Radicchio in padella (Sautéed Radicchio)

As we’ve seen on this website before, radicchio lends a lovely deep red color and a pleasantly bitter flavor to pastas and risottos. And a few radicchio leaves lend considerable interest to mixed green salads. But you can also enjoy radicchio all on its own. It makes a quick and easy contorno (side dish). which pairs particularly well with roasted, grilled or pan-seared meats.

To fully enjoy its unique, slightly bitter flavor, you want to prepare your radicchio in the simplest possible way. Perhaps the most typical method is radicchio in padella, radicchio quickly sautéed in olive oil and (usually) garlic and seasoned with salt and pepper. For a softer texture and milder flavor, you can cover and let it braise for 10-15 minutes after the intial sauté. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar before serving will balance the radicchio’s bitterness with some sweet and sour notes.

It’s almost a non-recipe, but one that’s worth setting down because, though relatively unknown outside Italy, radicchio in padella is a classic autumn and winter dish, in particular in its native Veneto region. And for good reason, since for those who appreciate its slightly bitter flavor, it’s very good indeed.

This is also a good opportunity to share with you a little background on this quintessentially Italian vegetable. Here in the US—and I’d venture outside Italy in general—you’re only likely to find the round, tightly compacted radicchio di Chioggia. But in fact, radicchio actually describes a whole family of wonderful varietals it’s worth getting to know. How fondly I remember the gorgeous displays in markets back in Rome… In any event, before I get too misty eyed, let’s get on with the recipe, with notes on the radicchio family in the Notes below.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 as a side

• 2 heads of radicchio
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• A squeeze of lemon juice (if needed)

Optional finish:

• Balsamic vinegar

Directions

Peel off any wilted or discolor outer leaves from the radicchio. Cut each head in half vertically, then each half into quarter wedges. Trim off the hard white core. (If very large, you can cut the wedges in half lengthwise.) Then cut each wedge horizontally into strips, which can be either wide or thin as you prefer.

Taste a bit of the radicchio. If it’s very bitter, soak the radicchio in acidulated water to cover for 30 minutes, then drain and pat dry.

In a large skillet, sauté the garlic over a gentle flame until it just begins to brown. Remove it.

Turn up the flame and add the radicchio. Sauté over a lively flame for5 minutes or so, until just tender, tossing from time to time and seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. The radicchio will have reduced considerably and its bright color will become less vibrant.

If you prefer your radicchio meltingly soft and milder in flavor, lower the heat to the barest flame, sprinkle a few spoonfuls of water over the radicchio and cover. Let the radicchio braise for another 10-15 minutes.

Serve still warm, if you like with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Notes

The main challenge in preparing radicchio in padella—and indeed whenever you’re cooking with radicchio—is its bitterness. While bitterness is a large part of its charm, some radicchio, especially the Chioggia varietal, can be very bitter indeed. (Too much even for me, and I enjoy bitter greens.) I’m not quite sure why, but this can vary enormously from head to head. It’s best to taste test as suggested in the recipe and then do the necessary if you find it just too bitter for you.

Soaking the radicchio leeches out a good deal of the bitterness even before you begin cooking. And you can braise the radicchio after its initial sauté. The longer the radicchio braises, the milder its flavor will be. And a drizzle of balsamic vinegar before serving will balance any lingering bitterness with sweet and sour notes. Combine all three techniques and you should wind up with a very gentle tasting dish, if that’s what you prefer.

Variations

Not all recipes for radicchio in padella call for garlic. You can substitute red onion or shallots (which, of course, you don’t remove!) or simply omit the garlic altogether. Radicchio has an assertive flavor that can stand on its own, though I do prefer the savor that an allium lends to the dish.

If you’re a carnivore, you can add another layer of flavor with some cubed pancetta, which you sauté lightly before adding the radicchio. If you like herbs, some marjoram or rosemary wouldn’t be amiss, nor would a sprinkle of minced parsley for color at the end.

You could also add some slices of peeled apple or pear, which lend a bit of sweetness to round out the bitterness of the radicchio. Some recipe calls for walnuts, either as a topping or added towards the end of the sauté. And topping your sautéed radicchio with some crumbled sharp gorgonzola, either with or without walnuts, makes for a more elaborate dish you could serve as an antipasto.

Grilled, griddled and oven roasted radicchio

Besides sautéed as in radicchio in padella, radicchio is also wonderful al forno (oven roasted), alla griglia (grilled) or alla piastra (griddled). The more slender type of radicchio called Treviso (see below) is far better for this treatment than the easier to find Chioggia. If you’re lucky enough to source some Treviso, do give them a try.

For oven roasting, cut the radicchio heads into quarters (without trimming off the core) drizzle them with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then lay them in an oven roasting pan and roast at 200C/400F for say 15 minutes. If you want to grill or griddle them, just give them a few minutes on each side. Radicchio prepared in these ways is delightful on its own or with a drizzle of balsamic.

While it’s not ideal for these treatments, if you’re using Chioggia, cut the heads into eighths rather than quarters and proceed as above.

Types of radicchio

As I mentioned at the top, non-Italians tend to think of radicchio as a single vegetable—the round, tightly compacted radicchio di Chioggia. I suspect more than a few probably confuse it with red cabbage. But in fact, radicchio is a kind of chicory not a cabbage, and refers to a whole family of related vegetables of various shapes and sized and, yes, even colors, grown prinicipally in the Veneto region in northeastern Italy, each named after the municipality or province where it is grown.

Broadly speaking, radicchio varietals come in three categories:

Radicchio di Chioggia

The type of radicchio most of us are familiar with, called radicchio di Chioggia or after its home town. It has round, tightly compacted heads.

Even in Italy, Chioggia is the most common varietal of radicchio. And where I live in the US currently it’s basically the only one you will find in stores, except for the very rare appearane of a Treviso precoce (see below) in one of our fancier “gourmet” supermarkets. I’m not quite sure why Chioggia became the go to. While Chioggia works well in pastas and risottos, it’s the least desirable, to my mind, in other preparations, whether in salads or on its own, sautéed as radicchio in padella, oven roasted, grilled or griddled. I suspect the reasons are more commercial than culinary. Its round shape and relative compactness make it the easiest to transport,. And, a bit like cabbage, it lasts almost indefinitely under refrigeration.

Similar to the Chioggia but smaller and oval rather than round is the radicchio di Verona.

Radicchio di Treviso

The radicchio di Treviso or radicchio trevigiano, with its elongated white ribs and purple leaves. More tender and mildly flavored than Chioggia, this is my personal favorite. It comes in two types; precoce (early) which comes to market in the early autumn, around September, and tardivo (late) which appears in November. The precoce looks something like a large version of red Belgian endive, while the tardivo is particularly striking, with its slightly curled white ribs hemmed with slender Burgundy leaves.

The tardivo is “forced” into its unsual shape. It is brought inside in the late autumn, tied and left in tanks of tepid running water. Because of its rather elaborate growing process, it’s more expensive.

Both these varietals would be lovely for making radicchio in padella. Treviso is also wonderful in pastas and risottos, as well as on it own roasted, grilled or griddled, as well as raw in salads. Given its expense and delicacy, however, I’d reserve the tardivo for salads or for a quick sauté.

Similar in shape to the Treviso is the only varietal I know of that’s not native to the Veneto, the “white” radicchio from Lombardy called radicchio bianco di Milano, so-called because of its wide white ribs and very light green leaves. To me it bears a striking resemblance to Napa cabbage.

Loose leaved radicchios

Finally, there are varietals that you might not even realize are radicchio. They look very much like heads of lettuce, with more loosely gathered and often variegated leaves. Perhaps the best known is the radicchio variegato di Castelfranco.

These radicchios are the most delicate of all, in both texture and flavor. And since they are loosely packed, they lend themselves very well to stuffing. One particularly lovely recipe is the delicious sausage stuffed and baked rose di radicchio, or Radicchio Roses, that I learned about from the Tuscany based food blogger Judy Witts Francini. They are, of course, wonderful raw in salads as well.

And speaking of roses, there is an exquisitly beautiful varietal of radicchio called the rosa di Gorizia. The most expensive of all radicchio varietals, it truly deserves the name. Sadly I’ve never had the chance to try it. One day…

Good news for radicchio lovers!

The ones in North America, at least. I recently discovered that the online purveyors at Alma Gourmet sell several hard to find radicchio varietals: Treviso precoce and tardivo, Verona and Castelfranco. Just look under their “Fresh in Season” section. They also sell other hard to find seasonal vegetables like fresh porcini mushrooms and even my beloved puntarelle!

Print Recipe

Radicchio in padella (Sautéed Radicchio)

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Optional soakingn time30 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: veneto

Keyword: braised, saute

Ingredients

• 2 heads of radicchio
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Optional finish:

• Balsamic vinegar

Instructions

• Peel off any wilted or discolor outer leaves from the radicchio. Cut each head in half vertically, then each half into quarter wedges. Trim off the hard white core. (If very large, you can cut the wedges in half lengthwise.) Then cut each wedge horizontally into strips, which can be either wide or thin as you prefer.
• Taste a bit of the radicchio. If it’s very bitter, soak the radicchio in acidulated water to cover for 30 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
• In a large skillet, sauté the garlic over a gentle flame until it just begins to brown. Remove it.
• Turn up the flame and add the radicchio. Sauté over a lively flame for5 minutes or so, until just tender, tossing from time to time and seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. The radicchio will have reduced considerably.
• If you prefer your radicchio meltingly soft and milder in flavor, lower the heat to the barest flame, sprinkle a few spoonfuls of water over the radicchio and cover. Let the radicchio braise for another 10-15 minutes.
• Serve still warm, if you like, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

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