Pancetta, Tomato and Pickled Pepper Vinaigrette
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One hot August day several years ago when I was living in New York City, I stuffed my backpack full of produce I’d bought at the Union Square Farmers Market, including a big plastic bag of ripe summer tomatoes. After biking over the bridge back to Brooklyn, I discovered my bag of tomatoes had turned into a juicy heirloom mush. I scrapped my previous BLT plans and decided I would turn my busted tomatoes into a dressing for pasta salad.
I used what I had on hand — the liquid from some peppers I’d pickled, a chunk of feta, some garlic and shallot and a few herbs from the garden — and the resulting dressing was a revelation. It was bright, salty, summery, rich, sweet, savory and just a delight to eat. This was the first dressing I’d made without a recipe, and it made me reflect on what a vinaigrette actually is.
A vinaigrette is a balancing act between fat, acidity, salt and additional flavorings, with the foundation of the dressing being the relationship between fat and acidity. In my recent cooking newsletter, I suggest a ratio of one part vinegar to three parts olive oil as a good starting point for a basic vinaigrette. The below recipe is a great example of how that ratio changes as you substitute different ingredients. Here, the tomato brings enough body and the pancetta enough richness that the actual ratio is closer to three parts vinegar (in this case, pickled pepper liquid and vinegar) to two parts olive oil. For a vegetarian version, consider substituting pancetta for rinsed and chopped capers along with a bit more olive oil.
The ingredients change, but the balance stays the same. Your dressing should be bright enough to feel a tingle in the back of your throat, rich with fat and seasoned with salt until delicious. I encourage you to use this recipe as a guide and to practice making your dressings by sight and taste. The more you rely on your senses, the more intuitive your cooking becomes. This vinaigrette is great on pasta salad, dribbled over sliced tomatoes, and would probably be awesome on a BLT. Save the rendered pancetta fat for future use! I was cooking a chicken when I made this recipe, so I tossed my potatoes and onions in the fat and placed them below my chicken before roasting.
I end up making a dressing like this whenever I have damaged tomatoes and, to this day, I still can’t seem to get home from the market without at least one.
P.S. if you want to learn more about the theory behind vinaigrettes, watch my video instructional on Instagram.
Pancetta, Tomato and Pickled Pepper Vinaigrette
Put the pancetta in a cold skillet, and set over medium-low heat. Cook until much of the fat has rendered and the pancetta is golden brown and crispy, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, mince the shallot, grate the garlic with a Microplane, finely chop the pickled peppers and place all three into a jar. Add the pickled pepper liquid and vinegar to the jar, swirl to coat the vegetables and allow to macerate while the pancetta finishes cooking. Finely chop your parsley, and grate your tomatoes into a bowl, being careful of your fingers and leaving behind just the skin, which you can discard.
Using a fork or a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta from the pan and add it to the jar along with the parsley, grated tomato, olive oil and salt.
Cover the jar with a lid and shake well to combine. Taste the vinaigrette and consider the balance. Is there enough salt? Can you feel a slight burn in your throat from the acidity? Is it rich with olive oil? Taste and adjust until the answer to all of these questions is yes.
Dip a piece of whatever you are going to dress into the vinaigrette, and take a bite. Still tasty? If not, adjust as needed to keep the whole bite bright, rich, seasoned and balanced. If so, you’re ready to dress.
