Spinach Salad with Warm Pancetta Dressing

Saturday night, we had dinner for 4 and started with my favorite spinach salad as a first course.  It looked very pretty on the pink glass plates, but of course I forgot to take a picture (this was after cocktail hour).

2 tbls olive oil
3 ounces pancetta, diced
1 tbls minced shallots
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbls sherry vinegar
1 tbls Dijon mustard
1 large bag of baby spinach, washed
⅓ cup crumbled Chevre
1 large red pepper, roasted and cut into strips
¼ cup pine nuts

Roast the red pepper by placing it on your grill turning it until it is black and charred. Cool, then peel the blackened skin off, then seed and cut into slices.
Heat 1 tbls olive oil and the pancetta together, cook until crisp. Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until fragrant. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar and mustard, then the additional 1 tbls olive oil.  You can do this all ahead and just reheat the dressing (don't boil it) right before serving.

Place the spinach in a large bowl, pour the dressing over to coat the leaves, reserving some.
Arrange the spinach on salad plates, top w/ the cheese, red pepper strips, pine nuts and pancetta. Drizzle a little more dressing on top and serve.

Serves 4