Puntarelle – Roman Chicory

Puntarelle – Roman Chicory

 

Although I have lived in Italy since 1998, I honestly don’t think I ever knew what ‘Puntarelle’ were until I moved to Rome to live.  Available in winter, Puntarelle are the inner stalks of Catalonian chicory (the outer stalks are extremely bitter eaten raw but work well cooked in a stew for example). They make a crisp and refreshing salad and have a slightly bitter taste.  They also aid in diegestion, are low in calories but rich in fibre and mineral salts.  It is traditional to serve them with an anchovy dressing, making a perfect accompaniment to cleanse the palate after a heavy bowl of pasta, or a particularly rich dish. . 

Preparing the Puntarelle can be laborious work and I always buy them readily prepared at my local market.  The fruit & vegetable merchants prepare Puntarelle daily and you will find them all curly,  sitting in a tub of cold water.  If you’re not planning to eat them immediately, you must keep them in the refrigerator  in a bowl of water which obviously becomes icy cold. If you don’t do this, they turn brown quickly, and lose their ‘crunchiness’.

If you want to be an authentic ‘casalinga italiana’, (Italian housewife) you can buy the Chicory and prepare the Puntarelle at home.  Keep an icy cold bowl of cold water at the ready, it’s the cold water that makes the Puntarelle curl up.  After breaking away the outer leaves, you will need to break the core of the plant into individual stalks.  These stalks are then passed through a flat wire cutter – the ‘tagliapuntarelle’ (purchased from the hardware store for around €10 ), and then immediately put into the ice cold water.

 

You can often see Puntarelle being prepared at local markets, and this man’s hands are testament to his daily hard work

Traditional Puntarelle Salad

While I have included a ‘recipe’ for the traditional dressing, I often just throw together Extra Virgin Olive Oil, lemon juice, and about half a tube of anchovy paste for the dressing.  I adjust the taste and consistency of the dressig by playing around with these 3 ingredients.

  • Puntarelle
  • 4-5 anchovies
  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 40ml white wine vinegar
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  1. Place olive oil, anchovies, vinegar & garlic*  in a mini food processor and process until combined.  Taste, add freshly cracked black pepper  and add extra salt if necessary.
  2. Remove the puntarelle from the cold water and put into salad spinner to rid excess water, or pat dry with a clean tea-towel.
  3. Place Puntarelle on a plate and dress with anchovy dressing just before serving.

 

I like to add Puntarelle to any salad, and while it is traditional to eat them alone with their anchovy dressing, I thought I’d share an alternative but delicious salad utilising puntarelle.  I love throwing salads together with many different ingredients and I love the contrasting flavours of sweet & savoury.

Toni’s salad with Puntarelle

  • 100g Puntarelle
  • 50g sultanas
  • handful of pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds
  • generous sprinkling of chia seeds (about 2 tablespoons)
  • 1/2 Cup pomegranate ‘Arils’ (fancy-pants name for pomegranate seeds)
  • 50g baby spinach (rinsed and put through a salad spinner to rid of excess water)
  • DRESSING:
  • 4-5 anchovies or Anchovy paste
  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 40ml balsamic vinegar
  • 1 heaped teaspoon Dijon Mustard
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  1. Make the dressing by placing all ingredients & garlic*  in a mini food processor and process until combined.  Taste, add freshly cracked black pepper  and add extra salt if necessary.
  2. Remove the puntarelle from the cold water and put into salad spinner to rid excess water, or pat dry with a clean tea-towel.
  3. Using a large bowl, add baby spinach, puntarelle, sultanas, and all seeds. Pour a little dressing over and mix well, until you are satisfied there is enough dressing. (You may not necessarily use all of it).
  4. Place salad on a plate and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Eat immediately & Buon Appetito!

p12

I accompanied this with roast sweet potato.  So delicious and SO good for you too!
*If you are not a fan of garlic, you can leave it out….(I usually do)  dressing is still delicious!

 

 



4 thoughts on “Puntarelle – Roman Chicory”

  • Hi lovely, can the tool for cutting the Punterelle be found here in AU?

    If not, you could sell them to the rest of the world… There’s a thought!
    Loving your blog xx

    • Teresa, I am sorry but I don’t know if it is available in Melbourne. My father works at the wholesale market in Melbourne though so I will ask him and see what I can find out for you! 🙂

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