What is pinzimonio?

There is a certain kind of Italian lunch that starts with nothing more than a plate of raw vegetables and a little cup of oil each. No dip in the dip-and-crisps sense, no mayonnaise, nothing whipped. Just oil, salt, pepper and whatever the garden or the market had that morning. That is pinzimonio, and it is a lesson in how little a good ingredient needs.

What it is, exactly

Italy's Treccani dictionary defines pinzimonio as a dressing of oil, pepper and salt in which raw vegetables, such as celery, radishes, fennel and artichokes, are dipped before being eaten. The same entry explains the name as a playful coinage from the verb pinzare, with the ending borrowed from words like matrimonio. Read it however you like; we enjoy the idea of a vegetable briefly marrying some oil.

According to Wikipedia's entry, it is associated especially with Rome and Tuscany, some versions add a little vinegar or lemon juice, and in parts of central and southern Italy it goes by the name cazzimperio. The same entry describes the oil being served in small cups, one per person, which is how we like it too: nobody's celery visits anybody else's bowl.

The oil matters most

With so few ingredients, the oil is the dish. A flat, tired oil will taste of very little; a fresh, peppery extra virgin will make a stick of celery taste like a small event.

• Use extra virgin olive oil you would happily drink a spoonful of. If it tastes good on bread, it is right here.
• Fresh is best. If you come across a new-season oil, green and grassy and a little bitter at the back of the throat, pinzimonio is one of the best ways to taste it.
• Season generously. Flaky or fine sea salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, stirred into the oil just before serving.
• Acid is optional. A few drops of red wine vinegar or lemon juice make it sharper and livelier; leave it out to taste the oil clearly.

For choosing an oil without guesswork, see our supermarket guide.

Choosing the vegetables

Anything crisp, sweet or pleasantly bitter that is good raw. Pick by season:

• Spring: radishes, young carrots with their tops, tender artichokes sliced thin, spring onions, the first cucumbers.
• Summer: sweet peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, celery hearts, small courgettes.
• Autumn and winter: fennel, celery, chicory and radicchio leaves, cauliflower florets, kohlrabi, crunchy white cabbage hearts.

Fennel is the classic, and even people who are wary of aniseed tend to come round once it is cold, crisp and dipped in good oil. If not, our fennel page has other ideas.

Cutting and keeping them crisp

The cut decides how well a vegetable carries the oil.

• Long batons for carrots, celery, cucumbers and peppers: easy to hold, easy to dip.
• Wedges for fennel, cut through the root so the layers stay together.
• Halves or quarters for radishes, keeping a little of the leaf as a handle.
• Thin slices for artichokes, rubbed with lemon so they don't darken.

Put the cut vegetables in a bowl of iced water for a little while before serving. They firm up and get that cold snap. Drain and dry them well, because water on the surface keeps the oil from clinging.

How to serve it

Arrange the vegetables upright in a glass or a jug, or lay them out on a big platter, and give everyone their own small bowl of seasoned oil. Bread on the side, for the oil left at the bottom. It works as an antipasto, as part of an aperitivo spread, or as the vegetable course at a summer lunch.