Our dear friends, the Krutchiks, often lavish us with new food discoveries, like Wagyu pastrami—a luxe version of the delicious brined, spiced and smoked deli meat—which they buy at their NYC neighborhood shop, Grace's Marketplace. The richly marbled, melt-in-your-mouth meat inspired this twist on Italy's beloved bread and tomato salad. Use ripe, in-season tomatoes (their sweet juices form part of the dressing), and pick an airy light rye bread over the dark, dense sort; the latter is too chewy for this salad. Wagyu is certainly tasty, but any good pastrami works well here.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 450°F with the rack in the middle. Put the onion in a bowl and cover with 1 to 2 cups of cold water. Swish the water around and rub the slices with your hands. Strain and repeat the process two or three times, letting the slices soak and changing the water at 10-minute intervals. (Soaking raw onion in cold water mellows the harsh bite.)
Step 2
Meanwhile, spread out the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake until the edges are crispy and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Step 3
On a cutting board, finely chop the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Using both the blade and the flat side of a chef's knife, chop and scrape the mixture into a paste. Put the oil and vinegar into a bowl, add the garlic paste and whisk to combine.
Step 4
In a large bowl, combine the cooled bread, tomatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine, gently pressing the tomatoes a bit to release some of the juices.
Step 5
Peel the cucumbers in a zebra pattern and cut on a diagonal into half moons. Drain and pat dry the onions. Add the onions, cucumber, celery, basil leaves, pastrami and parsley leaves to the salad. Whisk together the dressing, add it to the salad and gently toss to combine.
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Reviews (8)
Back to TopI like the concept of this recipe and tailored it to what I had in the pantry and to be 'gluten free' with Mary's Gone Crackers rye crackers, a bit of leek instead of the onion and some dried herbs instead of fresh. I added some cubes of Swiss cheese which made the pastrami the right amount proportionally. For a side salad, it would be 4 portions, for an entree' it would be 2 portions. Will definitely make it again.
gaylerae
Milwaukee
4/25/2014
We loved this and will be making it again! A clever and tasty twist on one of Italy's best and most beloved salads. Light and fresh--even with Pastrami included! Brilliant, easy dressing.
Jasper12
NYC, NY
12/14/2012
I sliced the onions paper thin & did the whole rinse, soak thing 3X's, but still found the onion flavor slightly overpowering (& we LIKE onion). Since onion flavor & intensity can vary quit a bit, next time I'll taste test the onion before deciding how much to add. My big gripe here is the amount of pastrami. A 1/4 lb? For 4 servings?? Not for this cookie. Can't say exactly how much more I added, but it sure was more than a 1/4 lb. Without the additional pastrami it was just a nice Italian bread salad made with rye. Oh ... & I added slightly more dressing as well. Doubled the dressing "recipe" but didn't use quite all of it. Just my not always so humble openguin. :)
YeOldeBat
Lawn Guyland, NY
8/17/2012
fusionfoodie, the scraped garlic with salt paste, plus the oil and vinegar make the dressing.
Anonymous
Los Angeles
8/16/2012
Whisk together WHAT dressing?
fusionfoodie
8/16/2012
There is no such thing as authentic wagyu or kobe beef in this country. Google it. Save your money. You would think that epicurious would know this.
knapster2005
8/16/2012
Have not yet made this recipe but plan to try it with both lamb pastrami and salmon pastrami.
esung1
8/15/2012
Well, wagyu is beyond my means, but pastrami is lovely anytime.
checkerbird
Arkansas
7/10/2012
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