Sunday, April 6, 2008

Recipes: Grilled Radicchio & Grilled Radicchio and Arugula Salad with Parmesan Shavings (Ψητό Ραδίκιο & Σαλάτα με Ψητό Ραδίκιο, Ρόκα, και Παρμεζάνα)

Treviso Radicchio and Knife
Treviso Radicchio and Knife (Click entry)

Radicchio drizzled with olive oil and grilled has lots of flavor and takes very little work. Grilling tames radicchio’s natural bitterness, and changes it into an ingredient that enhances everything with which it is paired.

Radicchio PastaThe outer leaves of grilled radicchio are charred, soft, and slightly smoky; the inner leaves warm yet crunchy. Mixed with garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and sometimes a little good quality balsamic vinegar, grilled radicchio makes a wonderful topping for egg-yolk rich, Piemontese tajarin (or any other pasta).

The form of radicchio most commonly found in US supermarkets looks like a small red cabbage. Occasionally, the market has
Treviso Radicchio, which is elongated and, when the outer leaves are stripped away, looks like a large red Belgian endive. For most purposes, the two radicchios can be used interchangeably.

Backyard Shed 4-6-08Friday night we had no snow near the back shed; this is Sunday morning (April 6, 2008).

We planted radicchio in our Alaskan garden last summer and harvested it on our return from Greece in October. Today we ignored the 12” of snow that fell yesterday and started this year’s radicchio seeds in the garage.

Radicchio Ready to GrillGrilled Radicchio (Ψητό Ραδίκιο)
Serves 4
If you don’t have the time, weather, or inclination to start a fire, it’s easy to grill radicchio on a cast iron grill pan.

2 heads radicchio, round or elongated (Treviso)
Olive oil
Salt

Rinse off the radicchio and discard any damaged portions. Cut round radicchio in quarters, and elongated radicchio in lengthwise halves. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.

Preheat a cast iron grill pan until it is very hot (if you're grilling over fire, you need
moderately hot coals), and grill the radicchio on all sides until the outer leaves are nicely browned. Remove from the grill.

Serve immediately drizzled with a little best quality balsamic vinegar. For use in another recipe, cut out any tough center core, and roughly slice or chop into pieces.


Grilled Radicchio and Arugula Salad with Parmesan ShavingsGrilled Radicchio and Arugula Salad with Parmesan Shavings (Σαλάτα με Ψητό Ραδίκιο, Ρόκα, και Παρμεζάνα)
Serves 4
Save leftover salad
and wrap it, with a few parmesan shavings, in a warm flour tortilla for one of the most delicious vegetarian sandwiches you’ll ever eat. To make parmesan shavings, you need to start with a chunk of fresh parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Dressing:
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Salad:
4 cups roughly chopped grilled radicchio
4 cups loosely packed torn pieces of arugula
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion or shallot
Parmesan shavings

Whisk together the sherry vinegar, mustard, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Slowly whisk in the extra virgin olive oil. Taste the dressing and add salt or pepper as needed. Mix all the remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Toss with the appropriate amount of dressing just before serving (there may be dressing left over).

Using a vegetable peeler, or very sharp knife, shave off very thin pieces of parmesan and arrange over each serving of salad.

Serve immediately.

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Radicchio Recipes

Lentil Salad with Radicchio, Celery, and Capers (Ilva makes an easy salad with marinated lentils and fresh radicchio and celery.)
Radicchio Stuffed with Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette (Cris gives directions for a beautifully composed fresh radicchio salad.)
Roasted Radicchio di Treviso (Susan tells how to simply roast radicchio with grated cheese.)
Bruschetta with Burrata and Radicchio Marmalade (Luisa tests Russ Parsons’ recipe for Radicchio Marmalade and finds it “delicious beyond words.”)
Radicchio Soup – Minestra di Radicchio (Susan makes radicchio soup, flavored with vegetables, pancetta, and ham.)

To find more radicchio recipes,
Food Blog Search is a great tool.

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This is my entry for
Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Jai and Bee from Jugalbandi.

The first picture, of the Treviso Radicchio and Knife, is my entry for Click, a food photography event hosted and created by Jai and Bee from Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is Au Naturel: food photographed in its natural state.

20 comments:

Vicki said...

The knife in the 1st pic is beautiful! Where was it made?

Peter M said...

I love grilled radicchio, finished with a splash of balsamic. I'm starting to see it in markets and recipes from Greece, a good thing.

Kalyn Denny said...

What a great post. I love the idea of this. I've seen grilled romaine lettuce but never seen this idea before.

Anonymous said...

I love this Laurie! The taste of grilled radicchio with olive oil and balsamic is hard to beat. Fantastic recipes as always.

bee said...

that was an uber-quick entry. your CLICK pic is breathtaking. thanks, laurie.

Gretchen Noelle said...

Amazing, you are so on top of things. Sunday hasn't even finished and your herb blogging is done, your click is done. Gracious!

This salad looks just delicious! I loved radicchio when I tried it last year.

Maria Verivaki said...

fantastic photo - i'm amazed you still have the nerve to plant anything!

Lore said...

I would like this for breakfast just about now please :). Even if I love radicchio I've never tried it grilled.

chriesi said...

Wow what a fantastic photo of the snow! Your blogs is great!

Anonymous said...

omg you live in Alaska! From the photo you posted, it looks really, really cold, a huge contrast to the place I live (Singapore) where it's really hot & humid. I've never heard of Radicchio but I'll start looking out for it @ supermarkets, heh.

Thanks for commenting at my blog :D

Laurie Constantino said...

Vicki, I love that knife. It was a gift from my friend Alice who bought it from a knife maker with a booth at the Oregon Country Fair held in Venita, Oregon on, I believe, the second weekend of July each year.

Yes, Peter M, the more diversity in the markets the better. I brought the Greek relatives a bunch of seeds last year, including radicchio, so I can't wait to see which were successful.

Kalyn, you should definitely try this - it's packed with flavor.

Peter G, yes, there's something about the combination of smokiness and the sweetness of balsamic that is just so incredibly good.

Bee, so glad you liked it!

Gretchen, oh that's me all right, Ms. Efficient. At least I can pretend I am! If I get the timing right, the grilled radicchio in the salad is still a little warm when it's served - now that's when I really work at being efficient...

Maria, if we don't start seeds now (in the garage, in pots, under grow lights) we won't have much of a garden this summer. The one you'll laugh at is that we grow artichokes as annuals - and the plants look nice and healthy already.

Lore, you definitely need to try grilling it - the flavor changes in a very good way.

Chriesi, thank you so much!

Noobcook, there might be two places more different than Anchorage, Alaska and Singapore, but if there are, I'd be very surprised. It's certainly cold too much of the year, but in the summer here the weather is very pleasant. I'm hoping this is the last snow of the year - luckily, it's already starting to meld. If you like a little bit of bitterness, you should definitely try radicchio.

Suganya said...

The knife... Where did you get it? Looks ergonomic.

Anonymous said...

I picked up on the cool knife, too. Will have to keep my eye out for it if we do make it to OR. Love braised endive, but hadn't thought of grilling -- will give that a try!

Ivy said...

Do we have this kind of radiccio in Greece Laurie? I have never seen this before, I only know the green ones. They both sound delicious especially the one with the argula and parmesan.

Anonymous said...

This treviso radicchio looks amazing! I've yet to see a radicchio so leafy before.
You inspire us in so many ways. You're in beautiful Alaska and you still start your garden....in your garage!
So glad to have found your site and look forward to coming back again for more inspiration!

Núria said...

I have never seen radiccio either, Laurie!
Your snow view is sooooooo beautiful!!!
Good luck in the Click Event :D

Susan said...

Love it, Laurie! Grilling simply lets its flavor and texture really shine.

Thanks for the mention as well as the gorgeous snow photo. We never got a real dump of the white stuff this winter; I feel cheated.

Unknown said...

Holy Cow, Yum! That says it all, and I need not say more.

desie said...

raddichio is great, the slight bitterness goes well mustard in the dressing. i will have to try the grilled version, sounds fantastic.

Laurie Constantino said...

Suganya, the knife is very ergonomic. It came from a fair in Oregon.

Manju, if you do run into this kind of knife, I'd highly recommend it! You definitely have to try grilling endive.

Ivy, I once saw this kind of radicchio in the Athens central market. It is not, however, common in Greece. The green kind is also good grilled.

White on Ricex2 (love your name, yes it was particularly leafy radicchio (thank you Full Circle Farm). As for the garden, if we don't give it a head start in the garage, we're sad all summer. Thanks for stopping by!

Nuria, that's too bad, because it is so very tasty. Glad someone likes the snow - as for me, I'm past ready for it to be gone. Thanks for the kind wishes.

Susan, you may feel cheated by no snow, but I always feel cheated when it snows in April.

Lannae, you are right - this is YUM.

Maybahay, I hope you like it!