Sicilian orange salad
A winter salad from Sicily, where the orange season runs from December into spring. Three things decide whether it works: removing every trace of white pith (that is what makes it bitter), cutting over a bowl so no juice is lost, and using no vinegar — the acidity comes from the fruit alone, and the oil is there only to soften it.
Your own work in that: 5 min.
- Citrus 10 min
- Assembly 5 min
- Resting 10 min
Step by step
0 / 6 donePeel the oranges with a knife, to the flesh
Cut off the ends and take off the skin with a knife, following the curve of the fruit and removing all the white pith. Peeling by hand leaves white fibres behind, and those give the bitter note that ruins the salad.
Ingredients: 5 pcs oranges · ½ pcs red onion · 100 g black olives · 1 pcs fennel
With a knife, right to the flesh — no white left.Slice over a bowl
Cut the oranges into 8 mm rounds over a bowl or a grooved board. The juice that runs out is part of the dressing — do not throw it away.
Ingredients: 5 pcs oranges · ½ pcs red onion · 100 g black olives · 1 pcs fennel
Over a bowl — the escaping juice is half the dressing.Soak the onion in cold water
Slice the onion paper thin and cover it with cold water for 10 minutes, then drain. The water washes out the sulphur compounds responsible for its bite, so the onion stops dominating while keeping its crunch and colour.
Ingredients: 5 pcs oranges · ½ pcs red onion · 100 g black olives · 1 pcs fennel
Lay the slices flat on a plate
Arrange the slices overlapping, in a single layer, not in a mound. This is not a salad to be tossed: the flat arrangement means every mouthful gets orange, olive and onion in the same proportion.
Ingredients: 5 pcs oranges · ½ pcs red onion · 100 g black olives · 1 pcs fennel
One layer, slices overlapping.Scatter the olives, onion and fennel
Scatter the olives and drained onion between the slices, and if you are using fennel, shave it on a mandoline into translucent slices over the top. Fennel brings an aniseed note — a common Sicilian addition to this salad.
Ingredients: 5 pcs oranges · ½ pcs red onion · 100 g black olives · 1 pcs fennel
Dress, season and let it stand
Pour over the reserved juice and the oil, season with salt, coarse pepper and oregano and leave 10 minutes. No vinegar or lemon — the orange has acid enough of its own, and more would mute its sweetness. Scatter the mint leaves just before serving.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil · ½ tsp sea salt · ½ tsp black pepper · ½ tsp oregano · 8 pcs mint
Before you start
Blood oranges
Sicilian tarocco and moro have flesh ranging from ruby to almost purple and a faint raspberry note. If you find them, use them — the salad looks and tastes quite different, though the recipe stays the same.
The anchovy version
In Sicily anchovy fillets or salted herring are sometimes added, and the salad becomes a starter rather than a side. A salty fish note over sweet orange sounds risky, but it is one of the best combinations in this cuisine.
Assemble just before serving
Oranges release juice, and after an hour the salad is swimming. Everything can be prepared ahead — keep peeled fruit in a container in the fridge — but slice and assemble only a quarter of an hour before eating.
