In season: radicchio

For sale

Vegetables and nuts: arugula, Asian greens, beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, chard, chicory, collards, cornmeal, endive, escarole, grits, herbs, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, Napa cabbage, parsnips, pecans, polenta, radicchio, radishes, Savoy cabbage, sorrel, spinach, sweet potatoes, turnips and greens, winter squash

— From local reports

Jessica Legendre is in her third year of farming and her first year of growing radicchio, one of the Italian greens in the chicory family. Like its relatives escarole and frisee, it’s mildly bitter and for some, that makes it an acquired taste.

Legendre and Josh Plymale are the new co-managers of Elm Street Gardens in Sparta, starting their first season there together.

“With radicchio there are so many different varieties that we thought it would be fun to see what will grow best for us. Our customers should really like radicchio. It’s good raw so it’s great in salad mixtures and adds a really nice texture,” Legendre said. “But it’s also delicious braised. And we can plant the heads close together due to its growing habits of tight heads which is great for us because we don’t have much growing space. We’re always looking for things that don’t need much room.”

Legendre and Plymale succession planted their chicories, planting radicchio one week and endive and escarole the next, then seeding more radicchio. The plants take 85 to 90 days to grow to a harvestable size. They’ve planted three varieties, Palla Rossa with green outer leaves and a pink center, and Leonardo with large round heads and intensely purple leaves. Both are the chiggoia-type radicchio with heads that are round. They are also growing Fiero, a taller red Treviso-type radicchio that resembles a head of Romaine lettuce.

The heads are harvested when they’ve grown to full size and are hard like a head of cabbage. Right now, they’re harvesting heads that were planted in November. In January, they started new plants in their greenhouse and altogether expect to grow about 400 row feet of radicchio.

“We’ve been harvesting a good bit of endive over the past few weeks and I find our customers are intrigued by it. And they like to use escarole in Italian recipes such as Italian Wedding Soup. We expect them to have lots of interest in radicchio as well.”

The radicchio harvest will stop when the weather gets hot because the plants become too bitter to eat.

Radicchio, like cabbage, is a sturdy vegetable that will keep well in your refrigerator. Refrigerate it in a plastic bag and when you’re ready to use it, pull off any wilted outer leaves and slice or chop as your recipe calls for.

Billy Allin’s Grilled Prosciutto-Wrapped Radicchio Treviso with Parmesan & Breadcrumbs

Chef/owner Billy Allin of Cakes & Ale says, “It’s been a long road at Cakes & Ale and we still have to encourage guests to try our bitter green dishes. Chicories [like radicchio] need balance on the plate to complement their bitterness. Look for this balance by using fats and acids.”

In this recipe, he complements the bitterness of radicchio by seasoning it with lemon juice and Parmigiano Reggiano and by wrapping it in prosciutto cotto. This is not the cured Italian ham most people think of when they hear “prosciutto.” This is a fresh ham and is available at very well-stocked deli cases such as those at Whole Foods or DeKalb Farmers Market. Allin says an acceptable substitute is a high quality Black Forest ham. To make the fresh breadcrumbs for this recipe. Allin uses the sourdough bread from Proof Bakeshop.

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for brushing and garnish

1 cup homemade breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper

2 small, firm heads radicchio Treviso

Juice of 1 lemon

4 slices prosciutto cotto

Parmigiano Reggiano, for garnish

Preheat grill to 400 degrees. Clean grates and lightly oil.

While grill is heating, season breadcrumbs: In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil and bread crumbs. Stir to combine and saute until lightly golden brown. Remove from heat and season to taste. Set aside.

Trim stems of radicchio heads and cut in half lengthwise. Brush heads with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze a small amount of lemon juice on the cut side of each half. Wrap each half in a slice of prosciutto. Leave a little of the radicchio Treviso exposed so that the leaves char slightly.

Place wrapped heads over a medium high heat part of the grill, turning to grill all sides of the bundle. When the radicchio Treviso just begins to collapse and you have a few charred spots on the leaves and the prosciutto is well grilled, remove from the grill to a paper towel to remove any excess fat.

Put the bundles on a serving plate, grate the Parmigiano Reggiano over the heads and sprinkle with the bread crumbs. Drizzle with a small amount of good olive oil and serve. Serves: 4

Per serving: 176 calories (percent of calories from fat, 30), 8 grams protein, 23 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 6 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 13 milligrams cholesterol, 624 milligrams sodium.