Rubies and Emeralds

Insalata di Puntarelle, Radicchio & Melograno

Radicchio, Pomegranate & Puntarelle Salad

What else springs to mind when you see this beautiful salad of crisp, green Puntarelle and deep red pomegranate seeds and radicchio Trevisano? They certainly look like edible jewels to me! Especially the always lovely pomegranate seeds- so tasty and refreshing as well as being so pretty to look at!

This is obviously not much of a recipe or method post- it is all about the flavor combination and I can tell you now that it is one that works really well! The sweet pomegranate goes perfectly with the Trevisano and Puntarelle as they are both rather bitter... but if you like regular chicory or endives, you will like these both- the flavor is very, very similar. With a little added honey- it's a winning combination! So this is how to do it...

Remove the outer leaves from the puntarelle and set them to one side- they will be wonderful cooked in some other dish, but this time around we just want the tender inner "florets" if you will. Wash and remove the separate "pods" from the inside of the puntarelle and lay them out on a platter, then add a few leaves of radicchio. You can obviously substitute these with endives- or even make the salad using only endives and pomegranate... but obviously the red IS prettier! Then add the pomegranate and drizzle lightly with olive oil and honey and sprinkle with salt and pepper. You can add a squeeze of lemon juice or light vinegar, but basically it is the sweet and bitter flavors of the main ingredients that are the stars of the show in this case- just them, honey, salt, pepper and oil and these 3 simple ingredients become transformed in a wonderful way... you'll like it!