Broiled Balsamic Radicchio with Parmesan and Hazelnuts
THE BITTER ENDIVE
In this first installment of a new series called “Vegetables You May Not Reach For Immediately” I present: Radicchio.
Tender, flashy, and grown in the dark, radicchio is the veal of vegetables, nurtured in a shed and deprived of sunlight to lose its chlorophyll. If lettuce grew in caves, this would be it, all white and purple and pale and creepy, like an olm. These fancy little fibrous frills were first grown in Italy, and the reddest radicchio is from Chioggia, a little postage stamp of land adjacent to Venice where the lack of arable land makes growing radicchio in sheds an attractive option.
Tardivo, a varietal from Treviso (the place that supposedly invented tiramisú) is known as the “King of Radicchio”, a truly chic vegetable, featherlike leaves grown in soil until the first hard frost, at which point they are dug out and their roots trimmed. Those roots are then submerged in water and kept in total darkness for a month, which makes me almost feel sorry for them.
No wonder they’re bitter.
But a little bitterness can be a good thing if you’re a grownup and your tastebuds have started to die, especially balanced with the right combination of acid and salt and sugar, as below.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 2-3 as a side
1 large head radicchio
3 tbsp olive oil
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt
a few shakes of garlic salt
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/8 cup dry roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
grated parmesan, to taste
1 tsp sumac
FACTOIDS:
• According to Pliny the Elder, radicchio is curative for insomnia. It is also supposedly good for ejecting intestinal worms, in case that’s what keeping you up.
DIRECTIONS
Preheat boiler to high. Move rack to 3-4 inches under broiler.
Combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, garlic powder, and dijon mustard as if you are making a salad dressing.
Cut radicchio lengthwise into 8 pieces. Lay them on their sides on a lined baking sheet.
Brush 1/2 the dressing on the top of the radicchio slices.
Broil for 8 or so minutes, until the radicchio begins to crisp and scorch a little, but don’t let it overburn.
Remove pan from the oven and flip radicchio over. Brush with the other half of the dressing.
Broil another 3 minutes, until proper Maillard is achieved.
Arrange in a bowl or platter and sprinkle with grated parmesan, chopped hazelnuts, and sumac. Serve.
SHOW YOUR WORK
The base of this dish is Mark Bittman’s recipe for Grilled/Broiled Radicchio in “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian,” an excellent tome that will teach you to enjoy pretty much any vegetable that takes your fancy.
