Puntarelle (or cicoria di catalogna) is a wonderful Italian green in the chicory family, related to endive and radicchio. It was selectively bred for its crips and tender heart from wild chicory. It has a deliciously bitter taste, something between endive and dandelion greens with a hint of fennel. Puntarelle’s crisp, tender heart has a bunch of hollow, whitish-green asparagus-like shoots or buds protected and surrounded by a crown of long, slender, serrated leaves, just like those on dandelions. The shoots’ resemblance to asparagus explains why another name for puntarelle in Italian is asparagus chicory.
Puntarelle is picked when still young and tender and is a traditional Italian winter salad available during the puntarelle season, which runs from November to April. This simple curly, bitter, crunchy puntarelle salad, coated in a rich anchovy olive oil and garlic dressing, is one of the most popular foods in Rome and is rarely available outside of Italy.
If you can get fresh puntarelle, you’re in luck. If not, the best option is to grow it from seeds in your garden. Or you can substitute it with escarole or endive. Puntarelle is best eaten fresh and raw, like in the salad recipe below, but can also be cooked or baked, you can sauté it like a vegetable, add it to soup and cook its green leaves.
The spring is the season to support liver health and nature provides us with all the magical bitter greens to do so: wild garlic, dandelions, artichoke, romanesco, chicory, endive, nettle, wild greens, asparagus, arugula, broccoli, fennel, puntarelle. The color of the liver is green and bitter is its’ supportive and healing flavor. Puntarelle is packed with vitamins and minerals, supporting not only the liver but also the kidneys, supporting our diuretic and detoxification systems, it has a high fiber content supporting the digestive system and has antioxidant properties strengthening the immune and cardiovascular system.
Ingredients:
1 head puntarelle
1-2 garlic cloves
5-6 anchovy fillets
5 tablespoons virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
Preparation:
Prepare a large ice bath. Strip the outer leaves and use them in another dish (they work well in a soup). Break the core into individual hollow stalks and slice each stalk lengthwise in half and into thin strips. Soak the sliced puntarelle in iced water for one hour, so they curl and become perfectly crunchy. After about one hour, drain the puntarelle and spin them in a salad spinner.
In the meanwhile prepare the salad dressing. Cut the anchovies into slices and mash them with vinegar and olive oil. Add finely sliced garlic, salt, and pepper and beat with a fork until everything is mixed well.
Put the dried puntarelle in a large salad bowl, toss with the dressing, and finish with a squeeze of lemon. Serve immediately.