I feel like I need to divide this gem lettuce salad post into three sections:
- The gem lettuce leaves (where did they come from and why are they on every menu in town?)
- The delicious dressing featuring Calabrian chiles (where did they come from and why are they on every menu in town?)
- Jon & Vinny’s, the restaurant in LA where I first encountered this salad (I know where Jon & Vinny come from. They’re the guys behind some of the best menus in town – Trois Mec, Petit Trois, Animal and Son of a Gun)
However, three whole sections of words sound like a lot of work. It’s summer. Summer is about minimizing effort (at least on this blog it is). Same goes for summer cooking. Summer salads are how we summer cooks minimize work in the kitchen and capitalize on the best the season has to offer. Summer is when great fruit and vegetables are plentiful – making our jobs so easy that we still have time to work on our tans.
As much as I love cooking I really don’t want to be a pasty-faced cook who spends forever in the kitchen. Summer salads that serve as meals tend to be the answer. They require very little hands-on work, leaving me (and you) more time to spend poolside.
Which means this Gem Lettuce Salad post is going to be brief. As brief as a summer breeze…
Gem Lettuce Salad with Calabrian Chiles, Parmesan and Bread Crumbs
Before I slip out onto the patio let me wrap this post up by saying that this Gem Lettuce Salad is an especially memorable take on a Caesar salad. It features a sensational dressing flavored with Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, sour cream and Calabrian chiles. It’s not my recipe. It comes from Jon (Shook) & Vinny (Dotolo) – who I guess have better things to do than work on their tans. GREG
Gem Lettuce Salad with Calabrian Chiles, Parmesan, and Bread Crumbs
Print This Recipe Yield 4–6Source Jon & Vinny’s, Los AngelesPublished
Ingredients
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon oil-packed Calabrian chiles, drained (or about 2 whole, chopped)
- 2 oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon Tabasco
- ½ cup grapeseed oil
- ¼ cup (plus 2 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan (plus more for serving, to taste)
- 2 tablespoon minced shallot
- kosher salt and freshly cracked black peper (for seasoning)
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon minced, fresh oregano
- 2–3 pinch garlic powder
- 4 heads of Little Gem lettuce (about 1 pound), leaves pulled apart
- minced flat leaf parsley leaves (as garnish, to taste)
Directions
Make the dressing: In a food processor, combine the first 11 ingredients and puree until blended. With the machine on, slowly drizzle in ½ cup grapeseed oil and ¼ cup olive oil. Scrape the dressing into a medium bowl and stir ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese and minced shallot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Make the breadcrumbs: In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter into the remaining 2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the panko and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the oregano and garlic powder and season with salt. Transfer crumbs to a paper towel–lined plate to drain.
Make the salad: In a large bowl, mix the lettuce leaves with ½ cup of the prepared dressing and season with salt and pepper. Toss, taking your time to make sure every leaf is uniformly coated. Layer lettuce on a serving platter attractively; top with the prepared bread crumbs. Garnish with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese and some parsley. Serve immediately, passing the remaining dressing at the table, as needed.
Awesome recipe Greg, thanks for sharing. I’m lucky that I live next door to The Garden Of….the fabulous organic farm that supplies Jon & Vinny with their little gems.
Hi! Do you think this dressing would taste relatively similar if I were to halve the amount of oil used?
The taste would be similar but the creamy texture might be compromised. Try it! GREG
can you substitute the calabrian pepper for another one?
You could try Fresno, it’s another mid-level heat red pepper. The key is fairly spicy and red. GREG
My mom loves Jon and Vinny’s in Los Angeles. She eats there often.
just made the Gem salad last night for my daughter’s birthday with Jon & Vinny fusilli with spicyVodka sauce. Yummm, it was great. Making the salad dressing takes the longest time for me to put all 22 ingredients together. I also had a hard time to find the Calabrian paste this time because Williams Sonoma were closed and I couldn’t get it on time if ordered online. I substitute with Calabrian chili in oil from Ralph’s which was ok but I like the one from Williams Sonoma better. If you have the patient to make the salad dressing, it is great. I recommend to make extra dressing and save it in fridge for next time maybe in a few days but because of the egg yolk, I don’t think you can keep it too long.
Gorgeous salad!
It looks fantastic Greg, I’ll have to keep my eyes peels for this type of lettuce.
We used to be able to get gem lettuces here, but they just weren’t popular enough. Very sad. I look forward to making this dressing next week for guests!
Love little Gem lettuce, but is so hard to find. My local farmer’s market doesn’t carry it either. 🙁 But when I do find it, I am making this.
In my hood you can get it at the Hollywood Farmers market and at Gelson’s GREG
What an elegantly simple salad. This looks addictive, G. I’m making it TONIGHT! xo
Love Gem Lettuce and the dressing sounds unbelievable! Perfect summer recipe!
My girlfriend turned me on to Little Gem lettuce. I love your dressing but have never used Calabrian chiles. Can you tell me more about them?
They are a type of red (moderately hot) chile pepper from Calabria, Italy. They have a fruity, spicy taste. I bought mine chopped and packed in olive oil at Williams-Sonoma online. There’s a link in the post. GREG
Love little gem lettuce…it’s so cute and delicious. This dressing sounds delicious too. I’m gonna have to whip up a batch of this.
Thanx Greg! It’s going on my summer recipe roster.
I discovered Little Gem lettuce several years ago, and it quickly became my favorite lettuce. It’s like 2 or 3 lettuces in 1! Who can resist? Anyway, this is a super dish — love the flavors in this. And no one needs to know about the anchovies — they’ll turn up their noses if you tell them they’re in the dish, but they’ll never notice if you don’t. 🙂