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| Wild dandelions |
As Italian children, who among us has not been in the meadows with their parents or grandparents to collect wild dandelions (cicoria)?
Those days are gone and so are the meadows due to roads and housing.
in our vegetable garden.
Not only they are visually beautiful, but their bitterness goes well with strong summer flavors.
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The Catalogna variety is known as Italian dandelion. It is dark green and it has toothed leaves. It’s a “cutting” chicory in one of its most wildish forms. The inner tender leaves I use in salads and the outer leaves I cook with fava beans or other mixed greens like Swisschard.
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| Mixed salad |
Ingredients for 4 people
Dandelions – 2 lbs. (available in most supermarkets and farmers' markets)
Fava beans – 2 lbs. fresh (1 lb. frozen)Chili – one dried one, chopped
Garlic – 2 cloves
Olive oil – 1/3 cup
Salt and pepper to taste
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| Cicoria e Fave |
Wash the dandelions well, cut them up roughly and put them to boil in plenty of salted water. Boil for 15 minutes or until the thicker bits are soft. Drain. In another pan of water, cook fava beans until tender. Drain. In a pan, heat the oil on a low flame and add the garlic roughly cut into quarters, the chili pepper, salt and pepper to taste. After a few minutes add the dandelions and cook slowly for another 10 minutes. Add the cooked fava beans into the dandelion mixture and mix well.
Looks so delicious and reminds me of my nonna!
ReplyDeleteRose - Thank you for commenting. It is a very delicious, authentic dish.
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind - I added this post to the Patchwork Living Blogging Bee. It's just perfect for the collection!
ReplyDeleteI am growing this kind of chicory for the first time this year - can you tell me when you know it's ready to harvest and where exactly on the plant it's best to cut it to encourage the plant to grow back?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
When the plant reaches 10 to 12" in height (for cooking). If picked for salads, start sooner. When picking the dandelions, use a knife and cut only the center as far low as the bulb. Leave the bulb (or root) and outer leaves in the soil to encourage new growth. I hope I was clear. Thank you for commenting.
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