This is one of my favourite early spring salads and a good way to say good-bye to two great winter products- fennel and blood oranges.
Although this recipe originated in Sicily, my family has adopted it long ago with great pleasure- it's a perfect blend of sweet and salty flavours, with a "kick" of licorice taste provided by the fennel..all tied together by a generous amount of Extra Virgin!
As any nonna would tell you, there are two types of fennel out there: the elongated bulb, also called female fennel, which is more stringy and less flavourful compared to the sweet, rounded male fennel.
Ingredients:
- 1 male fennel bulb with fennel tops, sliced finely
- 1 blood oranges, peeled and sliced, reserving half an orange for juice
- half red onion, sliced finely
- a handful of good quality black or kalamata olives
- extra virgin olive oil
- a pinch of sea salt
- you can add walnuts, arugula leaves, green olives or capers according to taste
Toss the fennel, orange slices and olives in a bowl and combine. In a small bowl, combine the juice of half an orange, extra virgin olive oil and salt and whisk to form an emulsion. Dress the salad with this mixture and garnish with some fennel tops.
Buona primavera!