Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Whole Meyer Lemon Dressing and Sieved Egg

Last week while on vacay in Yountville, I had the pleasure of sampling Bottega’s stellar signature salad—Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Whole Meyer Lemon Dressing and Sieved Egg. This side haunted me; it was all I thought about at breakfast the following morning, and I was compelled to return to the restaurant that night just to eat this dish— it was that good! Although the wait staff or front-of-house personnel would not part with any of its details, I reverse-engineered the recipe, adding pistachio nuts to the mix. While the original dish appears to call solely for imported Spanish Marcona almonds, which are softer in texture compared to raw almonds, and are sans any of an almond’s leathery-textured skin (not a good sensation on the tongue), you can get very good results in this recipe using blanched, slivered raw almonds, which come with a much lower price point. It’s also crucial to use a mandolin to shave the Brussels sprouts to a 1/8-inch thickness to create the right mix of textures. I like using a Pecorino Romano—you need the salty hit of this cheese, but a good-quality, imported parmesan will do. Just avoid an inferior-quality parm—they tend to have a waxy aftertaste, which you want to avoid.

While this recipe is an homage to the original, there are several crucial steps that must be adhered to ensure its success—yes, you do use a whole Meyer lemon, rind and juice, in its vinaigrette. Don’t even think about subbing in a Eureka lemon—its rind is too thick and using it will create an overpowering bitter taste that comes to the foreground in the finished dish. Meyer lemons, on the other hand, not only have a sweeter juice, which acts as the perfect counterpoint flavor to the bitter note of the Brussels sprouts, but their paper-thin rind will temper beautifully in a hot cast-iron skillet to create a soft, thickening agent with only a slightly bitter taste, which serves as a “secret ingredient” for anchoring the salad. Another culinary trick is to grind the nuts and cheese in a food processor, rather than a blender, to create a loose sand-like texture (avoid creating a paste), which adds dimension to the dish. This filling salad has fiber, texture and protein, and serves as a fabulous one-dish main if divided into two servings, or a hearty side for four.

Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Whole Meyer Lemon Dressing and Sieved Egg
Serves: 2 as a main; 4 as a side
Ingredients

For the Whole Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette:
1 whole Meyer lemon, cut into ¼-inch slices
Juice of 1 ½ Meyer lemons
Juice of ½ Cara Cara orange (can substitute with ¼ cup fresh orange juice)
½ large shallot, peeled and minced, about 1 heaping tablespoon
¼ cup good-quality extra virgin olive oil (I recommend Sicilian or California)
1 teaspoon kosher flake salt
¼ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

Preparation
Heat a medium cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat until hot. Place lemon slices in pan and heat until lemon rind is soft and slightly charred. Remove from pan and let cool. Place all the vinaigrette ingredients in a food processor and pulse until a slightly chunky emulsion forms, then set aside.

For the Brussels Sprout Salad:
Ingredients
1 lb. large Brussels sprouts; rinsed and trimmed, shaved to 1/8- inch slices
1/8 cup roasted and salted pistachios
1/4 cup Marcona almonds (can substitute with blanched, slivered almonds)
¼ cup, plus 2 tbs. shredded Pecorino Romano cheese
2 hard-boiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise, yolks and whites separated
Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon

Preparation

Place shaved Brussels sprouts in a large salad bowl and set aside. Place pistachios and almonds in a food processor and pulse several times until a rough chop is achieved. Add cheese and pulse once or twice until a uniform texture of ground nuts and cheese is achieved. Do not overprocess at this stage, or you will wind up with something like a nut butter rather than a loose mixture.

Place shaved sprouts and nut/ cheese mixture in a large salad bowl and gently toss to combine. Drizzle the Meyer lemon vinaigrette over the salad mixture and toss to coat. Place salad mixture in a medium bowl for a main meal (use a small bowl for a side) filled to the top. Place a salad plate over the top of bowl, then invert the bowl and remove it. Drizzle a small amount of the fresh Meyer lemon juice over the plated salad and a sprinkling of kosher flake salt.

Push the egg whites through a fine mesh sieve, and place on top the salad. Push the yolks through a fine–mesh sieve, and place on top of the yolks. Serve immediately.