How do you make bitter greens taste good?

Italian cooking has a soft spot for bitterness. Cicoria, puntarelle, radicchio, cime di rapa, escarole, dandelion leaves: the markets are full of greens that bite back a little. The aim is never to make them taste like lettuce. It is to give the bitterness something to talk to.

The balancing kit

Think of bitterness as one voice in a conversation. These are the voices that answer it:

• Fat. Olive oil, butter, cheese, egg yolk, nuts. Fat coats the tongue and makes bitterness feel round rather than sharp. This is the big one.
• Salt. In our kitchen, a confident pinch of salt makes bitter leaves taste rounder, so season boldly. Salty things like capers, olives and aged cheese are natural partners.
• Acid. Lemon juice or vinegar brightens greens and stops them tasting heavy.
• Sweetness. Raisins, a few slices of orange, roasted squash, a drop of good balsamic, caramelised onions. Small amounts go a long way.
• Heat. Chilli and garlic give it a direction.

Most good bitter-green dishes use at least three of these. Very few use only one.

Cook the tough ones

Cicoria (wild chicory and its cultivated cousins), cime di rapa, dandelion and escarole soften a lot with cooking, and their bitterness mellows as they do. The classic Italian approach:

1. Blanch the greens in plenty of salted boiling water until tender. Drain well and squeeze lightly.
2. Warm olive oil with sliced garlic and a pinch of chilli in a frying pan until the garlic is pale gold.
3. Add the greens, toss until glossy, taste and season.

This ripassata (literally a second pass in the pan) is one of the great side dishes. If they still taste too bitter, a squeeze of lemon and more oil usually sorts it. Our page on what blanching does explains the first step in more detail.

Dress the raw ones boldly

Radicchio and puntarelle are often eaten raw, and raw bitterness wants a dressing with character.

Puntarelle, a type of chicory with crisp, pale shoots, is traditionally a Roman salad: the shoots are soaked in cold water until they curl, then dressed with a pounded mixture of anchovy, garlic, vinegar and salt, emulsified with olive oil, according to Wikipedia's puntarelle entry. For a meat-free version at home, capers and a little extra salt give a similar savoury punch.

For radicchio, think rich and sharp: shaved Parmesan or pecorino, walnuts or hazelnuts, orange segments, a little balsamic or red wine vinegar. Slice it thinly and dress it a few minutes before serving so it relaxes.

Grill or roast the sturdy heads

Radicchio di Treviso, the long kind, and halved heads of round radicchio take beautifully to the grill or a hot oven. Cut them into wedges through the root, brush with oil, salt and cook until the edges char and the leaves wilt. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic or honey and some crumbly cheese. Heat makes them sweeter and softer, and the char adds its own pleasant bitterness that somehow makes sense.

Pair them with something mild

Bitter greens work beautifully as one element in a dish rather than the whole thing. Toss blanched cicoria through pasta with plenty of pecorino. Pile sautéed greens on bread rubbed with garlic. Stir escarole into a pan of simmering beans. Starchy, mild partners do half the balancing for you.