Sometimes I like to experiment with recipes, and they don't turn out quite right but still good. This recipe is an example of that. I liked the idea of a warm winter salad, which is what I made by giving the greens a quick wilt in a pan, but I think the salad would have been better without doing so. So this recipe is more of a do what I say not what I do type thing. I hope you enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 oz pancetta
1 head radicchio
1 or 2 endive bulb
2 fennel bulbs
a few radishes
2 oranges
pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp dijion mustard
1 tsp honey
salt
pepper
1 egg per person
2 oz pancetta
1 head radicchio
1 or 2 endive bulb
2 fennel bulbs
a few radishes
2 oranges
pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp dijion mustard
1 tsp honey
salt
pepper
1 egg per person
First, put the pancetta into a pan, over medium low heat. You can prep your veggies while it cooks but make sure it does not burn. Once it is nice and crispy use a slotted spoon to remove the bits and place onto a paper towel lined plate. Keep the fat, this will be used later.
Radicchio, endive, fennel, radish, are all best in the winter. The radicchio and endive are a bitter, the fennel has a anise (black liquorish) flavor I love and the radish adds a nice slightly spicy clean crunch.
Remove any outer leaves of the endive that do not look good and slice
Cut the radicchio in half, remove the core by cutting a triangle around the core, chop it up. Wash the endive and radicchio, and drain on paper towels or use a salad spinner
Slice the radish and fennel very thinly, you can do this with a knife or a mandolin, just watch your fingers
Segment the orange: slice the top and bottom off the orange. Cut around the orange removing the peel from the flesh. Using a small knife cut out each segment by slicing along both sides of the the segment along the membrane
There are a few ways to get out pomegranate seeds, I find this way to be the easiest. Using a small knife slice around the top of the pomegranate and pull the top off. You will be able to see different segments, run the knife down the segments and pull back the layer of skin. This will expose all the seeds for you to pull out. Place in a bowl with the rest of the salad toppings.
The dressing is quite simple a little lemon juice, some dijon mustard, a bit of honey, salt, pepper and the fat from the pancetta, wisk it all together.
All that is left is to put it all together: mix the radicchio and endive with the dressing and place a pile on each plate. Add a poached egg and assemble radish, fennel, orange around the egg, and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds and pancetta.
I like to add a little black pepper at the end and the yolk adds a nice richness to the whole salad.