Buca Di Beppo Warm Tomato and Spinach Salad

Submitted by Polly W

"I have taken many of their cooking classes which were SO fun! They have stopped doing them in my area much to my sadness because they were great ! This salad is REALLY good. It is truly worth the effort but must be put together at the last minute so the tomatoes are warm."

 

• Ready In: 37mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 red onion, cut in wedges
• 4 -6 roma tomatoes, wedged
• 16 ounces fresh Baby Spinach
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbles

• Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1⁄2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

• pecans

• 1 cup pecan pieces
• 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter
• 1⁄4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

directions

1. Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing:

2. Place balsamic vinegar, garlic and brown sugar in mixing bowl.
3. whisk rapidly by hand while drizzling in the olive oil mix well.
4. Place in glass jar and store in fridge until needed.
5. Pecan's: Preheat oven 350°F.
6. Melt butter in saute pan.
7. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, cayenne pepper and pecan pieces; mix well.
8. Spread pecans on cookie sheet and bake about 5-7 minutes watch carefully to not burn.
9. Remove from oven and let cool.
10. Salad: Place red onion and tomato wedges in medium glass bowl.
11. Stir Balsamic Vinaigrette and pour some of the dressing (leave the rest for top of salad) over the onions and tomatoes.
12. Microwave for about 2-3 minutes.
13. Place spinach on large plate.
14. Using large spoon, place tomatoes AROUND the spinach not on top.
15. Place the onions on TOP of the spinach.
16. Pour some of the dressing over the salad coating as desired and mix well.
17. Sprinkle pecans and goat cheese over salad.

Reviews

[Chris Reynolds]

Great salad! Thanks for sharing. My only problem is the amount of oil, which increases the calories astronomically. I used 2 tbsp butter in the pecans, and I would recommend using half the oil or a commercially made balsamic vinaigrette.

 

[Maito]

WOW! This salad is so awesome, and every bit as good as the one at the restaurant (which is phenomenal). I used Trader Joe's sweet and spicy pecans for this instead of making them this time around. The only change I would make for next time is to decrease the oil by about 25 percent. We are huge salad eaters, but I think this would still feed at least 8 for us. Thank you for sharing this!

 

[2bizzy]

I recently had this salad on my birthday and loved it. My kids even loved it, and they're not salad eaters. I knew I had to find the recipe. I made it tonight using cherry tomatoes. It tasted just like what I had in the restaurant. Thanks for posting it. It's definitely one of the best salads I've ever had.

 

[Cook4_6]

I just had this at Buca di Beppo on Friday and was over taken by the wonderfulness of it! I was so excited to come home and find it on Zaar! I cheated a bit and purchased candied pecans and warmed them in the oven. I also blended the dressing in my blender instead of by hand to emulsify it better. Definitely a keeper in my home. (Made for My 3 Chefs)