Grilled Radicchio
Though it's usually thought of as a salad leaf, radicchio, a bittersweet purplish red head lettuce, mellows and becomes juicy when it's lightly dressed and cooked on a grill or in a grill pan. Select tight round heads that are heavy for their size, without wilted leaves or blemishes.
INGREDIENTS | SERVES 4
- 4 heads radicchio
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon, halved
- Salt and pepper to taste
Quarter the radicchio heads through the root end. In a mixing bowl, drizzle the olive oil over the pieces, squeeze on the lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat.
Heat a grill or stovetop grill pan to medium heat. Lay the radicchio, cut-side down, across the grill ribs. Cook until wilting is visible from the sides, only about 2 minutes.
Turn to the other cut side and cook for 1 or 2 minutes more, pulling it from the grill before it goes completely limp. Serve with extra lemon wedges on the side.
How to Make Lemon Wedges
Waiters and bartenders drive chefs nuts when they try to get artistic with citrus. Chopping off the ends of the lemons, cutting wedges super thin, cutting the limes into slices instead of wedges — these unnecessary steps all lead to inconvenient and messy squeezes. Select lemons and limes that are as elongated as possible for wedges. Then, just halve, quarter, and eighth the fruit lengthwise. Flick out only the seeds you see on the surface of the wedges, using the tip of a small knife. Don't bother mining for deep seeds — it'll only yield sloppy wedges.
