Warm Winter Root Salad with Pancetta
This warm winter root salad, tossed with balsamic and Parmesan, is a New Year's resolution you'll love to keep. For a meatless take on this dish, omit the pancetta. For a meat-lovers upgrade, add 8 ounces of thinly sliced Spanish chorizo.
TOTAL TIME:1 hour, 15 min.
SERVINGS:8
Ingredients
- 2 red onions, sliced into ¼" wedges
- 2 beets, ¾" pieces
- 2 carrots, 1" pieces
- 2 parsnips, 1" pieces
- 2 kohlrabi, 1" pieces
- 2 small sweet potatoes, 1" pieces
- 2 celeriac, 1" pieces
- 8 oz. pancetta, finely diced
- 2 Tbsp. thyme, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp. curly-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- Pinch of sugar
- ½ cup pine nuts, toasted
- ¼ cup Parmesan, shaved
Directions
Heat the oven to 425° F. In a large roasting pan, toss the onions, beets, carrots, parsnips, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes, celeriac, pancetta and thyme with ¼ cup of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place the vegetables in the oven.
Roast the vegetables until crisp-tender and slightly caramelized, about 40-45 minutes. Stir and turn the vegetables once or twice during roasting. While the vegetables roast, prepare the dressing.
Add the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and parsley to a glass jar with a lid. Add a pinch each of salt and sugar and shake the jar vigorously to emulsify the dressing. You can also whisk together the ingredients, but the jar method makes creating a stable emulsion easy.
Take the vegetables out of the oven and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Add the toasted pine nuts. Shake the jar of dressing to emulsify and pour it over the vegetables.
Toss the vegetables to coat and transfer them to a serving platter. Arrange the shaved Parmesan over the vegetables and serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.