Orange and Fennel, Onions and Cured Meat and Pecorino Salad

This is a wonderful palate cleansing salad served before a rich entree in winter.

Ingredients:
4 oranges, preferably Cara Cara, sliced
1 medium fennel bulb, cut into very thin crosswise slices
1 small red onion, cut into very thin crosswise slices
4 ounces Pecorino fresca, cut into very thin slices

12 very thin slices speck (a smoked salumi), duck prosciutto or jamon serrano

3 T olive oil

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon fennel pollen

freshly cracked black pepper (in a mill)

Maldon sea salt or Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Preparing the salad:
Use a sharp knife to slice off the ends of the oranges. Set the oranges, one at a time, on a work surface and use a sharp knife to remove the peel and pith, cutting from one end to the other and following the curve of the fruit. Continue until all the oranges are peeled.

Set a serving plate nearby.

Cut each peeled orange into 1/4-inch thick rounds, removing any seeds that you see. Set each sliced orange on the plate before you peel the next one, so that juices will collect on the plate, not the cutting surface.

Arrange the oranges, fennel and onion in circles, alternating ingredients. Tuck the cheese and the meat here and there between the oranges, fennel and onion.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with fennel pollen, making sure it is evenly distributed. Let sit for 15 or 20 minutes.

Season with several generous turns of black pepper and a good sprinkling of salt and serve.

Serves 4