Cheese

Bittersweet Roasted Radicchio With Ricotta & Dates

by:
February 27, 2017
4
6 Ratings
Bittersweet Roasted Radicchio With Ricotta & Dates
Photo by James Ransom
  • Prep time 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • Serves 6 to 8
Author Notes

The radicchio, roasted and marinated, is extremely good without any of the other components—the herbs, the cheese, the dates—that push it over the top. If you're cooking for yourself, take the bare bones route. You could mix the marinated radicchio with a cooked grain, like farro, and some hard cheese for an instant take-to-work salad, or you could lay a fried egg over top for a quick dinner.

Or, if you want to make a dinner party show-stopper—or otherwise people-please—add all the goodies. Then serve with crusty bread and accept their praise.

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine. —Sarah Jampel

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 5 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon zest from 1/2 lemon, divided
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
  • 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, plus more to taste
  • 1 pound radicchio, cored and coarsely chopped
  • 8 large, squishy dates, pitted and quartered
  • 3/4 pound fresh ricotta
  • 1/2 cup mint, dill, and parsley, for garnish
  • 1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts, for garnish
Directions
  1. Preheat the broiler. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, 1/2 cup oil, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
  2. Put radicchio and dates in a baking dish (I use a 9- by 13-inch or an 8- by 8) and toss with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Be sure to bury the dates a bit—you don't want them to burn under the heat of the broiler.
  3. Broil the radicchio 5 to 6 inches from the heat source, turning occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes (you're looking to char and brown the leaves). Monitor closely so the radicchio doesn't burn.
  4. Add the hot radicchio and dates to the bowl of the dressing and toss gently to coat. Cover the bowl and marinate, tossing occasionally, for at least an hour. Then remove the garlic cloves.
  5. Spread or dollop the ricotta over a serving platter. Season with lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Spoon the radicchio and its marinade over top. Sprinkle with torn mint, dill, and parsley; top with chopped toasted walnuts. Sprinkle with more lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Serve with bread!
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13 Reviews

Kaylee
Kaylee October 29, 2019
This is so delicious! I just made it with yogurt in place of ricotta and served over pasta. The dates are unbelievably good!
 
helene S.
helene S. November 5, 2018
Great cooking method but date/radicchio ratio was way too high, way too sweet. But broiling was a good idea.
 
epicharis
epicharis March 26, 2017
I could only find smallish heads of radicchio so we made this twice. The first time my fiancé and I didn't care for the dill and the radicchio seemed way too bitter. It needed more sweetness. The second time we added some date balsamic vinegar, chopped the dates more finely and omitted the dill, and it was delightful. This is a very neat recipe.
 
Sarah J.
Sarah J. March 26, 2017
I'm so glad you were able to make it in a way that suited you—and thank you for those notes!!
 
epicharis
epicharis March 27, 2017
Thank you for sharing it. The combination of broiled greens and ricotta is remarkable and the dates are an ingenious touch. We will probably freestyle off of this more in the future!
 
Sarah J.
Sarah J. March 31, 2017
Great—keep my updated with your tweaks so I can try, too!
 
NancyFromKona
NancyFromKona March 23, 2017
Took this to a potluck today and it was great! I got many requests for the recipe. One question I could not answer was 'How long does it keep?'. They ate the entire pan so I guess I will have to make again and not share LOL. The removal of the smashed garlic should keep it from getting too garlicky. Has anyone kept it for longer than a few hours? Did not have ricotta so subbed crumbled feta and I think a soft goat cheese would play well here too. Amazing how little hands on time this takes. And what a great use for those big squishy Medjool dates our Costco regularly stocks. Pomegranates are hard to come by in my area; thinking about adding a drizzle of pomegranate molasses with next batch.
 
Sarah J.
Sarah J. March 26, 2017
A drizzle of pomegranate molasses sounds wonderful.
 
hchambers86
hchambers86 March 15, 2017
Made this last night for a dinner to wait out the non-storm Stella. and #sorrynotsorry devoured it between two of us. Subbed roasted chestnuts for the dates, added pomegranate seeds for sweetness, and found I needed to add a bit more lemon/balsamic to punch up the dressing. It was so, so delicious. Will make again and again!
 
Sarah J.
Sarah J. March 15, 2017
So glad to hear this!
 
MattieK
MattieK March 15, 2017
I made this minus the cheese, subbing pepitas for walnuts, and it was one of the best desk salads of all time. so good, so simple, a real midday, low-lift treat. plus, i will now add roasted dates to all of my wilty greens. who knew the over could turn them into such perfect salty candy.
 
MattieK
MattieK March 15, 2017
*oven!
 
Sarah J.
Sarah J. March 15, 2017
Hooray, so glad you liked it!