My Favorite Appetizer {bresaola con rucola e grana}

I love salads, but I only tend to eat them if I’m at a restaurant. To make them at home just annoys me, because it seems like way too much effort (chopping this, slicing that, dicing those, washing everything) for just one meal. Unless I’m ridiculously organized and have all of my veggies precut (unlikely), then I don’t bother making salads at home…with one exception.

Bresaola con rucula e grana. That’s the Italian way of saying extremely thinly sliced, air-cured lean beef with arugula and Parmesan cheese (along with a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper, a squeeze of a lemon, and a nice drizzle of good olive oil).

I don’t know if it’s technically a salad, but I usually added more of the peppery-tasting greens to my plate so I could feel extra good about the meal. I often ate this every day for weeks straight and didn’t get sick of it.

It’s so fresh and zesty that I enjoyed every single bite. The bresaola melts in your mouth while the Parmesan adds that nice salty, buttery flavor. Add in the crunch from the arugula, the zesty pepper and lemon, and round it all out with the smooth fragrant olive oil. Oh, Mama Mia! It was just divine.

Now I just need to find a place that sells my beloved bresaola in Georgia (I’m thinking some place in Atlanta?) that won’t charge me my first born child. Because as much as I adore this meat, there’s no way I’m giving her sweet face up for it.