I love winter vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower and fennel are all friends. But my favorite time of the year is when puntarelle start showing up in the markets.
If you’ve had puntarelle then you are probably swooning by now (it’s a love kind of thing). If you haven’t, then let me introduce you. Puntarelle is a type of chicory. Examining a head of puntarelle, it looks green and leafy – at least at first glance. But start to pry apart the outer leaves and you’ll soon find the pale green, crunchy center that sets this vegetable apart. The core of the vegetable grows into multiple pointy spears, that are almost asparagus like at the tips.
The taste is slightly bitter, with loads of crunch. In the winter, when it comes into season and is dressed with a lemony/garlic vinaigrette it’s what your sluggish body has been asking for, but didn’t realize . When I’ve tired of roasted root vegetables and every kind of boiled green, puntarelle is the fresh, crunch I crave.
Puntarelle is – like many of life’s pleasures – a pain to prep. First you must peel off the outer, dark green leafs. Then each spear must be cut off the central core. And finally, each tiny spear has to be cut lengthwise, into thin strips. The strips are then put into water, to lose some of their bitterness, and also to curl up.
Luckily, like all fussy vegetables, in Rome you can buy them prepared and ready to go at the most markets.
Back in the olden days (like ten years ago) the vendors in Campo dei Fiori would use a small, sharp knife to carefully cut the spears into strips. But then, all of a sudden, this nifty puntarelle cutter started showing up. I assumed each vendor made them himself, but it turns out it was one house ware guy who specialized in them. (It’s the stand across from the flower vendors) He’s even patented the thing, and has a web site.
The cutter is genius. A series of stainless steel wires are stretched across a small wooden frame, crossing to make a grid. The vegetable vendor then takes each puntarelle tip, and forces it through, before throwing it in its water bath to soak.
In case this is all too hard to understand, I’ve included a video. This way you have two choices. You can head over to your local market (if you are in Rome. Puntarelle are mostly a Rome thing) and buy a baggie of prepared puntarelle. Or, once you get to the market, buy your puntarelle whole, and pick up your own taglia puntarelle. Which ever way you do it, make sure to dress it with the incredibly addictive traditional dressing below.
Ooops! Forgot the third, most important and easiest option: order it in a restaurant whenever possible. Ask for it, since it may not even be on the menu, so fleeting is the season. My favorites include Pompiere and Da Gigetto, both in the Jewish Ghetto. 
Puntarelle Dressing
(enough to dress about 6 cups of puntarelle, or other salad)
1 clove garlic
2 anchovies
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh pepper
juice from one lemon (about 1/4 cup juice)
1/3 cup olive oil
Put all the ingredients in a blender, and mix till blended. Taste and adjust. You might like it a bit less lemony, if so add more oil. But it is a very strong tasting dressing.
More than anything else, this is why I miss Rome.
Really, more than, say, your family?
Well, that goes without saying.
I know its sacrilegious, but we serve Puntarelle in larger pieces where the flavors stand out more. There is local Puntarelle in the DC area and we augment the short season with Treviso grown puntarelle,
That’s interesting!
That little cutter is quite decorative on the website.
Thank you for the tutorial. I’ve always wanted to try this but I’ve never seen it in the market here in California. Guess I’ll have to wait for Italy!
Where do you live in California? Because I know Evan Kleiman brought back seeds to a farmer, and I think he was selling it at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market.
I grow it in Bolinas, Ca and sell it at Berkeley farmer’s mkt saturdays nad Tuesday Ferry Plaza, SF, in season of course.
Annabelle
Thanks Annabelle, good to know. Maybe you should start selling these little puntarelle cutters too? 🙂
I found some at the South Berkeley farmer’s market last Tuesday, at the Dirty Girl Produce stand.
I just bought some today in Santa Cruz, from Dirty Girl Produce, and I’m trying your recipe tonight! Thanks for the great information.
We grow Puntarelle in a planter box and use the baby leaves in place of arugula in sandwiches.
Luanne says she grows them in a planter box. Where can one find the seeds?
Franchi is a great source: http://www.seedsofitaly.com/
Endive and fennel cut in sticks good subsitute if you live in NJ lol
Yes, both are good substitutes, especially the endive since puntarelle is in fact and endive. I also use curly endive, which isn’t at crunchy, but stands up well to the garlicky dressing. I’ve never tried fennel, but now I will. I know Patricia Wells recommends celery, but I’m not so sure about that one.
I so love puntarelle and order it every time I see it on the menu in Rome. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find here in the US. I think I will also try and grow my own.
I love the dressing so much I made put it on a raw zucchini salad on my blog a couple of years ago.
The last time in Campo di Fiori, I saw one of those cutter for sale but could not bring myself to spend the 14 euro they wanted (I don’t think I was at the right guy). Next time I will look for it elsewhere.
Nope, you had the right guy. That little cutter is expensive! He’s selling it now for 15 euros. And I’ve never seen it anywhere else.
The little hardware store in the historice Jewish neighbourhood in Rome had them last time I was there, admittedly a few years ago.
I love puntarelle and everyone who has ever tasted them with us loves them too. Hard to find in the USA though. Ally and I had a good dish of them at the Taverna Romana yesterday with a perfect dressing. Thanks for the great video, having done them by hand for so long, I need to get myself a puntarelle cutter too! I have posted your article on our Facebook page!
I’m still undecided if I like them cut by hand or by this cutter….but it sure is faster!
love puntarelle. hate that it’s a pain to get in the states. there’s really nothing like it.
I miss Rome, miss the Campo di Fiore, miss the puntarelle…have to check out Eataly (NYC) and see if they bring it in.
wonderful post — thank you.
My sister Jodi reports that Eataly does in fact have punterelle! Mission accomplished. But the season is drawing to an end, so you’d better hurry. http://jodiskitchenandhome.blogspot.com/2012/02/tale-of-two-cities-anchovies-and-pork.html
Got it! Making the salad now…thanks.
Where’d you find it?
If they have in DC they MUST have it here in Los Angeles. Tomorrow Farmers market, here I come! 🙂
It is also very good Blanched then cooked in olive oil and garlic with a little Salt
That’s true! And how I’ve had it prepared in Puglia recently.
Our best source for great puntarelle is Tierra Vegetables from Santa Rosa, which we buy at the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market in San Francisco. This is where we first found it though now we look for it in Rome. Excellent!
Has anyone ever seen Puntarelle in Texas…..Houston specifically?
Puntarelle is available in Chicago right now at the Green City Market in Lincoln Park at the Green Acres Farm stand. I am about to try it!
I wish I could get my punterelle to curl like I’ve had it in Rome. (I get mine from Dirty Girl in the Santa Crus farmers’ market)
You may not be cutting it correctly. The other possible reason is that they harvest them too late, and they are too tough.