This is one of the many salads I made up while cooking in Tuscany and it was a big hit so I’ve redone it and written everything down. Large button mushrooms are easier to slice, but you can use small ones too. Only buy pre sliced mushrooms if they’re sliced very thinly. Seasoning each layer is very important and taralli makes the salad shine!
Ingredients:
3 medium beets
1 medium fennel bulb
4-5 big button mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
1 block Parmesan for shaving
1-2 lemons
Olive oil
Good balsamic
Place beets in medium pot, cover with cold water and bring to boil. Boil for 30-45 minutes or until tender (you should be able to pierce it with a paring knife.) Drain beets, cool, peel and slice 1 cm thick. Place in bowl and season with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. Leave at room temp.
While beets cook, prepare fennel. Trim fronds off top and slice bulb in half lengthwise. Starting from frond end, slice each half thinly using a chef knife or mandolin. Once you get to the root/core, discard. Place fennel in a bowl and squeeze half a lemon over. Add a pig pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon olive oil, toss and refrigerate.
Once beets and fennel are ready to plate, thinly slice mushrooms.
To plate, lay beet slices on a serving platter, overlap if necessary. Pour juices from beet bowl over beets. Next lay mushroom slices over beets, season with salt and a little lemon juice and olive oil. Next lay fennel over mushrooms and pour any accumulated juices on top. With a vegetable peeler, peel wide strips of Parmesan on top of fennel until fennel is covered. Finish with pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic.
Serves 4-6.
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