December is a special month and we want to celebrate it with a special vegeatable: Puntarelle! They are the sprouts of a type of chicory widely used in Central and Southern Italy and very popular for its fresh and slightly bitter taste. Here are some health benefits of this interesting vegetable as well as the recipe for the famous Roman Puntarelle Salad.
Why you should eat Puntarelle
It helps the liver, kidneys and intestine
This feature has been known since Ancient Roman times. Puntarelle are rich with minerals, and this makes them very beneficial to our diuretic and digestion system, especially if eaten raw.
It improves the eyesight and the general health
The antioxidant and detoxicant substances contained in Puntarelle help preventing eye disease and clean our body.
It’s good for our blood circulation
This is because Puntarelle reduce the absorption of cholesterol and glucose.
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Recipe: The Roman Puntarelle Salad
Serves 4 people
Ingredients
- 800g of Puntarelle
- 10g white wine vinegar
- 4 anchovy fillets in oil
- 1 garlic clove
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Black pepper
- Salt
Directions
- Wash the chicory tuft and separate the sprouts from the big and thick leaves
- Remove the base of the sprout because too hard and cut the rest into strips. You should get 8-10 strips from each sprout
- Leave the puntarelle to rest in a bowl with water and ice for about 1 hour to mitigate the bitterness
- In another bowl squeeze the garlic clove and mix it with the anchovy fillets, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
- Rinse the puntarelle and dress them with the sauce.
- Your Roman Puntarelle Salad is ready! Easy, right?
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