ORANGE AND ONION INSALATA

Italian Salad

Every Holiday my father would make this enormous antipasto salad in a large turkey platter and put it the center of the table before the guests arrived for everyone to see. Everything was layered symmetrical and around the outside he would alternate rolled Prosciutto and slices of oranges with the skin on. We always had a whole Prosciutto hanging in the basement that he would slice up with his Father's old 2 foot long butcher knife. Man, was he proud of that antipasto. Buona Appetito, VINCENZO

Ingredients

  • A head of Romaine lettuce or 1 bunch of watercress or a good 2 handfuls of mescaline greens.
  • 3-4 Naval or blood oranges with the skin scored and sliced with skin on (eat it with skin on also)
  • OPTIONAL:
  • 1 -2 cans of mandarin orange wedges, drain if in water, if in juice, use it in dressing. Also Blood oranges make a great color presentation for this dish if you can find them.
  • Some good extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 spoon of frozen concentrated orange juice.
  • Red wine vinegar
  • A splash of water
  • A can of black olives
  • 1 Red onion sliced thin
  • A pinch of fresh minced oregano ( if not available, dry will do )
  • A small handful of chopped fresh flat leaf Italian parsley and fresh basil.
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Arrange a bed of romaine or watercress on a large serving platter. Top with neatly placed orange and onion slices and a handful of olives in the center. In a mixing bowl add all the remaining ingredients, 'all to taste' and stir well. Do not top salad with dressing until you are ready to serve it.


English word orange in Italian is arancia. Oranges supposedly originated in China and probably found its way to Italy through Arab trade routes. They were known in ancient Rome as early as the first century A.D. but seemed to disappear sometime around the fall of the Roman Empire. The re-appearance began around 1000 A.D. in Sicily and by the 13th century they were cultivated through Italy. At first the orange was used for its flavor and not eaten as a fruit. The Cadillac of oranges is the blood orange grown in Sicily. It has a red pigmented skin and ruby red pulp. The Mediterranean region is perfect for orange cultivation due to a mild climate, sunny weather and good soil and hillsides drainage. Originally all oranges had seeds but the navel orange was developed here in the United States. As time went on, the blood orange variety has adapted well to Northern California climates although producing smaller fruit. It takes about six years after planting before you see the fruit of your labor. It is unlikely you would find blood oranges in a regular market and may have to search out these unique specimens in specialty markets.

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Submitted 6/19/05.
Source: SOUTH SIDE SOCIAL CLUB COOKBOOK
Submitted By: VINCENZO PAOLINO
vin.paolino@verizon.net
ORANGE AND ONION INSALATA