Creamy Pancetta Dressing and Iceberg Lettuce

Submitted by Kim D.

"I adopted this recipe from Recipezaar and have since made the recipe. It's very good and the only change I made was using 1 teaspoon dried thyme, as I didn't have fresh in the garden. The original poster said this recipe was adapted from Michael Chiarello."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 cups roughly cut pancetta
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1⁄4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• fresh ground black pepper
• 3 heads iceberg lettuce, quartered and cleaned

directions

1. Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. When the pan is hot, add the olive and heat.
3. When the oil is hot, add pancetta and saute, and caramelize for about 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Stir onion into mixture, toss and saute for another 10 minutes, until the onion begins to brown.
5. Add garlic, thyme, and cider vinegar, and remove from heat.
6. Allow mixture to cool for about a 1/2 an hour.
7. Place cooled mixture into bowl, add mayonnaise and sour cream.
8. Season with black pepper, to taste.
9. Serve over iceberg wedges.

Reviews

[rosslare]

Rich and flavorful dressing, could also be served as dip. Great on juicy iceberg salad!

 

[Ms B.]

I was wanting a different salad idea to serve as a side to my recipe #161972 and a search for pancetta as an ingredient found this. All I can say is YUM! I did serve the dressing over chopped romaine hearts, but otherwise followed a downsized version of this recipe perfectly. I like the balance that the pancetta, onion, garlic, and fresh thyme provide to what could be an ordinary heavy creamy dressing. There are bursts of flavor that really make the salad special. Thanks for adopting the recipe.

 

[Shelly]

I have inappropriate feelings about this dressing that fill me with shame. There is no telling what would happen if I were left alone with a bowl of this. It is pure rich and delicious heaven. The combo may seem a tad weird -- a somewhat sophisticated dressing laced with pancetta and thyme on what many think of as a lower class of lettuce but it works out perfectly. The light watery crunch of the iceburg is a great backdrop for the creamy bold dressing. I think this dressing would make a killer dip as well.