I was watching the Barefoot Contessa this morning and she was making an Italian inspired meal which included a celery salad. Her recipe although I am sure is very good seemed a little more complicated then the one I make –as do most celery salad recipes (too many ingredients overpower the delicateness of the main ingredients in my opinion) so I thought I’d post my recipe here today.
Italian Style Celery Salad with Parmesan 4-6 servings
- One medium to large bunch thinly sliced celery including the tender leaves, sliced on an angle (approx. 5 cups)
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
- 1/2 cup good olive oil
- Fleur-de-sel sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 4 + ounces aged Parmesan cheese shaved
Put the sliced celery and coarsely chopped (you still want to have the leaf form somewhat) leaves in a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, about 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese. Toss together and taste. Now add the salt ( if you don’t have fleur-de-sel sea salt you can substitute any sea salt or even kosher salt) and pepper to taste.
Put the salad in either a serving bowl or in individual serving cups/ bowls (I sometimes like to put this salad in a martini glass or a fancy ice cream cup) and sprinkle the balance of the shaved Parmesan and a few more cranks of the pepper mill on top. That’s it. Simple and easy celery salad fresh and delicious.