Radicchio, hazelnut and blood orange salad recipe

Times

5 days ago

The beauty of this recipe is that it is rather flexible, as a number of the ingredients can be substituted according to availability, and of course, personal taste. You can swap the hazelnuts for pine nuts or walnuts, but whichever you chose, make sure you roast them until they're dark with an intensely nutty smell.
We love to grate ricotta salata, a firm, salty Italian sheep's cheese, over this salad, but if you can't find it, then you can use a ball of mozzarella — just freeze it until it's hard enough to grate first.
Serves 4
• 150g hazelnuts• 3 blood oranges• 2 heads of radicchio or 4 red endives• 1 tsp honey• 20ml white wine vinegar• Generous pinch of dried oregano• 70ml good-quality extra virgin olive oil• 1 ricotta salata (or 1 large buffalo mozzarella, frozen for a few hours)
1. Preheat the oven to 170C/gas 5. Roast the hazelnuts on a baking tray for about 8-10 min, until they're a dark amber colour with an intensely nutty smell.
2. Juice a blood orange then put the juice to one side. Use a small knife to trim all the peel and pith off the other 2 oranges. Make incisions on the inside of each segment to release the flesh as whole pieces — like you would with a Terry's Chocolate Orange.
3. Next, cut the radicchio or endive down the middle and free the leaves from the core with a knife. Cut the leaves in half, into non-uniform shapes. Wash them thoroughly then spin or pat dry.
4. For the dressing, whisk the reserved orange juice, honey and vinegar together. Add salt and black pepper and the oregano. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mix while whisking consistently until you get a slightly thicker, glistening dressing. This process can also be done in a mixer or blender.
5. Put the radicchio leaves and orange segments into a salad bowl, crush the hazelnuts with the side of your knife to get uneven pieces and pop them in the bowl too. Pour over the dressing and toss thoroughly, then taste for seasoning.
6. Finally, grate the ricotta over the top of the salad, which will give it a zingy, salty edge. If you cannot get hold of ricotta salata, take a ball of frozen buffalo mozzarella. At the last minute, retrieve the mozzarella and grate finely over the top and serve.
Neil Paterson and George Colebrook run Arete, a private dining company based in London and Edinburgh