How to Make the Perfect Italian Salad Dressing
 
 
Cook:
Ingredients
  • ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup of red wine vinegar (you can also ½ the vinegar amount and also include the juice of ½ a lemon)
  • 1 teaspoon Dry Thyme or Oregano
  • Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard (optional)
Process
  1. Place the salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl and add vinegar first (this will help dissolve the salt) and mix well. Next, add Thyme and mustard and beat once again. Finally, slowly add the olive oil and beat/whisk until you have an emulsification.
  2. Note: most folks believe in a 1 to 3 ratio of oil to vinegar but I enjoy a slightly more acidic dressing. Also, for those of you who like anchovies feel free to add a single, minced, anchovy (cured in salt or olive oil) to the mixture! Italians do not generally include mustard in their salad dressings, but I like the combination of thyme and dijon mustard (the French get some things right!).
Notes
Just a word on ingredients, the better the olive oil and red wine vinegar you use the better your dressing will be (there's a clear connection between ingredients and end result with salad dressing). You can find our olive oil guide here and if you do a search on our site for "olive oil" and "vinegar" you can read through all of our specific vinegar and oil product reviews.
Recipe by Scordo.com - Italian Food Recipes and Lifestyle at http://www.scordo.com/uncategorized/how-to-make-the-perfect-salad.html