Nice! To be honest, I wasn’t a fan the first time I tried radicchio, either! Or the second. But I learned how to use them and came around to really liking it (more in a moment).
That one is probably a Chioggia type, originating from an island near Venice of the same name. All the radicchio and chicory varieties taste pretty similar, with varying levels of bitter/sweet balance. The biggest differences are in shape and texture, but some can be substantially less bitter (but still decidedly bitter). The trick is balancing out the bitterness with other flavors so that it’s a nice component rather than the only thing going on. First, cooking helps mellow the bitterness and develops extra flavors. I like to halve or quarter them, then roast them in a hot (425-450) oven with olive oil (or grill), then chop them. Next, the real magic happens if you add some sour (vinegar or citrus), some fruity (raisins, dried cranberries, citrus supremes), some nuts, and some cheese (ricotta salata, gorgonzola, cotija, chevre) or other salty/savory (bacon, ham). It sounds like you’re just covering things up, but it really blends in an alchemical way where the bitterness is a welcome component. So, you really have a cooked salad. In raw salads, you just want a little bit as flavor highlights. My wife doesn’t like radicchio very much, and she thinks that way is pretty good.
Thanks so much for starting this thread. I discovered Seeds of Italy last year and have a few Rosa Isontina and puntarelle growing right now. Your post reminded me that I needed to check if/when forcing was necessary! They were started fairly late (early August), and are growing under Agribon to deter squirrels, so the plants are behind developmentally. I’ve grown Italian dandelion, radicchio, and frisée before, but nothing that needed forcing or as amazing-looking as puntarelle.
Seeds of Italy was a great find, as is Uprising Seeds, which also has a great chicory selection. The Italians really have diverse, interesting (and some hyper-local) vegetables.
I just started growing these this year. I had some success this spring since it was a cool spring here in NY. Chicory was easy all summer the Pan de Zucchero was so delicious, slightly bitter with a sweet ending. This fall the Balla Rosa did fabulous and taste great. The chicory I planted for fall like dandelion was not as vigorous in the fall as the spring. A great resource for learning about the different varieties and growing is here: https://youtu.be/Xxnx3bkY-8c
Here are my tardiva radicchio. About half as big as I’d hoped, but I’m not surprised given that the plants were half as big as I wanted when it came time to dig them.
It shows how important it is to get them started early enough. I was set back by about 3 weeks by some enterprising slugs, and that made all the difference.
@jcguarneri After all that work, how did you prepare them? They look delicious.
I’m curious how this would work on dandelions, particularly since I’ve got multiple large specimens in the yard. Instead of digging them up and bringing inside, maybe putting a pot without a drainage hole on top of them would work?
I’ve been eating these raw in salads. If they were a bit larger and more robust, I’d go through the trouble of roasting them.
I do think blanching dandelions would make them more delicately flavored, but I’m not sure it would do much more than that. Also, the reason you bring them inside is for controlled temperature. It lets you harvest the forced head in the middle of the winter, and it also makes sure it’s not too hot. It gives that “just right” temperature where the plant grows a new top reasonably quickly while also being cool enough to have a nice mild flavor.
They were started fairly late (early August), and are growing under Agribon to deter squirrels, so the plants are behind developmentally. I’ve grown Italian dandelion, radicchio, and frisée before, but nothing that needed forcing or as amazing-looking as puntarelle.
