Recipe & Images FIONA HUGUES
According to my chef friends, I am very brave publicly loving radicchio as its apparently a very hard ingredient to sell. I, like long-time dwellers of Italy and France, adore it. The crunchy mild bitterness does a lovely thing when it meets sweet citrus, and the creamy salty pistachios here make this salad a damn fine winter eating concoction in my opinion.
½ cup pistachios, gently roasted in a dry pan plus extra to garnish
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp runny honey
½ garlic clove, crushed
olive oil
salt & pepper
½ broccoli head, cut into florets and halved
good handful of radicchio or other bitter winter salad leaves like curly endive, whitlof or even the outer leaves of Brussel sprouts work well.
½ cup fennel, thinly shaved
2 mandarins, peeled and sliced
½ cup pickled red onion
Over medium heat add a little oil in a non-stick pan and sear broccoli on the cut side until beginning to blacken. Turn down heat slightly, place the lid on the pan and steam for a few minutes until tender.
Place the pistachios, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, water, garlic and runny honey in a small blender and blitz until creamy. Add olive oil to loosen, then season and place in a small bowl.
In a bowl arrange the broccoli, radicchio, fennel and mandarins. Sprinkle over the pickled onions and some whole pistachios. Serve with the nut dressing on the side.