Ottolenghi's three citrus salad

Serves

Photo, Jonathan Lovekin.

The combination of sweet fruit and sharp leaves, along with the contrast in texture between the fruit and the crunchy, punchy salsa, makes this a very unusual salad. There’s enough of a wow factor for it to be a stand- alone starter, but it also works well with some simply grilled mackerel or salmon, or leftover cold chicken.

Ingredients

2 oranges , (about 1lb/500 g)
1 pink grapefruit , (14 oz/400 g)
1 large pomelo , (2 lb/1kg)
1 small head radicchio , or another similarly bitter leaf, base trimmed, cut into 1/3-inch/1-cm wedges (4 1/2 oz/130 g)
1 Belgian endive , base trimmed, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges (3 oz/90 g)
1 3/4 oz (50 g) tender/baby leaf watercress

Almond salsa

3 oz/80 g almonds , skin on
5 green chiles , seeded and thinly sliced
3 oz/90 g stem ginger , finely diced (note below)
2 tbsp coriander seeds , toasted for 1 minute and lightly crushed
1 tbsp fennel seeds , toasted for 1 minute and lightly crushed
1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
3 1/2 tbsp Valdespino sherry vinegar , (or another good-quality sherry vinegar)
1/3 cup/80 mL olive oil
coarse sea salt and black pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 320°F/160°C (280°F/140°C convection).
Start with the salsa. Spread the almonds on a small baking sheet and place in the oven for 20 minutes, until well toasted. Remove from the oven and, once cool enough to handle, coarsely chop. Transfer to a bowl along with all the remaining salsa ingredients, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well and set aside.
Take the oranges and use a small, sharp knife to slice off the ends. Now cut down the side of each orange, following its natural curve, to remove the peel and white pith. Cut widthwise into 1/5-in/5-mm rounds, and then slice each round into quarters. Prepare the grapefruit in the same way, but slice each round into sixths. Put both into a large bowl.
Use a sharp knife to peel away the pomelo skin. Divide the fruit into segments and use the knife to remove and discard all the pith and membrane. Break the fruit segments into 3/4-inch/2-cm chunks and add to the rest of the fruit, along with half the salsa and the radicchio, endive, and watercress. Mix gently, arrange on a large platter, spoon over the remaining salsa, and serve.

Yotam Ottolenghi takes our All-Star Chef Egg-Timer Quiz

Don’t worry if you don’t have all three citrus fruits suggested: so long as you keep the total weight for the fruit the same, the dish works well with a mixture of just two. When pomelo is not in season and you want to maintain the contrast of colors, substitute some white grapefruit.

Stem ginger—fresh ginger preserved in sugar syrup—is typically used in baking, at the ready to be diced and mixed into cakes, cookies, and trifles, or the syrup drizzled over ice cream. But the warmth of the preserved ginger and the sweetness of the syrup can also bring a lot to savory stir-fry dishes or salads. Stem ginger in syrup can be hard to track down outside of the U.K.; look for it online and in Asian markets. You can also make your own. To do so, peel a 4-inch/10-cm piece of ginger (31/2 oz/100 g) and cut it against the grain into 1/3-inch/1-cm slices. Place the slices in a pan and pour in enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Drain, replace the water, and repeat the process twice more. Drain for the last time, and then return the ginger to the pan along with 61/3 oz/180 g sugar, 11/4 cups/300 ml water, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stir until the sugar dissolves, and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 1 hour, until the syrup is thick and golden and the ginger is soft. Pour into a sterilized jar, cover with a lid, and let sit for 24 hours before using. It will keep for up to a year in the fridge.

FILED UNDER: Salads vegetables

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