Meatloaf may have sang "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" back in the late 70s, but why stop at 2 good things when you could attain a perfect 3 for 3? Whether it be 3 different dry cured salamis, 3 main ingredients, or a combination of both, today's recipe, Salami Terzetto Salad, is sure to please all involved! Call it a ménage a trois, call it a terzetto, call it whatever you wish, but this appetizer is a essentially a delicious bowl of various salamis and some heavenly mozzarella pearls with a few tomatoes and a tangy vinaigrette thrown in to officially deem it a salad, lol! Last I heard salads are healthy and good for you so feel free to get super healthy and eat a few portions of this one before everyone catches on and snatches it away for themselves. This Salami Terzetto Salad is a base recipe, so stick around a bit and give it a read to find out some ingredient variations and/or changes to make it perfectly fit your favorite flavor profile desires....Let's get cooking!
Thankfully prep for this recipe is relatively minimal. Begin by slicing your salami into half moons about 1/8th inch thick. I found this Salami trio pack at my local warehouse bulk store and immediately knew it would be perfect for this recipe. Obviously, you don't have to use three different salamis by any means, but they really add more depth and flavor over a single salami. Be sure to give your dry cured salami a taste after you slice a few pieces to make sure it is not overly hard or difficult to eat in salad form. Some salamis are dry cured longer than others making them quite tough and requiring very thin slices to enjoy. It will likely soften up some once it gets soaked in the vinaigrette, but better to test now than fail later!
The next bit of prep involves our cherry tomatoes. You can simply slice them all in half individually, or place them between two plates and make one slice through them all at once. Honestly, the plate trick does work, but unless you have the perfect plates and the patience of a saint, just slice the dang tomatoes like a normal person! It only takes a couple minutes to cut a couple cups in half, but feel free to send me #fail videos of you trying the plate method. I always enjoy a good cooking fail laugh! Unrelated, I did put 2 cups of cherry tomatoes on the recipe card, which do the trick fine, but you could easily use 3-4 cups to make it a little more of an actual salad versus a delicious salami bowl under the guise of a salad....you do you and the recipe will work out just fine either way!
The third main ingredient in this Salami Terzetto Salad is mozzarella pearls. This is one of our ingredients we can leave as is, razz up a bit, or even buy already snazzified for us. If you want to keep things simple and milder, just use plain mozzarella pearls right from the container. For those of you a bit more on the adventurous side, try this quick and easy recipe for Marinated Mozzarella Pearls, which also double as a great snack on their own! And for the rest of you lazy bums, you can actually buy mozzarella pearls soaked in extra virgin olive oil with herbs and seasonings. I will not deny, these are also quite delicious and work well if you don't have the time to make some marinated pearls and just want to keep this recipe rolling along! No matter which mozzarella pearls you choose to use, try to drain any excess liquids and oils off them so they don't interfere or influence the vinaigrette will be making shortly. There is no need to rinse them or go that extreme, just get them out of the container with a slotted spoon or something similar and let most of the oils drain off. Keep that flavored oil, though, because it works wonders and is delicious to use in other recipes, marinades, and vinaigrettes/dressings! The Marinated Mozzarella Pearls on the left below are my homemade creation and the ones on the right are a premade store-bought version. You can probably tell that I enjoy herbs and flavor....just sayin!
Now, in a large mixing bowl, we are going to create the tangy vinaigrette that really brings everything together. Add the red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, and oregano and give it a good whisk to mix well. If you are working alone, place your bowl on a damp cloth to keep it steady and from moving all over your counter. If you have a kitchen helper handy, this is definitely a good time to make use of their extra hands. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the base mixture as you whisk and stir like your house is about to catch on fire and you need to hurry up and finish this recipe. Keep whisking until all the olive oil is added and fully emulsified with the mixture. What does that mean exactly? Well, oil and vinegar simply don't mix until you "persuade" them with some violent and fast stirring. We could get into the science of it and bore ourselves to sleep, or just simply stir fast and hard and make the two liquids become one, eh? It should looking something like the picture below....if you truly attained emulsification!
All you have to do now is add the salami, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella pearls and toss to coat everything. Be somewhat gentle and try not to beat the living hell out of your mozzarella and tomatoes, but just get in their with that slotted spoon from earlier and make sure everything is well coated. I attempted to make the dressing in a smaller bowl, then pour it over everything already in an overfilled bowl too small to mix and had to do some extra dishes. Take my advice and just use the biggest bowl you have to begin with to make the vinaigrette then add in the remaining ingredients. No one like extra dishes....uggggg!
Anything this tasty can't simply be that quick so cover and put this in the refrigerator for a few hours to truly fortify all those flavors together. Yes, the vinaigrette will solidify due to the olive oil, but it won't break apart so just remember to pull it out and let it warm up to room temperature before serving. Speaking of serving, nothing makes any sort of Italian or Italian-inspired dish really pop without a bit of fresh basil to finish things off. No need to spend any time chopping it up, just use your hands and tear a handful of leaves for a vibrant finish of color and taste!
And they say meat salad isn't a thing! This is truly a quick and simple salami salad appetizer or snack that you can dig in and at least pretend it's healthy in your mind. You can use one, two, or three plus different types of salami for different flavor combinations and the mozzarella pearls offer a few different variations themselves. Your friends will love it, your kids should love it, and I'm certain you will love it too! You can entirely forgo the vinaigrette and just use the mozzarella oil marinade if you like. After all, I'm not here to tell you how the food you love should taste. I'm merely a guy giving you some options and ideas so get in the kitchen and make something delicious...Just keep cooking!
SALAMI TERZETTO SALAD
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