Radicchio Salad with Pears & Apples

Directions

• Before We Start

  Working with Radicchio: This ingredient is quite bitter at first. You need to take the time to repeatedly wash it and soak in ice water for while tame the bitterness. This salad is not bitter because we take the time to do it right!
  White Balsamic: This stuff is amazing, if you can’t find it, substitute apple cider vinegar.
  Pink Peppercorns: Black pepper is not a replacement for this. We use a mortar and pestle to grind it down since they tend to contain a lot of moisture that you probably don’t want in a pepper grinder. You can use a spice grinder as well.
  Sumac: This ingredient is bright and acidic in flavor, if you don’t have it, just add lemon zest instead. It’s not really an Italian ingredient, so lemon zest also makes it more true to its Italian roots, but the sumac is a nice touch.
  Thyme: You can substitute dried if you don’t have fresh on hand.

• Prepare the Radicchio

  Cut the radicchio is half from the core to tip. Dice into 1.5in chunks and remove any core pieces.
   
  Transfer the radicchio to a salad spinner basket and rinse under cold water, gently massaging the leaves with your hands. Give it a quick spin then repeat 1-2 more times. This will get off some of the initial bitterness, but there is more work to be done.
   
  In a large bowl, add cold water and ice, add your radicchio to the bowl and completely submerge. Leave for 15 minutes, then taste a leaf. If it is still very bitter, replace the water with fresh cold water to pull more of the bitterness out.
  Regardless of how bitter it was during the taste you will want to soak for another 15-30 minutes.
   
  Finally, strain in the salad spinner basket, rinse under cold water. Then give it a couple of spins in the salad spinner. The result should be a very mild bitterness to no bitterness at all.
   
  Note: Normally this process takes care of the bitterness, but if it is still super bitter, continue the ice soak another 15 minutes and repeat the final step.
  

• Toast the Walnuts (optional)

  Warm walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, 2–3 minutes until fragrant. Transfer to a plate to let cool.

• Make the Dressing

  Pink Peppercorn and White Balsamic Dressing
  
  Garlic: Peel and grate one clove of garlic with a microplane or the fine side of a box grater.
  In a small bowl add the garlic and the white balsamic. Give it a stir.
  Pink Peppercorns: Using a mortar and pestle, grind the pink peppercorns as fine as you can.
  Thyme: Pull off the leaves from a few sprigs of thyme and finely chop them.
   
  In your bowl with the garlic and balsamic, add in the ground pink peppercorns, honey, maple syrup, sumac, olive oil, salt, and chopped thyme. Whisk together to combine and emulsify.

• Prep the Toppings

  Now it is time to prep the toppings
  Dice the Apple: Dice the apple into 1/2in (1cm) chunks. Skins on.
  Dice the Pear: Dice the apple into 1/2in (1cm) chunks. If you have a very hard skin or one with a lot of bitter bruising on the peel, remove those parts.
  Walnuts: Rough chop the walnuts into 1/4in pieces.
  Parmesan: Using a microplane, grate the parmesan .

• Assemble the Salad

  In a large bowl, combine radicchio, apple, pear, walnuts, and parmesan. Whisk the pink peppercorn dressing again, pour it over the salad and toss.
   
  Let the dressing sit on the salad for a couple minutes before eating so it has some time to meld a bit. This should help eliminate any remaining bitterness in the radicchio.

• Finish & Serve

  Taste and add an additional salt pinch of salt if needed. Serve and enjoy.