We have known for a long time that plants that contain chicory – including dandelion – are more crunchy and have a sweeter taste if they have no light: the famous fabric regatta is “made” in the cellar, and chicory Belgian also who appreciates it. characteristic. They are recognized by browsing the moles, behind the long white shoots. Almost every dandelion, even if it grows among the grass, has a part that looks exactly like this: white, crispy and soapy, we call it the dandelion crown. It is usually cut and discarded when cleaning. Our fish recipe uses this part – all together at the end in contours reminiscent of roasted Treviso chicory.
Where is the dandelion crown hiding
The only thing that counts here is the picking and cleaning technique: when picking it, cut it deep enough to retain some roots, then cut it exactly, “in the direction”. Remove the bad outer leaves and cut again, this time the top green part. We’ll use it for a salad, the white part, the chronicle, but just blanch it a bit and add it to the new dish. In short: we get two dishes from a dandelion head, we recycle perfectly and we don’t create leftovers, even if they are organic and vegetable.
The crunchiest and least bitter part of the dandelion is an ingredient that we will have in abundance if we start cleaning properly: the crown is the white part where the leaves stick together.
Natalo will have an almost designer lunch in 10 minutes.
Dandelion crowns with noodles, sardines and anchovies
- about 20 dandelion wreaths
- 2 cans of sardines
- 4 garlic cloves
- a glass of anchovies
- chili flakes or another hot spice you like
- Packing of Chinese rice noodles (200-300g)
- olive oil
Preparation
1. Clean the dandelion: hold it as you would to make a ponytail with the leaves, remove the bad outer leaves and cut exactly where the root adheres to the plant so that nothing black remains and everything stays stuck. Then cut off the leaves, about where they turn green. We’ll save you for the salad.
2. Boil a pot of salted water and blanch the cleaned dandelion crowns for a few minutes. We then swirl them around in another pan of water – it doesn’t have to be ice cold – and twist them a few times to remove any impurities we’ve missed between the sheets. Drain.
3. Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in the shrimp and fry finely chopped garlic in it, just enough to smell, and at the same time chilli flakes. Add the well-drained anchovies from the jar (preferably cut into small pieces) and mix/fry until the fat is flavored.
4. Shake the rice noodles in a bowl and pour boiling water over them for a few minutes; when they soften, drain them well and transfer them to a prawn with the garlic and anchovies. Stir vigorously to flavor the noodles, then add the blanched garlic crowns and the drained sardines, cover and put back just long enough to reheat everything and serve.
We also recommend: A little different legendary lunch: mashed potatoes, egg on the eye and something better instead of spinach
Photos: Sonja Ravbar
