P
Italian · Rome, Lazio
Cicoria Ripassata in Padella alla Romana
Blanched wild chicory (cicoria di campo) sautéed in olive oil with garlic and dried chilli — one of the essential side dishes of Roman cucina povera. The cicoria is first boiled until tender, then drained and pressed, and finally 'ripassata' (passed through the pan again) with generous olive oil, crushed garlic, and peperoncino. The double-cooking method mellows the bitterness of raw chicory while the final sauté concentrates flavour and adds richness. Served at room temperature as a contorno or as a topping for bruschetta.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
1 kg
Wild field cicoria (cicoria di campo)
trimmed of coarse root ends
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 ml
Extra-virgin olive oil
Your own market
3 cloves
Garlic
crushed and peeled
Your own market
1–2
Dried peperoncino
crumbled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
Fine salt
plus heavily salted blanching water
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it heavily — the water should taste of the sea. Add the cicoria and blanch until the stems are fully tender throughout, with no fibrous resistance remaining. Lift a stem and press it between finger and thumb: it must yield completely. Under-blanched cicoria carries excessive bitterness that no subsequent cooking will resolve.
2
Drain the cicoria into a colander. Once cool enough to handle, gather it in both hands and press firmly and repeatedly to expel as much water as possible. The pressed mass should hold its shape and feel dense rather than wet. Waterlogged greens will steam in the pan rather than sauté.
3
Pour the olive oil into a wide, heavy pan and set over medium heat. Add the crumbled peperoncino at the outset so it blooms in the warming oil, then add the crushed garlic. Cook, watching without pause, until the garlic turns pale gold — the colour of straw, not amber. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: a few seconds beyond pale gold and the garlic browns, introducing a bitterness that compounds the cicoria's own and cannot be corrected.
4
Add the pressed cicoria to the pan. Turn it through the oil with tongs, ensuring every part is coated and in contact with the hot surface. Continue the ripassata until the greens are heated through, glistening with oil, and any remaining surface moisture has cooked off. The finished dish should glisten visibly — a stingy oil coating signals the dish is incomplete.
5
Taste and correct the salt. Remove from heat. Serve at room temperature as a contorno, or roughly chop and pile onto grilled bread rubbed with raw garlic for bruschetta.
From the canon — Bruschetta is toasted bread rubbed with raw garlic, drenched in your best extra virgin olive oil, and finished with ripe tomatoes. Bruschetta →
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Foraged wild cicoria di campo gathered from unsprayed fields in the Lazio campagna; single-estate cold-pressed olive oil from Lazio or Sabina DOP.
02
Estate — Cultivated cicoria di campo from a specialist grower, with pronounced natural bitterness; a quality central-Italian extra-virgin olive oil.
03
Market — Cicoria available from an Italian greengrocer or farmers' market; a sound, peppery extra-virgin olive oil suited to cooking and finishing.
04
House — Catalogna or puntarelle in its absence, accepting that the flavour profile differs; a reliable supermarket extra-virgin olive oil used generously.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. A blanched stem pressed between finger and thumb yields completely, with no fibrous resistance — the cook knows blanching is done.
◇Touch. The pressed mass of drained cicoria holds its shape and feels dense; if moisture weeps freely, it requires further pressing.
◇Sight. Garlic in the oil is the colour of straw — pale gold, not amber — and the cook moves immediately to the next step.
◇Sight. The finished cicoria glistens uniformly with olive oil; dull or dry patches indicate insufficient oil or insufficient turning.
◇Where it lives or dies. The garlic must be pulled from the heat at pale gold: one shade beyond that, the oil is bitter and the dish is lost.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Wine
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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