• Autumn Vegetable Salad with Frico
• Makes 4 Servings | Region: Friuli-Venezi Giulia | Book: Molto Italiano (Ecco 2005)
• ½ pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
• 4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and sliced into 1/8 inch disks
• 2 parsnips, scrubbed and sliced into ¼ inch disks
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 leek, white part only, cut into 3 inch julienne
• ½ celery root, peeled and cut into julienne
• ½ cup sliced Kohlrabi
• ¼ pound mizuna, watercress or frisée
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste2 tablespoons pumpkinseed oil

Preheat the oven to 475 F

Place the butternut cubes and chopped sage on a cookie sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and roast until light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside in a large salad bowl to cool.

Place the Jerusalem artichokes on the same cookie sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Roast in the oven for 6 to 7 minutes. Remove and ser aside with the squash.

Place the parsnips and the mushrooms on the cookie sheet and toss with the cumin and more tablespoon of the olive oil. Roast for 6 to 7 minutes, then set aside with the other vegetables.

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and set up an ice bath near the stove. Plunge the leeks into the boiling water and cook until tender 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the leeks from the boiling water and submerge them in the ice bath until cool. Remove the leeks from the ice bath, pat dry with paper towels and set aside.

Add the leeks, celery root and mizuna to the salad bowl. Add the remaining olive oil, the sherry vinegar, salt and pepper and toss gently to coat well.

Divide the mixture evenly among four chilled dinner plates, mounding it like a haystack. Gently place the fricco

• For the Frico:
• Place 3 tablespoons grated Montasio cheese in a mound on a silpat. Place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and begins to brown. Carefully remove the cheese with a spatula and shape as desired.