Looking for an easy but impressive salad to make? This fennel and orange salad topped with crispy guanciale is a winner for any occasion.
Ingredients
1 large fennel bulb (about 500g)
100g of unsmoked guanciale (about two thick slices)
2 blood oranges, if in-season otherwise, blond ones will do.
10ml Acetaia San Giacomo apple balsamic vinegar or good quality balsamic vinegar
Equipment
1 frying panA mandolin (if not, a sharp knife will do the trick for finely slicing the fennel)
Method
1) First, you’ll need to cut and keep aside the frilly fennel green leaves, then finely slice the fennel. Peel the orange and cut the orange flesh segments out, mix them with the fennel in a salad bowl, and finally squeeze any juice from the leftover oranges into the fennel/oranges mix, and set aside.
2) Start by cutting the guanciale’s rind off and removing it. Then cut the remaining pieces into strips about 1cm thick.
3) Preheat a pan to medium-high, when the pan is hot add the guanciale strips and sizzle them until crisp. We advise discarding most of the excess fat released by the guanciale while cooking it, this is to avoid a burnt flavour and to help to crisp them up quickly. Once the guanciale strips are nice and crispy keep them to one side until ready to serve with the salad.
4) When ready to serve, add the crisped guanciale, the frilly fennel green leaves and dress with apple balsamic or your choice of balsamic vinegar, the fennel and orange salad that you previously prepared.
Variations
Replace the guanciale with green or black olives for a vegan alternative
Serving Suggestions
Perfect for a BBQ side dish with Lamb chops or bruschetta with tomatoes and burrata.
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