How to make a Sicilian salad
14 February 2025
This refreshing orange, fennel and olive salad is traditionally made with the slightly bitter blood oranges grown in Sicily but is delicious with normal oranges too. It makes a great starter or addition to a summer buffet and it looks as good as it tastes. It is also a brilliant recipe for testing your knife skills!
Metric
Imperial
- 1 grapefruit
- 2 blood oranges
- 1 bulb of fennel
- 1 red onion
- 12 black olives, stones removed
- 1 red chilli
- 1 green chilli, optional
- 1/2 bunch of mint
- 1/2 bunch of basil
- lemon juice
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
1
Segment the grapefruit and oranges by slicing a thin layer off the top and bottom of the fruit to give a stable cutting surface
2
Slice the peel and pith off the orange following the curvature of the fruit. Try not to remove too much of the flesh
3
Gently slice between each segment of the fruit until you reach the middle of the fruit
4
Lift out each of the segments and place in the bowl, then repeat with the rest of the fruit
5
Trim the fennel's top and root then remove any blemished layers
6
Slice the fennel in half lengthways then into quarters. Place each quarter on the board, cut-side down
7
Cut out the core root at an angle and separate each layer of fennel then slice finely
8
Finely slice the red onion, olives and red (and green) chillies
9
Pick the mint and parsley into individual leaves
10
Arrange the orange and grapefruit slices on a plate then top with red onion, fennel, chilli, olives, mint and parsley
11
Finally, season with salt and pepper and drizzle over some lemon juice and olive oil
Get in touch
Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.
