This salad is a staple on Ufficio's menu and it's one of Raca's signature dishes — soon to be served at Chef's Table by Resto Boemo at Assembly Chef's Hall, too. Raca is a big fan of raw mushrooms in a salad instead of roasted mushrooms. The fresh and subtle earthy flavour of simple, high-quality mushrooms adds so much to the taste, she says. And knowing that most people think of truffles as an Italian ingredient, Raca likes to showcase black and white truffles from Croatia. Raca's good friend, Wanda Srdoc, has been importing fresh Croatian truffles to Canada for more than 13 years. This past summer, Srdoc and her team found a record-breaking white truffle in Istria, Croatia, weighing in at 800 grams.
Preparation
Salad
8 king oyster mushrooms
4 oyster mushrooms
12 spears asparagus — white and green
2 cups Brussels sprouts, shaved
¾ cup pickled honey mushrooms
2 fresh oregano sprigs
4 teaspoons hazelnuts
80 grams ricotta salata cheese (1/3 cup)
8 basil leaves
Edible flowers, optional
Fresh truffles, shaved, if desired
White truffle vinaigrette
1 tablespoon white truffle paste
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Pickled honey mushrooms
1 cup honey mushrooms
½ cup white wine
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 star anise
Preheat oven to 300F and roast hazelnuts for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Whisk the garlic, truffle paste, ¹/4 cup of white wine vinegar and honey in a stainless-steel mixing bowl to make the vinaigrette. Emulsify and slowly add the canola and olive oil. Season with salt and fresh black pepper.
Bring all of the ingredients for the pickled honey mushrooms, except the mushrooms, to a boil. Place the honey mushrooms in the boiling liquid for 10 minutes and strain afterwards. Discard the liquid or reuse when pickling mushrooms again.
Thinly slice the mushrooms with with a knife. Use a mandolin and thinly slice the asparagus length-wise and the Brussels sprouts into thin strips. In a bowl, mix add the asparagus, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, pickled honey mushrooms and coat with dressing.
Add half the basil, season with salt and pepper. Plate as desired. To garnish the salad, shave the ricotta salata cheese on top. Chop hazelnuts and crush on top of the salad. Finish with pickled honey mushrooms, edible flowers and the rest of the basil.
