Photo by Michael Piazza

I used to work with a talented chef named Dan Drohan in New York City. He made a wonderful fall salad with apple and fennel; I tweaked his recipe a bit to make it mine, but his dish was the inspiration. We start with some crispy shaved fennel, my favorite local Honeycrisp apples, and go from there. 

Serves 2

2 cups shaved fennel 
1 cup baby arugula 
½ cup candied walnuts 
½ cup shaved pecorino sardo (or any other aged sheep-milk cheese) 
1 Honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced 
¼ cup cider vinaigrette (recipe below) 

For the Cider Vinaigrette:

½ cup white wine vinegar 
½ cup cider vinegar 
1 shallot, finely chopped 
1 cup herb oil (olive oil slightly warmed and steeped with fresh herbs of your choice) 
¼ cup honey 
salt and pepper

FOR THE CIDER VINAIGRETTE:
Combine all ingredients and whisk until emulsified. Reserve any extra in a jar and keep refrigerated.

FOR THE SALAD:
Combine fennel, arugula, walnuts and apple in a large bowl, toss with pecorino sardo and vinaigrette until well dressed. Serve immediately.

FOR THE CANDIED WALNUTS:
Combine 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water in a saucepan, bring to boil, add 2 cups walnuts and cook for 10 minutes. Strain walnuts from liquid, then while still warm and wet, toss with ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar, the juice of half a lemon, ½ teaspoon cayenne and 1½ teaspoons salt. Evenly spread onto half sheet trays to cool. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes, stirring at 10 minute intervals. Reserve any extra in an airtight container at room temperature.

This recipe appeared in the Fall 2024 issue as part of a larger story by Mario LaPosta.