Pinzimonio

Raw vegetables and a dip of nothing but oil, salt and pepper.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 2 fennel bulbs, in wedges
• 6 celery hearts
• 2 bunches radishes, with leaves
• 4 carrots, in batons
• 2 red peppers, in strips
• 6 spring onions
• 250 ml new-season extra virgin olive oil
• flaky salt and coarsely ground black pepper

Method

1. THE OIL IS THE DISH. There are four ingredients and three of them are seasonings, so a dull oil gives a dull plate — this is what new-season peppery oil is for, and the one time it is worth opening the good bottle.
2. Beat the oil with the salt and a great deal of pepper in a bowl until it is cloudy, and divide it between small individual dishes.
3. NOTHING IS BLANCHED, COOKED OR DRESSED. Every vegetable goes to the table raw and whole-ish, to be broken off and dipped.
4. Choose vegetables that are rigid and cold. Keep them in iced water for 30 minutes and dry them just before serving — limp celery cannot carry a dip.
5. No vinegar and no lemon in the oil. Acid would turn it into a vinaigrette and the point is the oil undiluted.
6. Give everyone their own dish of oil rather than one bowl in the middle, which is how it is eaten and also how it stays clean.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes