How do you use oranges in savoury cooking?

In much of northern Europe the orange lives in the fruit bowl and the breakfast glass. In Sicily it turns up in salads, with olives, onion and good oil, and nobody thinks that is unusual. Oranges are sweet, aromatic and gently acidic, which makes them a natural partner for savoury food as long as something on the plate pushes back.

The Sicilian orange salad

The clearest example is insalata di arance. Italian Wikipedia describes it as a dish of Sicilian (and Spanish) cooking: in its basic form, slices of orange dressed with olive oil, salt and black pepper, with the oranges themselves providing the acidity a vinaigrette would usually bring. It mentions variations with very thinly sliced fennel or onion and black olives, sometimes with vinegar and herbs such as mint or rosemary.

How we make it work:

• Peel properly. Cut off the top and bottom, then slice away the peel and all the white pith with a sharp knife, following the curve. Slice into rounds or cut out segments between the membranes.
• Add salt and bitterness. Thin red onion, shaved fennel, black olives or a handful of bitter leaves like radicchio or rocket.
• Dress with oil, salt and pepper, then taste. If the oranges are very sweet, a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice bring it back into balance.
• Let it sit briefly, so the juices mix with the oil into a dressing.

Blood oranges in winter make it spectacular to look at, and their slightly berry-like flavour is a bonus. Our page on fennel shows why it pairs so well.

Zest: the perfume

Rub a strip of orange peel between your fingers and you will smell where the perfume lives. Grate only the coloured outer layer; the white pith underneath is bitter. (Our page on lemon zest without bitterness covers technique, and it applies to oranges too.)

• In sauces: a little zest in a tomato sauce, a bean stew or a pan of braised fennel adds warmth.
• In butters and oils: zest stirred into soft butter with black pepper melts beautifully over roasted carrots or squash.
• In crumbs and gremolata-style toppings: orange zest with parsley, garlic and toasted breadcrumbs over roasted vegetables or pasta.
• With olives: warm olives with strips of orange peel, garlic and chilli for an aperitivo.

Add zest late in cooking, or off the heat, to keep its perfume.

Juice: sweetness and gentle acid

Orange juice is sweeter and less sharp than lemon, so on its own it can make a dish taste flat or sugary. Balance it:

• In dressings: mix orange juice with a splash of vinegar or lemon, olive oil, salt and a little mustard. Lovely on grain salads, bitter leaves and beetroot.
• In glazes: reduce juice in a small pan until syrupy, then add a little vinegar, salt and chilli. Brush over roasted carrots, squash or fennel near the end of their time in the oven.
• In braises: a splash of juice with olive oil and garlic to braise fennel or chicory.
• With agrodolce ideas: orange alongside vinegar, raisins and pine nuts.

Keeping the balance

When orange makes a dish too sweet, it usually needs one of four things:

• Salt, a pinch more than you think.
• Acid, a few drops of vinegar or lemon.
• Bitterness, from radicchio, chicory, olives or a little zest.
• Heat, from chilli flakes or black pepper.

Pick whichever suits the dish and add a little at a time, tasting as you go.

Which oranges to use

• Navel and other sweet oranges for salads and eating raw.
• Blood oranges for colour and a deeper, berry-like taste.
• Bitter Seville-style oranges, when you find them, for marmalade but also dressings and marinades where you want sharpness; use them like lemons.

Unwaxed oranges are worth seeking out when you plan to use the zest; otherwise, scrub the skin well.