A LOVE LETTER TO BITTER LEAVES
and four bitter leaf sides to add to your dinner party repertoire
Hi!
And welcome back to COME FOR SUPPER.
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Big Love,
Alexandra x
This week I write to you with sweet love for bitter leaves. Dedicating a post to leaves might sound odd given that we are in the dredges of February and it is still raining. But stick with me on this, for bitter leaves are at their best at the moment and are just the thing to punctuate the heartier richer foods we tend to cook during winter.
People can stall a bit when it comes to good side salads. There’s a LOT of rocket and parmesan, and no shade to this pairing, it’s delicious but there is so much more!
A wonderful poster of bitter leaves which brings me GREAT JOY. Find it at POSTER SKOLA. Illustration by Lars Karlsson/WERKSTAD
A short-ish list
…of some of my favourites with loose recipe ideas for each, plus one very long love letter to my favourite, puntarelle. Scroll down for four more in depth recipes.
castelfranco… perhaps the bougiest of the bitter leaves and certainly the prettiest. It’s very good with a honey spiked dressing (I use 2 parts oil, 1 part lemon juice or white wine vinegar, 1 part honey), coriander, caraway or fennel seeds (toast them lightly in a dry pan and lightly crush if you’re using coriander seeds) and some chopped roasted nuts (pecans and hazelnuts are my preference but almonds and walnuts are good too)
chicory (both white and red)… probably the most common bitter leaf you’ll find in the shops so I’ve shared two full recipes below
curly endive… perhaps the closest to your romaines and butter-heads but better in my opinion, especially in a caesar. Frizzy fronds lick up a creamy dressing perfectly (similar to the way fusilli is the perfect match for really good tomato sauce)
escarole… best lightly braised with garlic and olive oil, then finished with lemon. I also like it on toast with something creamy (ricotta, burrata, mozzarella are all good)
radicchio… which loves citrus and I think benefits from something sweet. A honey dressing, or good olive oil and a swoosh of pomegranate molasses, segments of oranges (blood oranges if you can find them) or slices of clementines. A blob of burrata usually elevates things too.
Treviso radicchio… milder than radicchio its shaped more like a romaine lettuce and good both raw or cooked. If raw I think its best with a light vinaigrette (made with a sherry or moscatel vinegar if you can get hold of some). Sometimes I’ll throw in some toasted whole spices or nuts or sunflower seeds for crunch. Finely shaved or grated parmesan or Grana Padano is lovely too. Keep it simple when cooking it, olive oil salt, ten mins in hot oven.
Tardivo radicchio…. similar to the above, it’s good both raw or cooked and loves citrus too. I prefer it cooked and finished with olive oil and a drizzle of honey.
puntarelle… my favourite of all. Funny looking but WONDERFUL. There is only one way to eat it in my opinion and that is alla romana.
A love letter to Puntarelle Alla Romana
I first tried puntarelle alla romana in its namesake city, Rome. I was in my late teens travelling alone and asked for something green. What arrived was a pile of what resembled giant pieces of radish in a thick caesar-ish dressing. It was not what I expected but of course I ate it, mainly out of politeness, partly out of curiosity, and then all of a sudden with great gusto. I still remember eating that salad in a little restaurant down an unassuming alley in the city centre, the crunch and saltiness of the dressing perking me up more than the three espressos I’d already had that morning. It was delicious, fresh, moreish and SO FULL OF FLAVOUR!
There was no particular reason I’d chosen the restaurant, only that it looked friendly enough for solo diners, didn’t display lurid pictures of its food on the pavement, and had two tables of diners who could have been local and at least were speaking Italian. ‘It must sort of be authentic’ was my reasoning, and hungry to experience true Rome, it was authentic I was searching for. I can’t remember the restaurants name (this is pre smart phones and long before the camera ate first). In truth, I can’t remember the rest of my meal but I remember the puntarelle alla romana, and to me it was perfect.
You’ll find puntarelle all romana on menus all over Italy not just in Rome and its popular in Italian restaurants outside of Italy too. When in season London’s Brutto and Bocca Di Lupo make a very good one, and if you are reading this from across the pond, Via Carota’s in NYC is excellent too. But it isn’t something you see much in home cooking and I’m not sure why. True, puntarelle is not something you’ll find in your Sainsbury’s local or convenience store on a Tuesday night. But if you’ve access to a grocer or farmers market (or something more specialist like Wholefoods or Natoora) you’ll certainly find it lurking behind the salad leaves. It could be its appearance too. I titled this newsletter bitter leaves but puntarelle isn’t really a leaf at all. Its a weighty cluster of white shoots with dandelion like leaves. Although I think it’s pretty, I suspect some don’t. But like most things that look a little odd at first, all it needs is a little bit of love.
THE RECIPES
The joy of all of these recipes is that all of the prep can be done ahead. None of the instructions are arduous but I like to have my leaves washed and dressings made well before people arrive and recommend you do too. It means you get to enjoy the party too and simply have to toss everything together before sitting down.
PUNTARELLE ALLA ROMANA
This is how I make it. Traditional recipes call for a pounding of the anchovies and garlic in a pestle and mortar before adding the olive oil and lemon but I am an impatient cook and find I get just as good results if I use a high speed blender (I use the small vessel of my nutri-bullet). The main thing is to ensure the puntarelle is fully submerged in ice cold water for at least two hours and that once you drain it you dry it. Use two tea towels or even three if you must.
serves 4
1 head of Puntarelle
1 tin anchovy fillets, drained of their oil
1 small clove of garlic
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
6-8tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice half a lemon
a pinch of salt
Peel back the outer leaves from the puntarelle and roughly chop the green leaves (discarding the thick white stalk). The remaining puntarelle should resemble a cluster of thick knobbly green bulbs. (She is a pretty little thing). Separate the bulbs as best you can and finely slice into strips. Add the chopped leaves and sliced puntarelle into a large bowl of iced water weighting it down with a plate to ensure everything stays submerged. Then chill in the fridge for at least two hours or until the punatarelle has slightly curled.
For the dressing, place the remaining ingredients into a high speed blender such as a Nutri-bullet and blend until smooth. Taste for seasoning adding more olive oil or lemon. It should be a sharp but creamy dressing.
Drain the puntarelle and pat dry using a clean tea towel taking care to remove as much water as you can. Use two or three tea towels if you need. Toss in a large bowl with the dressing and enjoy.
CHICORY SUNFLOWER SEED SALAD WITH CORIANDER AND FENNEL SEED VINAIGRETTE
Serves 4
4 heads red chicory
1 tsp whole coriander seeds
½ tsp fennel seeds
50g sunflower seeds
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Pinch of salt
30g grated Grana Padano or Parmesan
Lightly toast the coriander and fennel seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until they begin to smell fragrant.
Remove and crush gently with a pestle and mortar.
Then toast the sunflower seeds in the same pan until they smell nutty and turn golden. Transfer to a plate.
Wash and separate the chicory leaves.
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, honey and salt together. Whisk in the coriander and fennel seeds. Add the chicory leaves and sunflower seeds and toss to combine.
Transfer to a serving plate or bowl. Grate over the Grana Padano and serve.
CHICORY, RADICCHIO, FENNEL AND BLOOD ORANGE SALAD
serves 4
1 fennel bulb
1 head of radicchio
2 bulbs red chicory
2 blood oranges
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp runny honey
1 lemon
30g pistachios
Finely slice the fennel using a mandolin or sharp knife (reserving any leafy fronds for the garnish). Separate the leaves from the chicory and radicchio.
To prepare the blood oranges slice the top and base so that you have a flat bottom. With a serrated knife, work your way around the oranges to remove the peel and as much of the pith as you can. Turn the skinless fruit on its side and slice into rounds.
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, mustard and honey with the zest of the lemon and half of its juice.
Add the fennel and leaves and toss well. Then add the blood orange slices and gently toss again.
Transfer onto a serving platter. Roughly chop the pistachios and sprinkle over the salad. Sprinkle over any fennel fronds or you could add a little chopped parsley or mint if you like.
CHICORY PEAR AND HAZELNUT SALAD
Serves 4
50g blanched hazelnuts
6 heads of chicory
1 ripe but firm pear
Roughly 50g Grana Padano
For the dressing
4 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of muscatel vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 heaped tbsp of honey
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Toast the hazelnuts in an oven preheated to 180 degrees fan setting for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown and begin to smell nutty. Allow them to cool before roughly chopping.
Separate and wash the leaves of the chicory. Then whisk together the dressing in a large bowl.
Slice the pear into thin slices then stack the pieces and slice again into thick matchstick sized pieces.
Add the chicory leaves, sliced pear, and most of the hazelnuts to the bowl with the dressing, then use a vegetable peeler to peel in large shards of Grana Padano. Toss everything together, transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle over the remaining hazelnuts.
