Chickpeas with chargrilled orange and roast fennel

Roast guinea fowl with caramelised fennel and orange

 Radicchio with orange and balsamic

I have just come back from Italy, and apart from my usual objections to returning to a country where sky-blue is a dull grey, I had to leave just as the tarocco oranges appeared in the market.  

I have been in love with them ever since I was introduced to them at a market stall beneath my window in Campo dei Fiori – when I was studying in Rome and doing my best to become the next Maria Callas.  The stallholders were very enthusiastic about my attempts to become the next Maria Callas and cheered enthusiastically whenever I hit a particularly good top Eb.  They were equally keen that I should learn what was and wasn’t good to eat: coming from England I was obviously in dire and urgent need of all the help that I could get.

The tarocco is often thought of as a blood orange but it does its own thing about colour: some are ruby red, some mottled, and some completely orange; occasionally you start eating one that is red, and by the time you get to the other side, it is completely orange.  But the colour is really beside the point – what is wonderful about them is their flavour, the perfect balance between sweetness and acidity, and their soft, edible skin.  All that talk of being excited to find an orange at the end of your Christmas stocking – if it was a tarocco you really would be.  

At least before I left I had a few days of tarocchi, and I made the most of them, and in the not too distant future they’ll be in England too.

I often chargrill things on a griddle pan – it’s an excellent way of making vegetables   delicious without turning the oven on – but I had never thought of chargrilling slices of orange before. If you haven’t either, grab your nearest orange, slice it into rings, fling it onto a hot griddle pan, and cook them until they are streaked with brown on both sides. They are delicious, and the perfect thing to go with a negroni*.   They are also terrific with pulses and as a hassle-free, marmalady accompaniment to duck.

*I am always on the lookout for things to eat with aperitivi that are neither crisps nor nuts.  

N.b. I have nothing against either crisps or nuts, but they are an excellent way of eating your body weight in calories before you have even sat down to dinner.

The stall in Campo dei Fiori that sold the miraculous oranges always had fat, juicy fennel. It was run by a Sicilian called Maurizio, and he was very keen that I should understand that they were good because they were femina, and I should have nothing to do with the scrawny flat ones because they were maschio.

Whatever the truth of vegetable-gender (almost certainly none), he was right about the scrawny flat ones: they are tough, stringy, and the flavour is too strong.  

But he never said anything about how good they would be with his oranges.  

I didn't set out  create a menu based almost entirely on fennel and orange, but it works remarkably well.

Chickpeas with chargrilled orange and roast fennel

I love chickpeas and the combination of soft, sweet fennel with the caramelised, slightly marmalady, almost crispy orange rings is a revelation – and they make it look very festive.  And it’s spectacularly easy.

Serves 2 – 4

• 1 can or 100g dried chickpeas cooked with coriander and cardamom seeds, and peppercorns
• 2 bulbs of fennel  
• 1 orange – tarocco if you can get one, or other thin-pithed variety
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper

1. Wash the fennel and cut into wedges. Put them into a bowl and add salt, pepper, and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil.
2. Mix them well so that the oil completely covers the surface of the fennel – preferably do it with your hands.  
3. Put on a baking tray and roast in a hottish oven (200º / 180º fan / gas mark 6) for about 40 – 60 minutes – the exact timing depends on the heat of your oven and the moisture content of the fennel – turning from time to time. You are aiming for a golden outside, and soft enough inside for the juices to be escaping and beginning to caramelise. You do not want them either hard or burnt.
4. While they are cooking, drain the chickpeas and put in a bowl large enough to have plenty of space to mix the salad well.
5. Slice the oranges fairly thinly and chuck them on a hot griddle pan till both sides are streaked with brown and the skin has softened. You may want to cook them until they are a bit crispy.
6. Add the roast fennel to the chickpeas and the remaining oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper, and mix really well. Put them in a shallow dish and scatter the chargrilled orange rings on top.

It’s delicious hot or cold.  

Guinea fowl with fennel and orange

I recently rediscovered guinea fowl thanks to the shelves of Sansepolcro’s Co-op being stripped bare in the shopping frenzy before the Tutti Morti national holiday, and it has given me a fit of the raptures.  I had always thought it a bit dry, but this time I cooked it under the watchful and buona-forchetta eye of my friend Lori Alessandrini who made sure I removed it from the oven before it got dried out – about 20 minutes earlier than usually recommended.     And for people like me who love the skin – I would happily eat the skin and leave the rest (not recommended for downsizing) – it had fantastic, crispy skin, was gorgeously moist and tender, but left very little fat in the tin.

Serves 3 – 4

• 1 guinea fowl
• 2 plump bulbs of fennel
• 1 orange
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Heat the oven up to 200º / 180º fan / gas mark 6
2. Slice the fennel into ½ cm rings; put in a bowl, season well with salt and pepper, and add two teaspoons of olive oil.
3. Mix really well with your hands to make sure it’s really well covered, and lay it on a baking tray (with a lip).
4. Slice the oranges into slightly thinner rounds and lay them on the fennel.
5. Cut the guinea fowl into 6 pieces, season with salt and pepper, and lay them, skin-side up, on top of the orange and fennel.
6. Roast them until the skin is golden and crispy – about 30 – 40 minutes. Remove the guinea fowl and keep warm.  Turn oven up to 220º / 210º fan / gas mark 8 and return orange and fennel to the oven to caramelise.  Do your best not to burn it.  

Diva Notes

Guinea Fowl

You can roast the bird whole if you prefer or you don’t want the faff of cutting it up.

It would be very good for a – and possibly even the – Christmas meal.

If you can’t get guinea fowl, this would be good with partridge, duck or chicken.

Vegetarians and vegans

The fennel / orange combination works very well as a veg dish.  

Radicchio with orange and balsamic

This is a wonderful bitter – sweet – sour combination.     It’s equally good hot or cold, and goes with more things than I’ve had hot dinners.

Serves 2 – 3

• 1 head of red radicchio
• Half an orange
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper

1. Roughly chop the radicchio and put in cold water to soak.
2. Finely dice the orange.
3. Put the olive oil in a sauté pan and heat till it has covered the base of the pan.
4. Add the diced orange and cook till it has softened and begun to caramelise.
5. Drain the radicchio, add it t the pan, and season well with salt and pepper.  
6. When it has begun to wilt and release its juices, add some balsamic and boil rapidly to reduce the liquid.

Diva Notes

Depending on space in your oven, you can also roast this. In which case put everything in a bowl and mix well to make sure radicchio is coated in olive oil and well-seasoned, then chuck it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

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