The even creamier Italian Style dressing

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 40 ml olive oil, virgin
• 40 ml rapeseed oil, good quality
• 6 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 10 tbsp vegetable broth
• 2 tsp, heaped mustard, medium hot
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 tsp honey
• ½ tsp, stratified xanthan gum
• 3 tbsp, heaped oregano, fresh, medium-finely chopped
• 3 tbsp, heaped basil, fresh, medium-finely chopped
• 1 tbsp, heaped lovage, fresh, finely chopped, if available, otherwise omit!
• ½ onion(s), red, finely chopped
• n. B. Sea salt and black pepper, freshly ground
• n. B. Honey, possibly additionally
• n. B. white wine vinegar, possibly additionally
• e.g. vegetable broth

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour 40 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours

from Italy’s northernmost state – Schleswig-Holstein

To prepare the dressing, you’ll need a stand mixer or a tall, narrow, cylindrical container and an immersion blender. Both work well. In the mixing bowl, add the oil, vinegar, broth, mustard, two cloves of garlic, honey, and xanthan gum. Finely sieve in the xanthan gum to prevent clumping. Blend thoroughly. Then let it thicken for 10 minutes. Prepare the herbs and onion. Finely chop the third clove of garlic. Before adding the herbs, adjust the basic dressing and season to taste. The mustard, honey, and xanthan gum create a smooth emulsion of the oil and the watery ingredients. The dressing shouldn’t be too thin. If it’s too thick, adjust with more broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper from the mill, and if necessary, with more honey and vinegar. The dressing is also a kind of chameleon. It’s easy to adapt it with your own ideas regarding herbs. Sage, tarragon, lavender, chives, parsley, coriander, thyme…basically anything goes. It goes well with a fresh, colorful salad with tomatoes, arugula, perhaps fennel, spring onions, etc. Serve with some good sliced ​​ciabatta bread, toasted in a pan with olive oil and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. For the adults, a full-bodied Italian country wine. Perfect. My tips: It never hurts to use good (organic) products. The end product stands or falls with the quality of the ingredients! There’s no need to be afraid of xanthan gum. It’s a polysaccharide that isn’t metabolized and is also perfectly suitable for diabetics (I am one myself). Xanthan gum is vegan, binds even cold liquids, and, together with the mustard, gives the dressing a mega “sloppiness”; it clings inimitable to the salad ingredients!