Grilled Radicchio and Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Which amazing salad would hold up against an epic French charcuterie? That’s the spirit when I chose to make the grilled radicchio and sugar snap pea salad from Yotam Ottolenghi – to pair with a homemade duck terrine. He knows flavors. His recipe delivers a cooking method to get flavor out of each ingredient.

Given the fancy, delicate radicchio and the super fresh sugar snap peas, quick grilling seems to be the preferred approach. A short time on the grill is all they need to bring out the sweetness and to preserve the crunch of the sugar snaps and the bitter greens.

Before I went shopping, I read the recipe. Came home and guess what? The internet connection was on the fritz. I was not able to access the recipe online. That left me no choice but to kinda swing it. Made a salad dressing and tossed the radicchio leaves and snap peas in it. Then grilled the greens over a searing hot grill pan. Forgot the part that I was supposed to leave some fresh greens for presentation purposes. Surely, you won’t associate this with the usual Ottolenghi’s recipes. But it is. It’s a no brainer, especially one you can prepare with exceptional ease. No recipe. Just follow your senses!

I plated the salad and put slices of duck terrine on top. Voila, the quickest and luxurious lunch I’ve ever put together. Well, I didn’t mention the days it took to make the terrine. Coming out of left field, my husband started putting a price tag on this small plate of duck terrine with grilled radicchio and sugar snap pea salad in front of him. Twenty dollars, he exclaimed. That’s a hefty price for a starter. I guess, the perceived value of this plate of food is top drawer.

This grilled radicchio and sugar snap pea salad has brought a lot of accolades. To say the least, I was thoroughly enjoying it, the food as well as the review!

Print Recipe

Grilled Radicchio and Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 3 small garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 3-4 lemons, zest finely grated, to get 1½ tbsp, and juiced, to get 60ml
• 75ml olive oil
• Flaked sea salt and black pepper
• 450g mixed radicchio leaves, ideally pink, tardivo and castelfranco, trimmed and roughly torn
• 600g sugar snap peas, fibrous threads removed
• 3 tbsp dill leaves, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp tarragon leaves, roughly chopped

Instructions

1

Put the first three ingredients in a small bowl with three teaspoons of salt and plenty of pepper.

2

Put half the leaves and all the sugar snaps in a large bowl, pour over two-thirds of the garlic and lemon mixture, and toss to coat.

3

Heat a large griddle pan on a high heat (as always, remember to ventilate the kitchen first). Once very hot, turn down the heat to medium, then griddle the dressed leaves and sugar snaps for about four minutes, turning every now and then, until everything has good char marks – spread them out in the pan, so they all get some heat, and cook in batches if need be.

4

Transfer the griddled vegetables to a large bowl, add the raw leaves, herbs and the remaining dressing, toss gently and serve at once.

Notes

Copyright 2016 - Ever Open Sauce. All Rights Reserved https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/26/yotam-ottolenghi-pea-recipes