Sicilian Salad - Recipe

This is the kind of salad you’d eat under a lemon tree, late afternoon, sun still warm on your shoulders, table cluttered with empty olive bowls and half-finished conversations. A bold Mediterranean salad built on contrast and balance. Baby spinach and radicchio bring freshness and bitterness, paired with sweet sundried tomatoes and briny green olives. Shaved parmesan adds richness, while thinly sliced fennel gives a crisp, aromatic crunch. Chilli-pickled pears cut through with sweet heat and acidity, tying everything together. Finished with a bright Sicilian dressing of rice wine vinegar, orange juice, Dijon and extra virgin olive oil, this salad is punchy, fresh and deeply satisfying.

Serves 6-8 as a side

Salad Ingredients:

• 100g baby spinach leaves, washed

• 150g radicchio, leaves washed and torn

• 150g sundried tomato, large ones halved

• 150g green olives, pitted and halved

• 100g parmesan, peeled with peeler

• 100g fennel, fronds and stem removed, sliced on a V slicer thinly

• 2 chilli pickled pears (make 1 day ahead, see recipe below)

 Sicilian Dressing ingredients:

• 3 tbs rice wine vinegar
  
• 3 tbs orange juice
  
• 1 tbs sugar
  
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
  
• Good pinch cayenne pepper
• 6 tbs best extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

Chilli Pickle Pear ingredients:

• 2 pears, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp chili flakes

Chilli Pickle Pear Method:

1. Make the pickling liquid in a small saucepan by adding together the vinegars, chili and sugar. Warm through, stirring until sugar fully dissolves.
2. Add the pears to the liquid. Keep stirring, at the beginning it will be a tight fit but as they soften and release liquid it will be easy. Simmer for 5 minutes until just tender — don’t let them go mushy

3. Transfer the pears and liquid to a container. Let cool, then refrigerate for 1 day or longer as needed.

Dressing Method:

1. Add all the ingredients together except the oil and whisk to dissolve sugar and salt completely

2. Whisk in the olive oil until emulsified

3. Pour into a jug to serve on the side of the salad

Salad Method:

1. Assemble all the ingredients, toss

2. Garnish with some parmesan peels