Radish Apple salad with toasted hazelnuts

By Kitchen Butterfly • September 8, 2010 • 7 Comments

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Radish Apple salad with toasted hazelnuts — 1 of 4 Photo by Kitchen Butterfly

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Author Notes: I think radishes and hazelnuts have an affinity and if they don't, they should get together more often and make it happen! This is a simple, crisp salad, using radish leaf pesto as the dressing and apple slices to sweeten. To cut the apples into thin chunks, after coring, I cut it into half and then cut into thin slices, lengthways. Then I cut along the horizontal in 3-4 places to give me small pieces. - Kitchen Butterfly

Serves 2

1 bunch radish bulbs, washed (reserve the green leaves for pesto - see recipe on food52)
50 - 60g skinned hazelnuts (filberts), gently toasted & ground
30g freshly grated pecorino/parmesan cheese
1 small clove of garlic, or to taste
Skin of 1 kumquat (or some citrus either a tablespoon of juice or 1 teaspoon of zest)
1/3 - 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 sweet, crisp apple (I used Braeburn), cored and cut into small thin chunks
6 tablespoons radish leaf hazelnut pesto (recipe on food52)
3 tablespoons hazelnut oil
Sea salt, pepper to taste

Make the pesto: Place the radish leaves, half of the chopped hazelnuts, grated cheese, garlic, citrus skin/zest/juice and 1/3 cup of the grapeseed oil to start with in a blender or food processor.
Blitz till smooth, scooping sides in/down in between pulses. Add more oil if required, though mixture liquifies easily. Remove from blender/processor and stir in the hazelnut oil. Season with salt and chilli pepper to taste and refrigerate till ready to use
Make the salad: Slice the washed radishes into rounds
In a bowl, combine the radishes, apple chunks and the remaining hazelnuts and hazelnut oil.
Stir in the pesto and stir well to combine. Season with more salt if need be. You can serve immediately or refrigerate for 1/2 hour - 1 hour before you serve