Or - What to do With These Weird Vegetables

Cicoria and relatives

This particular weird vegetable is cicoria (stress on the ‘o’ please), not to be confused with witloof chicory (the pale, torpedo-shaped, bittersweet leaf), or with chicory coffee (from the root) or indeed with anything else. Cousins all, they share one key family characteristic - a dash, big or small, of bitterness. Like asparagus, cicoria is sold in large bundles and stored vertically in a puddle of water to keep it fresh and sprightly.

The long dark slender leaves are also sold separately in large bundles, when they are known as puntarelle, and can be eaten raw in a salad, (soak first in cold water for an hour or two, to soften the intensity) with the sweetness of ripe tomato to balance the bitterness of the leaves. Probably more common is boiled puntarelle, dressed with salt and olive oil.

One of the classic Puglian dishes on every restaurant menu, and probably on every old-fashioned home menu, is Fave E Cicoria. A rich broad bean puree (made from dried broad beans), served with boiled cicoria. It doesn’t sound like much, but when it is good, on a chilly spring night, it is phenomenal. Comfort food, cucina povera, not too pretty, but satisfying soul and taste-buds simultaneously.

When there’s no time to soak beans (they need a good 12 hours to begin to soften), the well-drained cicoria is dressed with lemon and olive oil and eaten warm or at room temperature.

I’ve taken to orecchiete (the local pasta) with cicoria and tomato. Boiled drained cicoria, frizzled in good olive oil for a few minutes, with a little chopped garlic, then tossed into the pasta with diced tomato. Grated Cacciocavallo, Pecorino or Parmegiano, basta.

In the UK you may be able to get dried fava beans from Italian delis, but they’re also often sold in Greek groceries. Try to find the split, skinned beans. You may have to settle for whole beans, in which case they will have to be skinned after soaking. Tedious, but essential.

The first time I tried to make this, I followed what I now know to be a fancy-schmancy recipe with carrot, celery and onion cooked into the beans. Too, too sweet, and quite wrong. Minimalism is the way here.

Serves 3-4

250g dried, skinned fava beans

2 cloves garlic, smashed and skinned (optional)

1 large or 2 medium potatoes (optional, but makes for a more unctuous puree), peeled and sliced

extra virgin olive oil

salt

For the cicoria:

300-500g cicoria, trimmed

extra virgin olive oil

Soak the fava beans in cold water for a good 12 hours. Drain, and tip into a saucepan. Add the garlic if using, and lay the potato slices on top (they’ll keep the beans under the water) . Pour in enough cold water to cover by a finger knuckle’s depth. Bring up to the boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the beans and potato are soft enough to crush against the side of the pan.

If you are feeling energetic, beat the beans with a wooden spoon to produce a rough puree. Alternatively, take the easy route and puree with an immersion blender. Return the puree to the pan and add a great big slurp of olive oil, and a decent wallop of salt. Stir over a moderate heat until the puree is thick enough to stand a spoon up in it. Reheat when needed.

For the cicoria, rinse well to remove any trapped grit. Trim off tough ends and cut into 10-15 cm lengths. Simmer in boiling salted water until very tender - 10-15 minutes. Drain. Just before serving, fry the chopped galic in plenty of olive oil until just turning brown at the edges, add the cicoria, and toss in the garlicky oil until hot, hot, hot.

Serve a big helping each of steaming hot fava bean puree, with a heap of cicoria perched on top. Finish with a drizzle of best olive oil.

Cicoria with Garlic and Anchovies

If you want to jazz up the cicoria, or serve it as a side dish on its own, there ain’t much better way than this.

cooked cicoria, well drained

extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 tinned anchovy fillets, chopped,

a sprinkling of chilli flakes

Put a frying pan over a moderate heat. Pour in enough olive oil to cover the base. Add the garlic and the anchovies and cook together, mashing the anchovies down with a fork to help them to dissolve. Tip in the cicoria and add a few pinches of chilli flakes.

Turn in the sizzling oil until the cicoria is good and hot. Serve right away.

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