Sweet and sour puntarelle: the crisp chicory shoots cut into thin strips and dressed while the dressing is still hot with white wine vinegar, sugar, sultanas and pine nuts. An unusual recipe, simple to prepare, to serve as a side dish or an antipasto.

Puntarelle alla crudaiola are a traditional Italian dish that brings together the freshness of puntarelle and the gently sweet and sour contrast of their dressing. Puntarelle are a kind of salad leaf, the tender, crunchy shoots at the heart of a variety of chicory: they are typical of Lazio, the region around Rome, but widely eaten in Puglia too. As regular readers know, La Terra di Puglia prepares them in jars to a recipe that people keep coming back to, well balanced and always popular. If you feel like cooking, though, here is an original and rather unusual way with puntarelle: sweet and sour, with something extra in taste and flavour. It is a treat for the palate, with a perfect mix of flavours and textures. Sweet and sour puntarelle are easy to prepare, and the result is an elegant, tasty side dish or antipasto.

A head of fresh puntarelle, the pale green chicory shoots, on a stone worktop

Home-made sweet and sour puntarelle

Ingredients

  • 500 g puntarelle
  • 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon sultanas
  • 1 tablespoon pine nuts
  • Salt to taste
  • Black pepper to taste

Method

  1. Clean the puntarelle. Wash them thoroughly under cold running water. Cut off the tougher ends and the outer leaves, leaving only the tender, crunchy shoots at the centre. Take care to remove any stringy fibres inside that could turn out too tough.
  2. Cut them. Slice the cleaned puntarelle into thin strips, julienne, trying to keep them crisp. A sharp knife or a mandoline will do the job.
  3. Prepare the sweet and sour dressing. Put the white wine vinegar and the sugar in a small pan. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved completely. Then lower the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes, until you have a slightly syrupy liquid. Add the sultanas and the pine nuts and stir well. This mixture gives the dish a pleasant balance between the sharpness of the vinegar and the sweetness of the sugar.
  4. Dress the puntarelle. Put the strips in a large bowl. Pour the hot dressing over them and toss well so that every piece is coated. Taste, and adjust with salt and black pepper as you like.
  5. Chill and serve. Let the sweet and sour puntarelle cool in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. This lets the flavours come together and gives the puntarelle the chance to soak up the dressing.
  6. To finish. Before serving, you can garnish the dish with a few leaves of fresh parsley or a little grated lemon zest, for a touch of freshness and fragrance.

Where the olive oil goes. The recipe lists three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil but the method never says when to add it: the natural point is the last step, stirred in together with the salt and pepper once the hot dressing has been poured over. For a good Apulian oil, see our page on extra virgin olive oil.

Sweet and sour puntarelle go well with meat or fish, or can be served on their own as a tasty antipasto. The dish is a real triumph of flavours, combining the crunch of the puntarelle with the sweetness of the sultanas and the sharp note of the vinegar. For more ways with the vegetables of the region, have a look at our vegetables and starters and at the fruit and vegetables of Puglia.

Rather not cook? If you would rather not spend long in the kitchen, the alternative from La Terra di Puglia is our puntarelle alla crudaiola, ready in the jar. Buy your puntarelle alla crudaiola.

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