This is just the kind of salad for a chilly January - full of wonderfully rich colour from the radicchio and lots of robust flavour. Try to use the leaves from at least two different types of radicchio if you can, just to give maximum interest of look and taste.
I love this for lunch - served with tomato bruschetta, where small tomatoes have been cooked through for barely 2 mins in olive oil, crushed garlic and anchovy - but this salad is also great as a side-dish to lamb or fish.
Servings: 4 - 6 , depending on what it is served with
approx 500g radicchio of differing types
handful of mint leaves
handful of flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp dill
1.5 tbsp capers, rinsed
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2.5 tbsp red fruit vinegar such as raspberry, (or red wine vinegar plus 0.25 tsp sugar)
100g parmesan
Begin by preparing the radicchio. For the whole round radicchio that look a little like cabbages: slice in half through the base, then cut out the hard white core and tear the leaves off. For looser-leafed radicchio: simply tear the leaves off.
Rinse the prepared radicchio leaves in ice-cold water, drain and dry them thoroughly. Put them into a large salad bowl and then add the herbs. The mint leaves can be torn in, the parsley and dill should be roughly chopped. Roughly chop the capers too, add those and stir it all together.
Whisk the olive oil and vinegar together into a dressing, adding salt to taste. Pour over the salad and toss well. Use a vegetable peeler to cut fine, broad strips of parmesan into the bowl over the leaves. Finish with a grinding of pepper and serve.
(This recipe originally featured for Borough Market.)