House dressing you'll eat by the spoon
The one you make once and then put on absolutely everything, darling. Do keep up.
At a Glance
Story
Every proper house has a dressing people keep begging the recipe for, and this one belongs to Via Carota, smuggled out of the West Village. The sly bit is a splash of plain warm water, which sounds like a swindle and is in fact the making of the thing. It knocks the sharp elbows off the vinegar just enough that the whole dressing turns round and savoury rather than merely sour, so do not skip it imagining you know better. You do not.
Ingredients
- 1 large shallotvery finely diced
- 2 tbsp aged sherry vinegarplus 1 tsp, and more as needed
- 1 tbsp warm water
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp honey
- 1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ tsp whole-grain mustard
- 2 sprigs thymeleaves picked and finely chopped
- 1 clove garlicfinely grated
- 1 tsp kosher saltplus more to taste
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Method
Make it in the bowl you will dress the salad in and save yourself a washing-up. It keeps a week in the fridge and improves for the first two days, so a Sunday batch quietly runs your whole week.
- Tip the diced shallot into a fine sieve and rinse under cold water for a few seconds. This is not fussiness, it pulls the raw bite so the shallot flatters the dressing rather than announcing itself. Shake it dry and drop it into a medium bowl.
- Add the vinegar and the warm water and leave the shallot to sit and soften for 2 minutes. It is macerating, a small kindness that takes the edge off both the shallot and the vinegar at once.
- Whisk in the olive oil, honey, both mustards, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper until it comes together glossy and thick. Taste it on a scrap of lettuce, not a bare spoon, and adjust the salt and vinegar until it makes you want more.
- Use at once, drenched over little gem, shaved fennel and soft herbs, or over boiled asparagus, warm farro, roast chicken or a good steak. Cover and chill whatever survives for up to a week.
Bring it back to cool room temperature before the next go and give it a proper whisk. Cold oil sulks and refuses to coat.
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