Chef Adam’s Chicory Salad with Nail Sardines and Largueta Almonds

Executive Chef Adam Halberg of the Barcelona Restaurants Group demonstrates how to make a delicious and authentic Chicory Salad with Nail Sardines and Largueta Almonds using our traditional Spanish ingredients.

Barcelona Restaurants was founded in 1996  in Connecticut by Andy Pforzheimer and Sasa Mahr-Batuz. Today, Barcelona is the largest Spanish restaurant group in America. At Barcelona, great chefs from the best kitchens in America and Europe turn out some of the finest food in the Northeast: tapas both simple and elegant, specials using the finest seasonal picks from local markets and unusual specialties from Spain and the Mediterranean. Flavors are bold and the ingredients speak for themselves. Barcelona is featured in Zagat’s “America’s Top Restaurants,” is the winner of the Wine Spectator’s “Award of Excellence,”  and recently released “The Barcelona Cookbook:  A Celebration of Food, Wine, and Life.” Barcelona has six locations from Greenwich to New Haven and now is spreading its passion for food and fun nationwide. Next up: Atlanta. Visit Barcelona Restaurants Website.

Chicory Salad with Nail Sardines and Largueta Almonds

Ingredients:

1 small head of Chicory
5 leaves of Napa (or other mild, crunchy) Cabbage
3 Nail Sardines (either in Olive Oil, or Marinated)
.25 cup Toasted/Salted Largueta Almonds
3 TBL Garnacha Vinegar
7 TBL Essencia Olive Oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp Pimenton de la Vera Piccante

Preparation:

1. Wash the Chicory and trim any bruised ends
2. Cut the Cabbage into strips about the same size as the Chicory
3. Put the Chicory and Cabbage in a medium-sized mixing bowl and sprinkle evenly with the Kosher Salt
4. Add one Nail Sardine to the bowl and mash it with a fork, mixing so that some mashed sardine gets stuck to every piece of lettuce
5. Add the Vinegar, Olive Oil and Almonds to the bowl and mix well
6. Taste the Salad and adjust the seasoning as desired
7. Divide the Salad onto two plates, making sure that the almonds are evenly incorporated
8. Dust the Pimenton evenly over the top of each salad
9. Garnish each Salad with a whole Nail Sardine and serve.