Carrots, Dates, and Olives with Crème Fraîche and Frico

?his is a ?er?ect salad in which to use the rainbow carrots that show u? at the mar?et in early summer, but it wor?s equally well in the dead o? winter with storage carrots. For a ?arty, ma?e a dramatic ?resentation by ?lating individual salads and arranging one large ?rico over each. And o? course the salad is ?antastic ?rico-less i? you don’t have time ?or garnish ma?ing.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

I? the carrots are large, s?lit them lengthwise; i? slender, leave them whole. Cut them on a shar? angle so you have long, angled, ¼-inch-thic? ?ieces o? carrot. Put the carrots in a medium sauce?an or s?illet, add a glug o? olive oil and ½ cu? water, and season with the chile ?la?es, 1 teas?oon salt, and many twists o? blac? ?e??er. Coo? at a lively simmer, uncovered, until the carrots are ?ust cris?-tender, 5 to ? minutes—they should still have de?inite crunch. Cool the carrots slightly, drain o?? any liquid, and ?ile into a bowl. Add the olives and dates. Pour in the vinegar and toss. ?aste and ad?ust with salt, blac? ?e??er, chile ?la?es, or vinegar until the ?lavor is su?er vibrant. Add the ?arsley and toss again. Dri??le with a glug o? olive oil and toss again. Divide the crème ?raîche among ? ?lates or a ?latter and s?read it around in a nice schmear. Pile the carrot salad on to?, leaving some cream visible. I? you’re serving with the ?ricos, lay them on to?, either whole or bro?en into shards

Step 2

Fricos are cheese cris?s ?rom the Friuli region o? Italy. ?hey’re traditionally made with Montasio cheese, but I ma?e them with Parmigiano-Reggiano. ?he cheese gets ba?ed and then cooled, at which ?oint it becomes very ?ragile and cris?. I li?e them sim?ly in their ?lat, natural sha?e, but some ?eo?le li?e to dra?e them over a rolling ?in to give them a curved “tuile” sha?e. I’ll add ?ricos to vegetable salads, either whole or bro?en into shards. I? you underba?e the ?ricos, they will be more leathery than cris?. But o? course i? you overba?e them, they’ll be bitter, so ?ay close attention during the ?inal minutes. I? you have extra cheese, you could ba?e a test ?rico ?irst. Have ?un with them—?ust remember they shatter easily? » Makes 4 large lacy wafers 1 cup ?resh?? shredded Par?igiano-Reggiano cheese (i? possib?e, use a rasp-st??e grater with ?arge ho?es) Heat the oven to ?00°F. Line a ba?ing sheet with a silicone ba?ing mat or ?archment ?a?er, or use a nonstic? ba?ing sheet. Mound the cheese in ? evenly s?aced ?iles. Using your ?inger or a ?or?, s?read each ?ile out to a thin, even layer about ? inches across. Ba?e until the cheese has melted and is bubbling slightly and ?ust starting to turn light brown, 6 to 9 minutes. Remove ?rom the oven and let cool ?or a ?ew seconds to let the ?ricos set, then slide them o?? the ba?ing sheet with a very thin s?atula. Let them cool com?letely on a rac?. You can ma?e these ahead and store in an airtight tin, layered between ?a?er towels. MORE WAYS: → Serve as an accom?animent to a cheese course. → Brea? u? and scatter on lea?y salads. → O??er as a snac? with Cham?agne.