Puntarelle!

 Honestly, I didn't think I'd be posting here about this vegetable, but that's only because I didn't know how fabulous it is!

When we arrived in Rome (jeez..it's been over 2 weeks? yikes..), we went to our favorite pizza joint and had our favorite pizza. But...there was a special side dish being served, and I had just watched a video about it.

Puntarelle is a springtime specialty. It is traditionally served with a dressing that has anchovies in it, so we figured "no way" because we are vegetarians. And it's Rome. And I hate to ask for anything to be changed for us because we are vegetarians. Especially in Rome.

That all being said, the delightful server and I had a discussion about puntarelle, and he was surprised I knew so much about it. He offered to make a special salad for us with a dressing of olive oil, lemon and salt. Yes, please! He really wanted us to try puntarelle.

Long story short, we loved it, and when I saw it here in Umbria at our local weekly market, I had to but one...

Puntarelle!

Because I had watched that video earlier, I pretty much knew how to prepare it. I knew I needed a special tool, which I also found at our weekly market. Cool!

You have to peel off all the outer long leaves, until you reach the 'heart' of the veg.

Next, you separate the little pieces, and ready them for the tool.

Pretty lil' things...

Now comes the fun/hard part. You have to shove the piece through this wire grid so it extrudes the little pieces...

I honestly can't believe how filthy my hands are here. Oh well...too late to edit at this point.

It was hard to take a photo while I was doing this! I was alone while I was preparing this dish, so I'm sorry if this is confusing...

Looking from the bottom, watching the pieces getting pushed through. I don't know how I took this photo, come to think of it.

It's very important to have a bowl of ice water ready for all this to go into. It helps crisp up the pieces, and it makes them curl, if they are really fresh.

I waited a bit too long after buying the puntarelle, so mine din't curl much. They did get crispy, though!

Now, a dressing!

I made a very simple dressing of our awesomely great olive oil and salt. That's all. 

The finished product.

Puntarelle is worth the effort! It's kind of like celery, but the taste is sweeter. It tastes green.

If you can find it, try it! I would recommend the traditional version, maybe. But our simple vegetarian version was just fine.