Orange and Fennel Salad
Orange, Fennel, Pear and Radicchio. Just 4 ingredients to recreate this refreshing orange and fennel salad. The perfect balance of sweetness and citrus. It’s crisp, It’s juicy and it looks beautiful.
Not only is this salad so mouthwatering, It’s ridiculously easy to prepare. In fact, I can get this gorgeous salad on the table in 5 minutes flat!
Great on It’s own and the perfect side to fish, meat or poultry.
I love salads made with fruit as they are so refreshing just like watermelon salad.
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Orange and Fennel Salad
This salad recipe is a classic in Southern Italy and It’s easy to see why.
Fennel and oranges are a match made in heaven. Add in the pear for extra sweetness and the radicchio for bitterness and you have started a party!
Thats the beauty of Mediterranean cooking, Its simple, fresh and uncomplicated.
My husbands family come from Sicily, Italy and I first tasted an orange salad made by my mother in law who just like my Nonna is a passionate and amazing cook. It was delicious then and still is now when she makes it for family BBQ’s and gatherings.
This is my take on the classic salad.
Check out the full recipe below and you will see that there is seriously no effort on your part to recreate this salad. All you need is a chopping board and a good sharp knife.
Not only does this taste amazing but it looks just gorgeous on the plate!
I love how this salad can be your go to weeknight side or it can be a part of your next fancy dinner party.
What you will need
Fennel: It has a very distinct fresh liquorice flavour, fennel is crisp and crunchy making it great for salads. You will find fennel at your local green grocer. The recipe uses the fennel bulb and the fronds to garnish. Cut off the top and slice off the bottom and discard the outer layer as it is tough.
Oranges: I use naval oranges in this salad but any variety will work. For a beautiful colour blood oranges also work well.
Pears: Just like the oranges any variety of pears can be used to recreate this salad. I use Forelle Pear they are sweet and delicate and have a beautiful tinge of red.
Radicchio: Commonly used in Italian cooking, radicchio is a leafy red vegetable that’s mostly used for salads. It has a slightly bitter taste and a wonderful red colour.
Tips to making this great salad
♥️It’s best served immediately after being made. It only takes a few minutes so always prepare the salad just before your ready to serve it.
♥️Olive oil is all you need! The oranges provide a natural citrus vinaigrette so all you need for a simple dressing is a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.
♥️A good quality sharp knife will make the task of chopping and slicing so much easier. Plus the sharper the knife the thinner you can get your orange, fennel and pear slices.
♥️It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a day. After this the juices from the orange will make the radicchio limp and soggy.
Tools to make the job easier
Robert Welch Signature cooks knife
And that is it! A simple and delicious salad. Just 4 ingredients, 5 minutes and a sharp knife. It does not get easier than this.
Enjoy
MFM XX
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Orange and Fennel salad
Ingredients
- 1 bulb fennel trimmed, fronds reserved for garnish
- 3 oranges peeled, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 pears cored, halved and thinly sliced
- ½ Radicchio thinly sliced (optional)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a serving platter or bowl place the radicchio (if using), fennel, pear and orange slices.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the top.
- Garnish with the fennel fronds.
AMAZING!!! Love the flavours they all work beautifully together!! Thank you 😊
Thank you!!!
Tried this last night and loved it!! Was so simple to make but looked so pretty!!
It really does look pretty doesn’t it!! 🙂
So refreshing and delicious!! Thank you!
So glad you like it 🙂
Great recipe I also added grape fruit was so good!!!
I will have to try that Leanne! Thanks for taking the time to comment.