Winter
Salads and Vegetables
Chicory, persimmon and hazelnut salad
Chicory and radicchio bring some colour to the winter table. I choose firm persimmons; if you cannot find persimmons, use pears, apples or even roasted squash. Serve this as a simple lunch or as a side dish with my recipe for braised oxtail.
Wine recommendation: The sweet, sour and nutty flavours of the chicory salad would marry beautifully with the racy, off-dry Bockstein Riesling Kabinett 2016 from Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt (£19.50; yapp.co.uk).
This salad would also go well with my recipe for a chard soufflé with anchovy sauce.
Serves 4.
This recipe originally featured in the February 2019 edition of House & Garden magazine
Ingredients
For the salad
- 3 heads white chicory
- 3 heads red chicory
- 1 head radicchio
- Small bunch flat-leaf parsley
- A few sprigs tarragon
- 3 persimmons
- 100g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
For the dressing
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- 3tsp balsamic vinegar
- 4tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cut the chicory in half lengthways and separate the leaves. Halve the radicchio, remove the core and slice finely. Roughly chop the herbs. Lay the leaves in a large serving bowl.
- Slice the persimmons into small wedges, removing the cores and any stones.
- To make the dressing, mix the garlic and balsamic vinegar in a bowl and whisk in the oil. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss the leaves in the bowl with most of the dressing and more salt and pepper, to taste. Lay the persimmon wedges on the leaves and scatter over the hazelnuts, drizzling the remaining dressing over the top.
Comments