Ingredient Spotlight: Castelfranco Radicchio

I came across this pretty speckled salad green at the farmer's market the other day. It's a castelfranco radicchio, a heirloom vegetable from Italy.

The flower-like cluster has pale green leaves with speckles of burgundy on them. The taste is much milder that the more common deep purple radicchio. It can be eaten raw in a salad, or cooked as a green; sauteed, braised, baked on pizzas, cooked in risottos, and so on. It is a seasonal vegetable and only available in winter months.

Here are some recipes to try:

• Fennel and Radicchop Winter Salad with Pecans
• Radicchio Risotto
• Tagliatelle with Castelfranco Radicchio & Pancetta
• Braised Escarole with Apples and Bacon

(Image: Kathryn Hill)

Comments (8)

My goodness, that is gorgeous! Come on, spring!

Lovely. I just ordered seeds again from Grow Italian - a company that sells Italian Seeds in the US. I did not get this variety but they do have it... wish I had known and ordered some.

I have been pleased with the seeds that I have ordered from them in past years.

http://growitalian.com/

Gorgeous, this vegetable is some thing I want to like, I should like, but I just cannot get rid of the bitterness. I have tried grilling and raw--what am I doing wrong?

I just picked one up because it was so pretty, and haven't decided what to do with it yet. It's a mature head so I think it needs to be cooked.

I had some lovely little baby heads of it earlier in the season.

@ValHalla I usually find that a nice sautee with garlic and hot pepper tames most bitter greens, even dandelion greens. You can use bacon fat or olive oil depending on your taste. Adding enough salt and perhaps adding a splash of lemon juice also really helps. This will also keep most of its pretty color.

If that doesn't do it, braising in white wine with leeks or onions might. Or as a soup combined with something sweet like sweet potato or winter squash; I haven't done that with radicchio specifically but it's worked for dandelion greens and garlic or with mustard/beet/turnip greens.