Bitter-Greens Salad with Melted Cheese

Photograph by Britta Lokting.

This recipe is from the February 2013 edition of Food & Wine. We decided to make it because it is from the latest restaurant of Stumptown Coffee's Duane Sorenson, called Ava Grene's, located here in Portland. It was a simple salad, but good. However, I would adjust a few things for next time, such as heating the salad longer in the oven; it wasn't quite warm enough and the cheese was only semi-melted. Additionally, I would use less radicchio and more arugula than what is called for. Mixing in some field greens could be nice too.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large head of radicchio cored and coarsely shredded
5 oz baby arugula
4 oz semi-hard Italian cheese, such as Crucolo or pecorino (We used parmesan).
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted
Balsamic vinegar for drizzling

To make:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Toast the hazelnuts.
Meanwhile in a large bowl, whisk the red wine vinegar with the olive oil and salt and pepper.
Add the radicchio and arugula to the dressing and toss well.
Put the salad in an oven-proof plates and top with the grated cheese.
Arrange the plates on trays and place in the oven for 1 minute.
Sprinkle the toasted hazelnuts on top.
Drizzle the balsamic vinegar on top and serve warm.