The Italians come to Sutton
This week in our VegBoxes we are sending you puntarelle or Cicoria di catalogna. It’s a little bit strange-looking but a very interesting green variant of chicory. Pleasantly bitter, puntarelle shoots can be used for salads, stir-fries, soups, pestos or edible decoration for your kitchen. It’s best stored stem-down in water.
They say it’s the favourite vegetable of Rome; while puntarelle is in season, the Roman Salad rules. The leaves are used raw, the stems soaked in cold water until they curl. Pour anchovies, garlic and vinegar dressing on the top. Delicious!
Wondering how to cook it? Easy task! Throw it into any seasonal stir-fry and you’ll get an interesting finish to a simple summer dish. It goes well with courgettes, green onions and chard. Add the soaked stalks first, the leaves at the end and that’s it, done! Feel like soup? I’ll share with you an idea from a customer who called yesterday to ask what to do with the puntarelle. While we were chatting about it she came up with this fascinating combination of making a chickpea and puntarelle soup and I tried it at home last night. Stir-fry onions, potatoes (only a moderate amount, leaving space for the chickpeas), celery and puntarelle stalks. Pour in boiling water and cook until the potatoes are done. At the end add the puntarelle leaves with chickpeas and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Blend it, sprinkle parsley, dress with balsamic vinegar. A lovely light dinner!
I’ll leave you to cook and enjoy the weekend,
Pavlina