Warm Spinach Salad with Pancetta and Feta
This recipe is a play on the popular warm spinach salad. It is typically made with bacon. You start off by cooking some bacon down; taking the bits out and using the warm fat for salad dressing.
I used pancetta instead of bacon; rendered it and kept it aside. A mixture of dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and apple cider make a delicious dressing. To make it interesting, I added crumbles of salty feta cheese. I am a big fan of this cheese- I love salty cheese, and this one is as salty as they come. It provides an amazing punch of flavor. The good thing is you don’t need a whole lot of it and it is naturally lower in fat than other cheeses.
The salad turned out delicious- it was a great start to the meal, especially since it continued with the yummy meatballs…
- 3 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Place the spinach and cheese into a medium salad bowl. Keep aside.
- ¼ cup chopped pancetta
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium shallot, sliced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 to 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons apple cider
- Salt
- Pepper
Heat a small frying pan and add the olive oil. Add the pancetta and cook on medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly till the pancetta bits are crispy. With a slotted spoon, take out the pancetta and keep aside. Keep the flame to medium and add the shallot. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vinegar and apple cider. Whisk in the mustard and add salt and pepper if needed.
Pour over the baby spinach, toss and serve.