Baked Radicchio
Radicchio is such a beautiful vegetable. I love looking at it through the camera lens.
However, I neglected to taste it before I cooked it and at $8.99/ pound, this felt like a total flop. In general, I like bitter vegetables, but the radicchio I bought was so extremely bitter (Marcella says “astringent”) that it was barely edible. I feel sure it would be a delicious preparation with a nicer sample of radicchio.
Here are the photos:
In the beginning:
Cut in half to reveal beautiful color and patterns:
Placed in baking dish with olive oil:
Brown and still beautiful:
The smells from the oven were wonderful but, like I said above, the flavor was just way too strong.
Beth: I want to taste radicchio that isn’t bitter. So far, that’s never happened. At least I knew I probably wouldn’t like it and I cut the portions way down. Yes, radicchio is expensive!
You may be happier with Belgian Endive. It’s not cheap, but about half the price of radicchio (and less astringent). I like it halved, brushed with oil and grilled and think it would substitute nicely here.
Please see my post on Cindy’s radicchio recipe. Yes this small round radicchio is very bitter when cooked. Joseph’s suggestion is the right one, replace it with Belgian endive if you can’t find the elongated true Treviso radicchio.