Lamb & fennel salad with hazelnut dressing

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

4 Garlic cloves; minced
1 ts Salt
2 sl Firm white bread; crusts off -- soaked in hot water and -- squeezed dry
1 c Hazelnuts; toasted & skinned
1/3 c Fresh lemon juice
1/3 c Olive oil
1/2 c ;Water (up to 3/4 cup) Black pepper; to taste Spinach or romaine leaves -- to line 6 plates
1 1/2 lb Rare lamb; sliced
1 Fennel bulb; cut diagonally -- in 1/2" pieces
1 Belgian endive -- leaves separated -- rinsed and patted dry
8 oz Montrachet

Instructions:

crumbled or Other soft mild chevre Mash minced garlic with salt to a paste in a small bowl. Add bread; work in thoroughly until smooth. Process hazelnuts in a food processor fitted with a steel blade until ground. Add garlic paste; process 5 seconds to combine. Add lemon juice and oil; process to blend. With machine running slowly pour in enough of the water to thin the dressing to the consistency of heavy cream. Season to taste with pepper. Line 6 salad plates with the spinach leaves. Place a small shallow bowl of hazelnut dressing in the center of each salad. Decoratively arrange lamb slices fennel pieces and endive leaves in a circle around the dressing on each plate. Sprinkle each salad with some chevre. Serve immediately. From _The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook_ by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. New York: Workman Publishing Company Inc. 1985. Pg. 158. ISBN 0-89480-831-1. Typed for you by Cathy Harned.