Puntarelle salad
Puntarelle salad is a classic Roman dish that you need to try!
This simple salad is often served as a side dish for meat and fish. It’s really fresh and tangy and it is a really good pair for every roast, steak, or even just eaten alone with a good slice of home made sourdough bread. Traditionally in Rome is served along side lamb on Easter or also on Christmas.
What is “puntarelle”?
Puntarelle comes from the chicory variety Catalogna. This leafy green, as it grows, develops some pointy buds on the inside of the plant. Those buds are then peeled and cut very very finely. The use of this plant has been known since Roman times. Actually it seems that Plinio il Vecchio, wrote about catalogna chicory in his Naturalis Historia.
Romans loved this green for its bitterness and they used to season it with garum. Garum is a fermented fish sauce made with anchovies and other fish. Nowadays the tradition is somewhat still alive, in fact puntarelle salad is seasoned with anchovies.
How to clean the catalogna chicory for puntarelle
Catalogna is usually sold in fairly large heads. The outer layer is made of leaves, long and thin, very green. You can use the leaves both in salads or you can blanch and make a stir fry with them. On the inside you’ll find the buds. To make puntarelle you have to:
1- Prepare the water: once you cut the buds they will start to brown easily, so you need to prepare a large bowl of ice cold water with lemon, to avoid oxidation.
2 – Separate the buds:
The buds are all part of a bigger core.
3 – Remove the outer layer of each buds
The outer layer is a bit stringy and tough, so it’s not suitable for a delicate salad. You can strip it away or remove it with a peeler.
4 – Cut into fine matchsticks:
Once you have peeled the buds, cut each one open and then thinly slice it.
5 – Curl
To get the classic curly look, soak your puntarelle in ice cold water for at least 30 min overnight in the fridge is great. This step ensures that the small matchsticks will curly and won’t brown.
How to use leftover leaves from catalogna
When you buy a big head of catalogna, chances are you are going to end up with a lot of leaves. They are very good stir-fried or blanched and then used to stuff pizza or eaten as a light side dish, seasoned with olive oil and salt.
If you do not like the bitter tase, you can blanch the catalogna leaves for 5 minutes then rinse well under running water. Rinsing will remove the extra bitterness. You can also add the leaves in soups like minestrone. Try also a frittata with chicory and potatoes.
Puntarelle salad: health facts
This salad is a powerhouse for our health. Garlic, anchovies, vinegar and bitter greens are ideal for our bodies.
- Garlic: garlic is known to be an immune booster thanks to its fiber content. The fiber in garlic are among the perfect prebiotics for our gut bacteria. It is also anti-inflammatory, lowers blood pressure and its good for your heart health.
- Anchovies: though many dislike anchovies, they are one of the best omega-3 source for our bodies. As Dr. William Lee says “Anchovies are great for adding flavor and omega-3 fats for whole body health!“
- Vinegar: while it may not seem very intuitive, many times vinegar helps your metabolism and support weigh loss. In some cases, it can also be helpful for digestion. Some thinks that they have too much acid in their stomach. Actually it may as well be the opposite, and vinegar may help curb that feeling and improve the acidity levels in the stomach.
- Bitter veggies: bitter vegetables like catalogna helps detoxify your liver, are a great source of dietary fibers and antioxidants. They also contain vitamins, minerals as well as many other nutrients good for our bodies.
Key step in making puntarelle
Be sure you always have the lemony water ready when you start to prepare your puntarelle. The soaking is the key step to get the perfect result. You will need lemon for you hands too. When you clean a lot of puntarelle, there are good chances you will end up with brown fingers.
After squeezing the lemon in the cold water, do not discard the lemon. Instead keep it on the side of the cutting board and use it to scrub your fingers every so often to avoid browning of your skin.
Puntarelle salad
Ingredients
- 2 head of puntarelle around 500gr
- 2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
- 4 anchovies in oil
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar apple cider vinegar is ok too
- 1 garlic clove
- Salt and peepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the puntarelle
- Carefully clean the catalogna: remove the outer bigger leaves (you can use them in soups, stews or stir fry).
- Tear apart the sprouts on the inside and remove the tougher outer layer.
- Cut them into very thin matchsticks.
- Wash and soak in cold water, with ice if necessary, for at least an hour, so that the puntarelle take on their characteristic ‘curly’ shape.
- Next, drain the puntarelle with paper towels or you can use a salad spinner to remove the excess water.
Prepare the seasoning
- In a mortar put the garlic chopped, the anchovy fillets, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Use the pastel to make a creamy seasoning.
- Add the seasoning to the puntarelle at least 30min before eating.
