Aperol Salad with Endive, Salted Candied orange, Ricotta Salata, Olive + Kumquat

You can have your Aperol Spritz and eat your greens, too. This Aperol Spritz-inspired salad makes it easy to have both at the same time.

Obviously an Aperol (or Campari for me) spritz is the drink of the summer for a reason. I think the bitter, slightly sweet, and bubbly drink commonly garnished with an orange slice and an olive hits all the cravings someone could want in a summer beverage. With that in mind, I sought out to create a salad that delivers all the same cravings and more. Besides making for an unusually fun salad, it’s truly such a bright and refreshing mixture of greens balanced with bitter, salty, sweet, creamy, fruity, citrusy, earthy, and tangy flavors. If you really want to up the ante and add some heat and protein, I recommend some calabrese salami. And don’t worry, you won’t get tipsy off the dressing! It’s really just enough to add that bitter but sweet pop of flavor.

And if you need a drink pairing suggestion, I highly recommend an aperol spritz.

Aperol Spritz Salad

For the salad:

• Endive + frisée lettuce

• Shallots, thinly shaved

• Kumquats, quartered

• Green Italian olives - like Castelvatrano — pitted and thinly sliced

• Ricotta Salata, shaved or crumbled

• Fresh basil - picked and roughly chopped

• Salted Candied Orange Peel (recipe below) - cut into thirds

• Aperol Dressing (recipe below)

Toss all ingredients together. Drizzle with the dressing, careful not to overdress. You might have leftover dressing depending on how much salad you have.

Salted + Candied Orange Peel:

• 2 large naval oranges - or 3 small

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

• Flaky salt

Cut the oranges in quarters to remove the citrust from the rind easily. Keep the pith (the white, bitter part) attached to the rind. Save the flesh for something else, use as orange juice in the dressing if not using blood orange, or add to the salad for extra citrus!

Slice the rind with pith attached into strips about 1/4 inch thick. Place the rind in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, strain, discard water, and repeat once more — this removes a lot of the bitterness in the pith. Add the rinds back to the pot with the sugar and 2 cups of water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the rind is nearly translucent. Strain and reserve orang syrup to use in cocktails or other desserts! Spread the orange peels on a parchment-lined sheet tray, and immediately sprinkle with flaky salt. Allow to set and refrigerate until ready to use.

Aperol Spritz Dressing:

Makes ~1 1/2 cups dressing

• 1/4 cup Aperol

• 1/3 cup blood orange juice or regular orange juice

• 3/4 cup olive oil OR 1/2 cup olive oil + 1/4 cup Brightland Basil Olive Oil

• 1/2 shallot

• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar OR juice from 1 1/2 lemons

• 1 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. honey

Blend all ingredients together until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use. Season to taste.