Mystery Lettuce That Turned Out to Be Radicchio (and the Perfect Italian Aperitivo)

Sometimes the best things we grow are the ones we never intended to.

Earlier this year, we bought a tray of mixed lettuce seedlings for our allotment. One of the plants looked just like the others when we planted it, but as the weeks went by it became obvious that this one was… different.

It was much more bitter than any lettuce we’d ever grown.

My husband was convinced it wasn’t lettuce at all, while I wasn’t so sure. Then our allotment neighbour James joined the debate and suggested it might actually be a chicory.

So we decided to wait.

A few weeks later the plant started forming beautiful burgundy heads, exactly like a heading chicory. The mystery was finally solved, we hadn’t been growing lettuce at all, but radicchio, the Italian name for a type of chicory.

We left the plants to mature and harvested them just before one of them bolted. Seeing those deep red heads emerge from something we’d almost written off as “very bitter lettuce” felt incredibly rewarding.

Finding the perfect recipe

Whenever I discover a new vegetable, my first instinct is to reach for my cookbook shelves.

I found several recipes for radicchio, but this one immediately caught my eye. It comes from Polpo by the late Russell Norman, one of my favourite Italian cookbooks.

The recipe couldn’t have come at a better time. We had been invited for drinks with our Italian neighbours, and these little grissini wrapped with pickled radicchio and salami made the perfect aperitivo snack.

Why this recipe works

Unlike traditional pickling, the radicchio is only gently simmered for a few minutes in equal parts white wine and white wine vinegar with a few juniper berries before being stored in olive oil.

The result is beautifully balanced. The wine and vinegar soften the bitterness without masking the distinctive flavour that makes radicchio so special.

The recipe makes more than you need for one serving, which turned out to be a bonus.

The following day I spread cream cheese on a toasted bagel, added a few slices of the pickled radicchio and it made one of the nicest lunches I’ve had in a long time. I can also imagine it working beautifully in sandwiches, alongside roast meats or on an antipasto platter.

It’s one of those simple recipes that quietly becomes a fridge staple.

Grissini with Pickled Radicchio & Salami

Adapted from Polpo by Russell Norman.

Ingredients

1 head radicchio

250 ml dry white wine

250 ml white wine vinegar

4 juniper berries, lightly crushed

Extra virgin olive oil

Grissini breadsticks

Thinly sliced salami (Milano or similar)

Method

1. Separate the radicchio into individual leaves and rinse well.

   
   

2. Bring the white wine, white wine vinegar and juniper berries to a gentle simmer.

   
   

3. Add the radicchio leaves and cook for about 2–3 minutes until just softened.

   
   

4. Remove the leaves and allow them to cool completely.

   
   

5. Arrange the leaves in a clean jar and cover completely with extra virgin olive oil.

   
   

6. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before using.

   
   

7. To serve, wrap a pickled radicchio leaf around a grissini together with a slice of salami.

   
   

Notes

• The pickled radicchio keeps well in the refrigerator for several days as long as it remains covered with olive oil.

  
  

• Any leftovers are wonderful in sandwiches, with cream cheese on a bagel, or as part of an antipasto platter.

  
  

• If your radicchio is particularly bitter, don’t worry, the brief simmer in wine and vinegar mellows it beautifully while preserving its character.