Everything you need to know about puntarelle, including how to make Rome’s prized salad, Puntarelle alla Romana, a simple masterpiece of crunch and flavor.
Puntarelle
Puntarelle is a special kind of chicory, called cicoria Catalogna in Italy, that makes a compact tuft of crisp giant baby shoots called puntarelle. While one shoot is a puntarella, coming from the Italian word punta, or point, multiple shoots are called puntarelle (pronounced pun-tah-REL-leh).
The puntarelle are thick, crisp hollow tubes with a pleasantly mild bitterness — what Italians call amarognolo, bitter but pleasant.
In Italy, you may hear it called puntarelle, catalogna or just cicoria. It can get confusing, as a lot of different kinds of chicory are commonly referred to as cicoria in Italy, both with and without puntarelle shoots. Due to its vague resemblance to asparagus, it also has the nickname cicoria asparago, or “asparagus chicory.”
The kind of puntarelle chicory commonly eaten around Rome, a variety of Cichorium intybus, is the jagged Catalonian chicory from Gaeta, or cicoria di catalogna frastagliata di Gaeta.
Puntarelle Season & Buying
Puntarelle is cool weather produce. Look for puntarelle from late Fall through early Spring.
Look for a head of catalogna chicory with the longest shoots (puntarelle). If the shoots are covered by a heavy outer layer of leafy chicory stalks, you may need to make your way through them to inspect the puntarelle shoots underneath.
Parts of the Puntarelle Chicory
All parts of the puntarelle chicory are edible. The question is how: raw or cooked? And with what?
- Outer Large Leafy Stalks – The head of puntarelle may come with a heavy layer of outer stalks with dark green leaves, much like a regular head of catalogna chicory. These outer stalks can be longer than celery, and if you taste their dark green bitter leaves, it is not hard to understand why they are often cooked!
You can set them apart to cook later. Italian chicory greens are commonly boiled or sautéed with a little bit of garlic, olive oil and plenty of salt to cut the bitterness. Sometimes they’re also served with freshly squeezed lemon.
Ideas – The cooked puntarelle greens can be eaten as a side dish or added to risotto, pasta or omelets. They’re also delicious stuffed into a warm pocket pita (or piadina in Italy) with feta, fresh chèvre or other goat cheese sprinkled in, which melts deliciously from the greens.
You can also strip the stalks of their dark bitter leaves and cut them into strips, for a curlier, yet more bitter, salad.
- Inner Young Stalks and Leaves – These smaller, lighter colored leaves are decidedly sweeter than the bigger, darker leaves. Save any to toss with the puntarelle strips — they make a beautiful contribution to the salad.
- The Pointy Shoots (Puntarelle) have a gentle touch of pleasant bitterness. They are mainly eaten raw, and are the stars of Puntarelle alla Romana salad. You can also sauté them with garlic and olive oil, just like the outer leafy stalks (see above).
What You Need to Make Great Puntarelle alla Romana Salad
Roman-style puntarelle salad is made with strips of crispy, “pleasantly bitter” puntarelle shoots, dressed with a simple yet passionately piquant dressing of garlic and anchovies. If you like Caesar salad dressing, which has anchovies too, you’ll be familiar with the taste. I’ve tried a few good alternative dressings, but nothing comes close to Rome’s enduring favorite. It’s absolutely a perfect pairing.
Cutting Puntarelle for Puntarelle alla Romana
Puntarelle alla Romana salad traditionally calls for thin, curly slices of the crisp pointy shoots of the puntarelle chicory. In Italy, especially around Rome, you can find puntarelle in the markets already cut, curled and ready to toss with dressing. This is a nice time saver, as prepping and cutting the strips can take some time. But I find the process enjoyable nonetheless.
Every head of puntarelle is different. Sometimes the buds are many, sometimes few. Sometimes they’re tall, sometimes they are very short and stubby. Sometimes the tuft of shoots seems one big compact amalgamation. Generally, I just slice whatever I have in front of me the best that I can, and enjoy it just the same. It may not always win a beauty award, but it will still be a crunchy, vibrant and delicious salad.
The last head of puntarelle I got had 2-inch long shoots. I ended up just cutting the base off of them and tossing them in the salad whole. It turned out beautifully — and you can’t get any crispier puntarelle than that.
Using a Puntarelle Cutter
There is a tool in Italy with crossed wire strings to help you cut puntarelle strips. It’s called a tagliapuntarelle (pronounced tah-LYEE-ah poon-tah-REL-leh), and it makes cutting the puntarelle into narrow strips easier, faster, more uniform and altogether prettier. It’s also fun to use.
A tagliapuntarelle tool is not easy to come by in the States. Besides picking one up in Italy, I know of one puntarelle cutter in an American online shop. There is also a large selection on Italy’s amazon.
Sure. The stalks generally make longer, curlier strips than the shoots. They are also more bitter than the shoots, and take longer to prepare, since they need to be stripped of their bitter leaves before slicing. This can be a bit tedious. How much patience do you have?
Soaking vs Not Soaking Puntarelle
Typically the puntarelle are sliced into thin strips and plunged into icy water until they curl. If you ask why, you typically get three reasons: to make them crisp, to make them curly and to take the bitterness away.
The results were surprising when I decided to do some experiments. Here is what I found:
- The puntarelle are crisp whether soaked in ice water or not. They are pretty innately crisp on their own. Soaking does change the texture though. My preference is unsoaked. Note: Puntarelle strips can get waterlogged if soaked longer than overnight.
- They curl whether soaked in ice water or not. The mere chilling of them is enough for them to curl. How much they curl depends on how skinny and how long they are. To get the curliest puntarelle strips of all, you need very long puntarelle, sliced very, very thinly. Plus, I should mention, some time on your hands — and patience.
- The shoots are only mildly bitter. (See note above about the stalks) You may find them pleasant enough without soaking.
So you’ve got options. Try and see what you like.
The Dressing for Puntarelle alla Romana
The Romans love an assertive dressing on their puntarelle salad. And it’s the perfect complement. The robust dressing of anchovies, garlic, vinegar (or lemon juice), extra virgin olive oil and salt, if needed (packed anchovies are usually as salty as the sea) is traditionally pounded with mortar and pestle into a paste — basically, an anchovy pesto turned into a vinaigrette.
It’s like a simpler, stronger version of the flavors of Caesar salad dressing. Add dijon and it becomes even more familiar. In fact, dijon may be the best addition or variation to this dressing, if you so choose.
You can use this vinaigrette with other salad greens, like romaine, escarole, endive, arugula, and frisée, for a few ideas.
Using a Mortar & Pestle
Although the dressing can certainly be made by chopping the garlic, there is no comparison to the flavors you get if you crush the garlic with the side of a chef knife until it’s almost liquid. And if you use a mortar and pestle to crush and blend the dressing, you get tutta un’altra cosa, a completely different flavor experience altogether.
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, Ikea usually has a set for sale. Or there’s Amazon, which has a white mortar and pestle and a black mortar and pestle at decent prices.
Serving
A Roman-style salad of puntarelle makes a nice counterpoint to steak, and is excellent with salmon or fish like roasted Mediterranean Sea Bass (Branzino) or Grilled Sea Bream (Orata).
Another Roman Favorite: Roman Artichokes (Carciofi alla Romana)
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 head puntarelle (about 1 lb/500g with puntarelle shoots only, or 1½lb/700g with tall outer leafy stalks)
For Garlic Anchoivy Dressing (Yields 3 Tbsp (45ml)
- 3 anchovy fillets packed in oil (or 1/2 tsp anchovy paste per anchovy) (2 =mild, 3 =more flavorful/interesting, 4 =pungeant kick)
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- ¼ tsp coarse salt
- 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ to ½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground or crushed
Instructions
Prep (at least 1 hour to a day ahead)
- Trim Base: With a long serrated knife, trim about 1-inch (2.5cm) off the tough base.
Remove Bitter Greens: Remove the outer leafy stalks and set aside. Keep any smaller delicate leaves separate.- Separate the puntarelle shoots from the base.
- Trim ¼ to 1" (6mm to 2.5cm) off the shoot's base, or until you reach the tender part, and discard.
To Make Strips by Hand
- 1. The tip can be left on, or to get a blunt edge, you can cut the tip off at the point where the leaves start, and add to the salad separately. 2. Cut the shoot in half lengthwise, place cut-side down on a cutting board, and slice into thin strips (about ¼-inch (6mm) wide, or less). Tip: The longer and thinner the strips, the more they tend to curl.
To Make Strips with a Puntarelle Cutter (Tagliapuntarelle)
- You'll need to prep the puntarelle differently to get them through the wires of the tool successfully. Tip: It helps for the puntarelle to be as cold and crisp as possible.1. Cut the tip off at the point where the leaves start, to get a blunt edge. (Since the tips are deliciously crunchy, they can be set aside to add to the salad. Or you could sauté them with garlic and olive oil.) 2. Push each puntarella stub, tender top first, through the indented side of the tool and through the wires. (If it doesn't go smoothly, try trimming a little more off the base.)
Chill or Soak (for an hour, up to 8 hours)
- Chill the strips in the fridge, or immerse in icy cold water to allow the long thin strips to curl. (Not necessary for short or thick strips or slices.)
Make the Dressing
- With Mortar and Pestle: Pestle the anchovies and coarsely chopped garlic together with salt into a very smooth paste. Add the vinegar and stir well with the pestle. Continue to stir while you drizzle in the olive oil a little at a time. Stir until creamy.Without Mortar and Pestle: Finely mince the garlic with a chef's knife (or use a garlic press). Sprinkle with the salt. Then, with the flat of the knife almost parallel to the cutting board, press on the flat of the knife, while slightly tilting the edge of the blade, to scrape the garlic into a paste. Add the anchovies and mince and mash into the paste with your knife. Then, transfer the paste to a small bowl and whisk in the vinegar. Continue to whisk while you drizzle in the olive oil a little at a time. Whisk until creamy.
Assemble & Toss the Salad
- Drain the soaked puntarelle sticks, dry thoroughly, ideally with a salad spinner, and add to a salad bowl. Add any puntarelle tips (but not the leaves yet) you may have set aside earlier.
- Toss with the dressing until well coated. Taste and adjust for salt, if necessary (you may not need it, unless you are using fewer anchovies).
- Top or surround with any of the small young leaves. Dust with freshly ground black pepper.
- Time: Allow approx. 15 minutes more per extra head of puntarelle.
- Storing: Once cleaned and cut, store the puntarelle tightly wrapped in a towel in the fridge for up to 2 days (the longer they sit, the more they start to turn red around the edges).
- Serving: Once dressed, serve the salad immediately.
- Dressing:
- Anchovy Substitutions: Worchestershire sauce, colle di alici.
- Whole Grain Dijon Mustard Addition: Mix in 2 teaspoons (10ml) before adding the olive oil, for a dressing more similar to a Caesar salad dressing.
- Parmigiano Topping Variation: Shave a few slices of Parmigiano cheese on top of each portion using a vegetable peeler.
- Any remaining puntarelle tips, stalks or leaves can be sautéed with minced garlic and olive oil; or boiled or steamed, and served with a dash of vinegar or squeeze of lemon.
Variation Using the Long Outer Stalks
Note: The stalks are more bitter than the shoots, but get nice and curly, and are good in salad, as long as the leaves are removed.- Slice the bitter greens off the sides of the crisp stalks with the tip of a pairing knife on a cutting board, and save for another use or discard. (This is both because the leaves are very bitter, and tend to get tangled in the wires.)
- Slice the stalks into very thin strips, by hand or with a puntarelle cutter.
- If using a Puntarelle Cutter, first cut the tip off bluntly, then push the stalk through the wires, blunt top first.
- Tip: If the stalks are not thick or crisp enough to feed into the tool, try chilling them in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Tip: Push enough stalk through the wires to grab the stalk on the other side, then pull it through.
- If using a Puntarelle Cutter, first cut the tip off bluntly, then push the stalk through the wires, blunt top first.
Nutrition Info
The nutrition info includes all the leaves, so don’t throw those away! The young leaves are a beautiful mild addition to the salad. And the larger dark leaves and stems can be sautéed.
