the romaine lettuce into 3 or 4 pieces --> per leaf <-- using a good bit of the unblemished dark greens at the end to add more color. Try not to break off pieces over 2 inches in size.
- Again with your hands or plastic cutting knife, split the head of iceberg lettuce in half. Pull the heart (not the hard stub) of the iceberg out of each half. Break it up into small pieces (with no knife). Separate the rest of the iceberg lettuce. The lettuce will break up further when the salad is tossed.
- Place the iceberg and romaine lettuce in a large bowl. Add the artichoke hearts, sliced red onions, and pimentos.
- Drizzle the olive oil onto the salad and give it about 3 tosses so that the oil cings to the lettuce and ingredients.
- ** Always dress salads with olive oil first and the vinegar next, because everything clings to the olive oil better.**
- Drizzle the red wine vinegar next and give the salad about 3 tosses.
- Sprinkle the cheese all over the salad and toss until mixed completely.
- Taste to determine if it needs salt and pepper. I always start with 1/2 teaspoon each until it tastes just right!