I’ll be honest…winter in Sicily is not my favorite time of year. The vines in the vineyards are totally bare, my vegetable garden is empty (except for the weeds that have grown up), and worst of all, the weather is completely unpredictable. While the temperatures don’t really get too awfully cold, the sun spends more time tucked away into the clouds, and the rain and winds take over. Most of the time when there’s rain in the forecast, strong winds also accompany it. Umbrellas are rendered almost completely useless in weather like this. Either the wind whips your umbrella completely inside out and you get soaked, or the rain blows sideways, so every part of your body that the umbrella doesn’t actually cover gets completely drenched. Either way, you come home looking like a wet dog. Needless to say, I spend a lot more time at home during the winter months.
There is, however, one bright spot in the dreary winter days that I look forward to every year. SICILIAN CITRUS!!! Around mid-December, the trees finally begin to show hints of color other than green. By January, they are completely dotted with yellow and orange! Mandarins, tangerines, lemons, and navel oranges abound! The most prized, however, and one of my favorites, are the Sicilian Blood Oranges.
Blood oranges get their vibrant red color from the presence of anthocyanin, a pigment present in flowers and fruit, but not usually found in citrus fruits. Sicilian Blood Oranges are prized throughout Italy and Europe, and with good reason. While blood oranges are grown in other parts of the world, including Spain, Australia, and the states of California, Texas, and Florida in the U.S., the flavor of the Sicilian Blood Orange is far superior to any other type that I’ve tasted. Its tangy-sweet flesh is incredibly good for you, too. Just one medium-sized blood orange contains 15% of the FDA’s recommended daily amount of potassium, and 28% of the recommended daily amount of dietary fiber.
There are three different varieties of blood oranges:
Sanguinello – classified as a “full-blood” orange. The Sanginello has characteristics similar to the Moro, but with an extended growing season. The first mature fruit appears in February, but can remain unharvested on the trees until April, and until May once they are harvested.
I saw the first Moro oranges of the season in the market this week, so I immediately snatched them up. Since it’s early in the season, the color of their flesh wasn’t as dark as what I was hoping for (solely for the sake of photos), but the flavor was all there! So, I decided to grill some whole Spigola (sea bass), seasoned with the blood orange zest, crushed fennel seeds, salt and freshly-ground pepper, accompanied by the very typical Sicilian Blood Orange and Fennel Salad. The salad is one of my favorite ways to showcase blood oranges. It is very fresh and crisp, and reminds me of summer, even though it is made with winter produce. It is the perfect accompaniment with jsut about any fish, as well as pork.
Fennel is a vegetable that is completely underappreciated in the United States. Prior to moving here, I can’t say that I remember eating fennel even once! That’s really because everything that I had read about it told me that it had a licorice-like flavor. I HATE black licorice, so I steered clear of fennel. What a mistake! It is now one of my favorite vegetables. While it does have an anise-like flavor, it is not nearly as strong as licorice. Its flavor is a bit stronger in its raw form, but mellows when roasted. Raw or cooked, it is absolutely delicious!
Below you will find my recipe for Sicilian Blood Orange and Fennel Salad. If you cannot find blood oranges, regular oranges taste just fine, as do tangerines. I love to add chile flakes to mine (I just love a little spice in my life), but feel free to leave them out. Some people add black olives to the salad, which is delicious, but I do not. My husband does not like olives, so I leave them out. He says that he’s allergic, but I know better. His job is what allows me to live here, though, so I try to be nice to him by leaving olives, asparagus and Brussels sprouts, which are his only food dislikes, out of my cooking.
If you would like to know how I prepared the fish, please send me a note, and I will e-mail it to you.
Sicilian Blood Orange and Fennel Salad
1 fennel bulb, with 1 Tbsp. fronds reserved and chopped
1 small red onion, cut in half, then thinly sliced into half moons
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
About 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 small lemon
5-6 blood oranges
3-4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Cut the fennel bulb in half lengthwise, and then slice it as thinly as possible. The best way to do this is using a mandoline. Using a food processor equipped with a thin-slicing blade would also work well. If you do not have either, just make sure that you are using a very sharp knife. Toss the fennel slices with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes (if using), some of the chopped fennel fronds, and the juice of half of a small lemon. Add the onion slices, and 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil. Toss to coat, and set aside.
Juice one of the blood oranges. Whisk in the remaining olive oil. Set aside.
Slice off the top and bottom ends of the remaining blood oranges so that they will stand upright. Then, use a knife to cut off the peels in long strips, including as much of the bitter white pith as possible. Turn the oranges on their sides, and slice into thin wheels. Alternately, you can cut the blood oranges into supremes by cutting in between the membranes to free the sections, and then discarding the membranes. Add the blood orange slices to the sliced fennel and onions. Pour in the juice and olive oil mixture, add the chopped parsley, toss to coat, and serve. Buon appetito!
Wine Pairing: Donna Fugata Lighea (50% Zibbibo, 50% Catarratto)
Fabulous Michelle, I can taste the Blood Orange as I read this! Is the wine paring easily to find in the states? I would like to try the salad. Are the Blood Oranges available in the States in season now? I do enjoy… but they can be expensive!
Again, great blog. Your talent in cooking carries over in writing about your true passion.
Thanks, Erik! I know that some of Donna Fugata’s wines are available in the U.S., but I’m not sure about the Lighea. If you can’t find it, try their Anthilia (50% Catarratto, 50% Ansonica). I saw that at Sam’s Wine in Chicago when I was home for Thanksgiving. Better yet, come visit me, and then you can take some home for yourself. Cantina Donna Fugata is only about 10 minutes from my house 🙂
As for the blood oranges, the season for the ones from Texas are supposedly December – March, and the California ones from December – May. I’m not sure about the Florida season. Regardless, you should be able to find them somewhere. Whole Foods Market is always a good choice, but you will definitely pay more for them there. Like I said in the blog, if you can’t get blood oranges, or they’re just too expensive, use a good quality navel orange, a tangerine, or a combination of both. While the flavor won’t be exactly the same, it will still be absolutely delicious.
This is making my mouth water this morning. I can occasionally get blood oranges here, but they are never as good as the ones I had in Italy. The recipe sounds lovely. I’m going to keep it on hand just in case fennel and blood oranges ever appear at my market at the same time!
Thanks for the info on the wine and oranges (and for the shameless plug to get us to Italy). You are good!
Great post, love the photo of the orange tree..I have some photos I think.
Can you email me recipe for the fish please, looks good 🙂
For the record, I was salivating by the time I was done reading the recipe for the blood orange and fennel salad. I love oranges, I could probably eat them 24/7 if my body allowed me to. I break out with blisters in my mouth and on my lips when I eat things that have too much acid in them, like oranges, limes, lemons, pineapple. Pineapple is another weakness. Although I can handle a little bit and the salad looks amazing. I would completely agree and understand where you are coming from with the underappreciated statement about fennel. I had heard so many things about it tasting like licorice that I refused to even give it a try. I actually tried it for the first time at a grilfriends house. She made soup and salad. Both recipes called for celery and she replaced it with fennel and I couldn’t have been more please with it. It was very delicious. However, I have yet to give it a whirl in my kitchen. I can’t wait to hear more from you. I always take a moment to come and see if you have posted anything. Take care and God Bless.
**You know, my hubby isn’t one for asparagus either and what I did was instead of steaming it (which makes it soggy and mush like) I actually put the asparagus in a aluminum foil pocket with fresh garlic, EVOO, fresh ground pepper and some sea salt. I then put the packet on the BBQ for about 10 minute or so (I like them a little crunchy still) and he loves it now. He prefers that over anything. Just a little something to think about, because I love asparagus.
I love blood oranges so much that we put a tree in our Italian garden in Positano where citrus do so well. However it doesn’t come up quite as red as apparently you need much colder temperatures overnight for them to take on the colour.
The orange and fennel sounds like a delicious combination!
Love the smell and taste of fresh fennel. Fennel is so easy to come by in the states, it really is ashame we don’t use it more often in everyday cooking.
Blood oranges are a little more difficult to come by, but you can find them, a good replacement is the clementine tangerine. They are smaller and less dramatic for the presentation, but the flavor is there.
Good job Michelle, I can feel you passion for the foods you enjoy, in your words! Love it! Great job and keep on sharing with us!
I’m just catching up on the blog, and this reminded me more of my time in Sicily than anything in a long time. I would seriously kill for a blood orange right now.