Roasted radicchio, chicory and grape tray with balsamic vinegar, blue cheese and chopped nuts.
This is a recipe that I think looks beautiful on the roasting tray and hence I usually leave it as so. It also saves on washing up which is a welcome bonus. I love to serve it with a few baskets of good bread along side warmed gently in the oven. Treviso radicchio is a wonderfully bitter lettuce that goes very well with the sweetness of the roasted grapes. I like to add chicory for a variety of texture but you could use either/or if you wish. Take note that I cook the lettuces for different times so if you are only using one cook accordingly. Go for any sort of blue cheese; Roquefort, gorgonzola, stilton or a Danish blue will all do. You can choose any nuts you like. I like a mix of almonds and pistachios. Be sure to use a high quality balsamic vinegar as it makes all the difference. I love Belazu’s which you can find in most supermarkets. Enjoy warm out of the oven or at room temperature. Any leftovers can be enjoyed the next day or tossed together with a few boiled new potatoes and a further glug of olive oil as a tasty salad.
Ingredients
3 large Treviso radicchio
3 red chicory
1 large bunch of red or black grapes
olive oil
salt, pepper
75g blue cheese
good quality balsamic vinegar (I like Belazu)
30g chopped nuts of choice.
Method
Preheat your oven to 220° fan setting.
Trim the base of your chicory and quarter. Place into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle well with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and toss gently using your hands.
Then place your bunch of grapes in the mixing bowl, drizzle with olive oil and toss gently making sure not to break off too many grapes. Place your bunch of grapes on the same tray as the chicory and roast for 40 mins.
Trim the base of your Treviso radicchio and quarter. Place into the large mixing bowl. Drizzle well with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and toss gently using your hands as you did with your chicory. Arrange onto a separate baking tray. Bake for 20 mins. Remove.
Once everything has cooked arrange your Treviso radicchio onto the tray with the grapes and chicory nestling them where you can. Lift some of the grapes and do not worry if a few break off, just arrange them around the tray evenly.
Drizzle everything with some good olive oil followed by a generous drizzle of balsamic. Crumble over your cheese and finish with a sprinkling of the chopped nuts.
