Store radicchio in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until ready to use. You will need to wash the leaves as you would wash head lettuce.
Radicchio is a bitter green, but don’t let that deter you. When you harvest them after a frost, you’ll find their flavor profile to be bitter, but it’s a much more mild, well-balanced and slightly sweet flavor. There are several different kinds of radicchio, but we mostly grow the round type that is supposed to make a little round head, similar to a Boston lettuce. The leaves are dark red and even the outer leaves of the plant may be eaten.
Radicchio may be eaten raw or cooked. If you don’t mind a little bit of the bitter taste, you will enjoy eating this greens as a salad. Cooking mellows out the bitterness and accentuates the sweet qualities. Radicchio is used more in Italian cuisine, but also pairs well with other fall vegetables and fruits such as apples, pears, persimmons, lemons, oranges, garlic, onions, beets, potatoes and butternut squash. It is also often included in dishes with white beans and lentils. Additionally, radicchio pairs well with hazelnuts and walnuts as well as butter, prosciutto, bacon, cheese (including blue cheese, Parmesan, and gruyere). Radicchio is often used in pasta dishes, on top of pizza, or raw in salads.
Growing Information: Radicchio has a pretty long growing season and some years it’s hard to get them to full size. It is a cold-hardy greens that is best suited for growing in the fall and is sturdy enough to be able to take some frosty, cold nights. In fact, we don’t even think about harvesting radicchio until it’s had some chilly nights! The flavor changes dramatically after they’ve had cold treatment. This green does just fine uncovered when freezing temperatures are in the low 30’s and high 20’s, but it can sustain some damage when we get a hard freeze. So, we do cover this plant to protect it from freezing too hard on those really cold nights. We don’t want the cover to rub on the leaves, so we have to put wire hoops over the beds to keep the cover off the plants.
