Broccoli Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette Dressing, Fried Egg and Gorgonzola

SERVES 4

PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES 

A broccoli salad makes sense. Broccoli loves you, and you love it, so everything is going to be fine. Well, once we make one. Gorgonzola rules, don’t be scared, and eggs rule, so don’t worry. Bacon vinaigrette is always nice and warm. We will get through this and make this right. This salad low- key could be made in any season, warm or cold. Also it’s a fire dinner or breakfast. Dang, just eat this every day, all day. You’ll become so strong.

Soups, Salads, Sandwiches: A Cookbook Matty Matheson

INGREDIENTS 

• 3 heads broccoli, including stems

• 1 shallot, sliced as thinly as possible

• Olive oil

• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

• 4 eggs

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• Bacon Vinaigrette Dressing (recipe follows)

• 4 ounces gorgonzola, cut into 8 chunks

DIRECTIONS 

Preheat your broiler on high. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. 

Chop the broccoli so it’s all different shapes and sizes. Lay out the broccoli and shallots on the prepared baking sheet and season with a good amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper. 

Broil your vegetables until they’re burned, 10 minutes. It’s not just the time. Watch! 

While the vegetables are broiling, fry the eggs in the butter in a cast iron pan over medium heat. Do you want that over easy or fried? The choice is yours. 

Lace your broccoli and shallots with the bacon vinaigrette. Place your individual fried eggs on the salad and add chunks of gorgonzola on top. Give your guests some bowls and dig in. 

Bacon Vinaigrette Dressing

MAKES 1 CUP 

• 6 ounces double- smoked bacon

• 3 tablespoons grainy mustard

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

• 2 garlic cloves, grated

• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, plus more as needed

• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Dice the bacon into nice, thick cubes. Add them to a small, cold pan. Turn the heat to medium and slowly cook the bacon until it is golden brown but still tender, with ample bacon fat in the pan, about 10 minutes. Save the fat in your favorite bacon fat jar. 

Transfer the bacon to a small bowl along with the mustard, maple syrup, garlic, and vinegar and stir to combine thoroughly. Add a good amount of pepper, nice big chunks. Adjust with salt and vinegar as desired.

“Soups, Salads, Sandwiches” Text copyright © 2024 by Matty Matheson. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Quentin Bacon. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of  Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

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