Casa Salad Recipe

There is a great restaurant chain here in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area called Casa D'Angelo. The Casa Restaurant Group currently has 5 restaurants in the Fort Wayne chain; Casa D'Angelo, Casa Mare, Casa Grille (2) and Casa! Ristorante. They all proudly serve their famous Casaburo Salad (Insalata). You can actually buy their salad dressing Here, but the "Casa Salad" recipe remains a closely guarded secret.

There are many websites that offer a recipe that is close to the Casa Salad recipe, but I think the Casa Salad recipe found here is close to the mouthwatering original. This will serve 2-4 people, depending on your appetite. You will need the following ingredients:

• Approximately 1/2 a head of fresh Iceberg lettuce
• Approximately 1 average size head of fresh Romaine lettuce
• 1 bunch of green onions
• 1/2 green (bell) pepper - 1/2 red (sweet) pepper
• Approximately 20 or so black (ripe) olives
• 1 large clove garlic
• Anchovy paste (please don't omit, you can't taste it, but you need it)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• Approximately 1/8 cup bacon bits
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• Approximately 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
• Approximately 1 cup of large garlic / onion croutons
• (optional) organic apple cider vinegar

1. Clean and chop the lettuce into large salad (serving) bowl.
2. Clean and chop green onions into the bowl.
3. Drain and Chop black (ripe) olives into the bowl.
4. Chop the peppers coarsely and add to the bowl.
5. Mix olive oil, sugar, corn starch and red wine vinegar in mixing cup to start making the dressing. (optionally, I like to add a teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar)
6. Stir in approximately 1/2 teaspoon of the Anchovy paste into the dressing. My anchovy paste came in a squeeze tube, so I add about 1 inch squeeze.
7. Chop the garlic clove finely, and add to the dressing.
8. Stir the salad dressing mixture briskly and dump over the salad mixture.
9. Stir the salad mixture to evenly coat the salad with the dressing.
10. Dump in the bacon bits and grated Romano cheese and stir the entire mixture again.
11. Dump in the croutons and stir well one last time.

For best results, let the Casa Salad mixture set in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for around 1 hour. This will allow the croutons and peppers to soften a bit and the dressing will permeate the salad as it wilts down a bit. When you take it out, you can add ground black pepper and salt to taste. Leftovers will last for a day or two in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.

Of course, my Casa Salad recipe can be adjusted to taste and your feedback is always welcome!