Hello All,

Puntarelle (poon-ta-REL-lay) Puntarelle means “little tips” and traditionally comes from the region of Rome in Italy. Puntarelle is a winter green that belongs to the chicory family and typically eaten raw. Puntarelle is the main ingredient in the Roman salad called Puntarelle alla Romana. This salad is a tender and crisp.

The preparation takes a bit of time and forethought as one needs to first trim all of the leaves, thinly slice the shoots, and then soak them in ice cold water which causes them to curl.  The salad is served with a dressing of anchovy, garlic, vinegar, and salt, pounded and emulsified with olive oil. Since this blog is titled "Chicory Chicks", we are going to pair two chicories together. 

Prepping Puntarelle

1. Remove the and discard the outer leaves to leave only the shoots.

2. Cut off the white bottoms, and slice the steams in half length and then slice each half into long thin strips, they don’t have to be perfect but I could have sliced them thinner.

3. In a large bowl soak in ice water and let them soak for a 30 min to 1 hour. you will notice them start to curl within 30 mins.

See them curl :) 

Puntarelle & Radicchio Salad with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1 head of Radicchio

• 1 head of Puntarelle

• 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 3 tbsp. lemon juice

• 1 ½ tsp. Dijon mustard

• 1 Tbsp. honey

• Salt & freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Wash Puntarelle & prepare like in above directions

2. Wash radicchio & cut into desired size. I like to shred the radicchio to make the radicchio slices match the puntarelle. Place in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, and salt & pepper until combined. While whisking, slowly drizzle in olive oil until vinaigrette is emulsified.

4. Pour dressing over salad, serve, & mangia!

- Chicory Chicks

Fun fact: my husband calls me Puntarelle because it’s like the chicory version of Cinderella