Happy New Year!
Food and Wine Magazine is just out with their 30th annual list of Americas Best New Chefs, and Michael Gallina is one of them. He brought his reverence for vegetables with him when he returned to his home town of St. Louis to open Vicia, named for a common Midwestern cover crop that restores nutrients in the soil. Before your dinner, you can step outside in front of the wood-burning oven where there is a tall table set with warm sourdough flatbread and a changing assortment of toppings. While you sample the offerings you can chat with the chefs about what’s good that night. How appealing does that sound?
This is one of his toppings! Pancetta is cooked until crispy, then add in onion, garlic, and tomatoes. The juices and pancetta fat emulsify and the mixture is spooned warm over toast spread with ricotta. Smells divine too.
1/2 lb. pancetta, diced
1/2 small onion, diced (about 3/4 cup)
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt, divided, plus more to taste
2 lb. cherry tomatoes
Toasted country bread for serving
Fresh ricotta cheese
Cook pancetta in a large skillet over medium, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered, 8 to 10 minutes. Add onion, garlic, and 1/4 tsp.salt and cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes and remaining 1/4 tsp. salt, and cook, tossing mixture and shaking skillet to coat tomatoes in pancetta fat, until tomatoes burst, about 8 minutes. Cook, gently shaking skillet, until juices and fat emulsify. Season to taste with salt.
Spread toast with ricotta, and top with tomato mixture. Serve immediately. Serves 6.
Note: I made this an hour or so ahead and let it sit in the skillet on the stove. Then reheated and topped the toasts when my guests arrived. Leftovers were good the next day too. Would be good tossed with pasta as well.
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