Roasted Seasonal Vegetable Salad Recipe (North Italia Copycat)

Roasted seasonal vegetable salad like North Italia in a large black bowl.

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Roasted Seasonal Vegetable Salad Recipe (North Italia Copycat)

Learn to make North Italia’s Roasted Seasonal Vegetable Salad at home! This copycat recipe features caramelized seasonal veggies, fresh kale & white balsamic vinaigrette.

Prep Time35

Cook Time38

Total Time1 13

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American, Italian, Mediterranean

Servings: large

Calories: 375kcal

Author: Ali Mairet

Equipment

18 by 13-inch by 1-inch cookie sheet
pizza stone (optional)
metal cooling rack
parchment paper
1-gallon capacity saucepan or stock pot
8 to 12 ounce capacity mason jar and lid

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

3 tablespoons ghee
12 ounces Brussels sprouts
12 ounces cauliflower florets 1 inch size
16 ounces butternut squash ½-1 inch cubes
4 ounces fregola pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces salted, roasted pistachio kernels
3 ounces whole, pitted dates
2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese wedge
7 ounces green kale, one bunch suggested varieties: Green Curly, Lacinato, Siberian
4 ounces red kale, one bunch optional
4 ounces radicchio, ½ of a head

Vinaigrette Ingredients

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
ground black pepper

Instructions

Salad

Confirm the oven rack is on the lowest level and place pizza stone on the bottom rack. Preheat oven to 450℉.
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Season the water with 2 tablespoons of kosher salt.
Cut the bottom core from the Brussels sprouts and cut each sprout in half.
On a cookie sheet, combine the Brussels sprout halves, 1 tablespoon of ghee, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, and 15 grinds of black pepper. Make sure the Brussels sprouts halves are face down on the cookie sheet.
Roast the Brussels sprouts for 10 minutes until the bottoms are caramelized. Transfer the cooked sprouts to a parchment lined metal cooling rack to cool.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 with the 1-inch cauliflower florets.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 a third time with the diced butternut squash, however, increase the roasting time to 18-19 minutes until caramelized, but not overcooked and soft. They should retain their shape.
While roasting the vegetables, cook the fregola in the boiling water according to package directions for about 13 minutes. Drain the pasta and mix 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with the fregola while warm. Let cool.
Roughly chop the pistachio kernels.
Slice the whole dates into smaller pieces. I prefer to cut one date into fourths.
Slice the Pecorino Romano wedge into ¼ inch sticks. Cut perpendicularly across the cheese sticks in ¼ inch increments to create small cubes.
Wash and dry the kale. Prepare the kale by removing the thick, fibrous stems by cutting the leaves from both sides of the main stem. Gather the leaves together and chop the kale into small pieces about 1 inch in size.
Place it in a large salad bowl. To help break down the fibrous structure and bitterness of kale, add ½ teaspoon of kosher salt to the kale and gently hand massage the kale for about 2-3 minutes. You will notice it starting to soften and tenderize slightly. It is ready and prepped for the salad assembly.
Cut the half head of radichio in half. Cut the core out of the 2 radicchio quarters then slice them into ½ inch strips.

Vinaigrette

To make the vinaigrette, add 4 tablespoons olive oil, honey, white balsamic vinegar, a pinch of kosher salt, and 5 grinds of black pepper to the mason jar. Tighten the lid and shake until combined.

Assembly

Assemble the salad by adding the roasted vegetables, fregola, chopped pistachios, dates, Pecorino Romano squares, and radicchio to the bowl of chopped kale. Add the ¾ of the jar of white balsamic vinaigrette and toss to combine. Taste and add more vinaigrette, salt, or pepper, if desired.

Notes

See the recipe post for make-ahead instructions.

Nutrition