Much to my surprise, the radish is another brassica – it’s one of the mustards. Which certainly makes sense of the flavours it sports – the peppery leaves, the spice to its raw bite, the odour when it’s cooked. Buy them in bunches with their tops intact – most of the recipes here make use of those, and the leaves from any you don’t use can always be blitzed into a pesto or stir-fried till crispy with garlic and soy sauce for an excellent rice topping.
The winning recipe: Radish, celeriac and apple salad
Fadime Tiskaya has fashioned here the prettiest salad I’ve ever assembled, with a flavour palette as fetching as any garden portrait. Crucially, the radishes – while bedded in an embroidery of feathered leaves, julienned roots and toasted flecks of herb and seed – are never overwhelmed. Instead, the spicy slices hold the whole together. And it is the array of garnishes – nuts, ricotta, honey – that bring those final, gemlike touches.
Serves 4
For the salad
25–30 radishes, thinly sliced, whole leaves reserved
180g celeriac, peeled and julienned
3 carrots, peeled and julienned
2 granny smith apples, cored and thinly sliced
30g coriander leaves
200g strained ricotta cheese
Chopped walnuts, to garnish
For the dressing
1 tsp caraway seeds
2 tbsp dried sweet purple or green basil, plus extra to garnish
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp runny honey, plus extra to garnish
1 First, prepare the dressing. In a dry, hot pan, toast the caraway seeds followed by the basil. Put them in a large bowl and add the olive oil. Whisk and let it rest for 15-20 minutes to infuse. Add the lemon juice and whisk until you achieve a slightly paler, thicker consistency. Add the salt, pepper and honey and whisk again.
2 Now, prepare the salad ingredients. Add all the ingredients, apart from the ricotta and walnuts, to the bowl and dress everything well. Top with dollops of ricotta, drizzle some honey over the top, then sprinkle with some dried basil. Scatter with the walnuts and serve.
Radish leaf and root tart
Shaheen’s recipe echoes the very French way to eat radishes: lots of butter and lots of salt. Shaheen cleverly transposes that simple, perfect combination into a shortcrust casing.
Serves 4-6
For the shortcrust pastry (to line a 8-9 inch round tin)
225g plain flour
½ tsp salt
125g butter
3 tbsp water
For the filling
About 20 radishes, green tops intact
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2–3 garlic cloves, crushed
Salt and black pepper
150ml single cream or whole milk
1 egg
1 Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Add the flour and salt to a bowl. Add the butter, then rub it into the flour with your fingertips, lifting the mixture out of the bowl to incorporate as much air as possible, as this will make the pastry light. Continue until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs, then add the water a little at a time, using your fingertips to press the mixture together and form a dough. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Then roll out the dough into the size and shape of your tin. Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven, set aside and reduce the heat to 190C/375F/gas mark 5.
2 Remove the green tops from the radishes, wash thoroughly and finely chop. Slice the radishes in half and set aside. Heat the oil and gently fry the onions and garlic in the oil until very soft, then add the chopped greens and saute in the pan with a lid on until soft, stirring from time to time to prevent the mixture from sticking. Season to taste and turn off the heat.
3 When cool, evenly spread into the pastry case and carefully arrange the sliced radishes on top. Now, whisk together the cream or milk with the egg and a little seasoning. Pour this over the radish filling. Bake for 30‑35 minutes. Enjoy the tart warm, or at room temperature.
Roasted radishes and greens with miso-brown butter dressing
Deciding between Fadime’s effort and this from Angela Kim was hard: I will absolutely be making this again. Miso and brown butter is another variation on the above-mentioned French recipe, but with added umami, which the ramsons, ponzu and ginger only serve to highlight.
Serves 2
8-10 large pink radishes, with their tops cut off and reserved
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
A handful of rocket
A small handful of ramsons (wild garlic)
For the dressing
30g butter
1½-2 tsp ponzu (or soy sauce mixed with a dash of lemon juice and zest)
1-2 tsp brown miso
A small knob of ginger, peeled and finely grated
A pinch of flaky salt and black pepper
Shichimi togarashi (or red chilli pepper flakes)
2 tsp rice vinegar
Sesame seeds, to garnish
1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Halve the radishes, then toss them with a good pinch of salt and a small drizzle of olive oil. Roast for about 15-20 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan. When the milk butter solids turn brown, take off the heat and add to a bowl. Whisk in the miso, then the rest of the ingredients.
3 Finely chop the radish tops and add them, the ramsons and rocket to a large salad bowl. Toss with some of the dressing.
4 When the radishes are done, toss these with the rest of the dressing.
5 Mix the radishes and greens. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
Radish, orange and bulgur wheat
Oliver Burgess’s salad feels almost like a wheaten riff on a tabouleh. Radish and orange is a lovely combo, the sweetness spiked with peppered coriander seeds.
Serves 2
80g bulgur wheat
180g radishes, leaves reserved (or use 50-60g watercress for the greens instead)
3 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp mint, chopped
2 oranges
2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
1 Put the bulgur wheat in a bowl and pour over 160ml of boiling water. Cover and leave to swell for about 10 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed.
2 Meanwhile, slice the radishes into discs about the thickness of a pound coin, and put them in a bowl. Crush the coriander seeds and peppercorns in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder. Avoid grinding them to a powder – you want them a little rough. Add the spices to the radishes along with the chopped mint.
3 Slice the top and bottom off the oranges, then cut the remaining peel from the fruit. Hold each orange over the bowl of the radishes to catch the juice, then carefully make a cut on each side of every segment, so you are left with wedges of orange flesh and no pith. Let each clean segment fall into the bowl as you cut it free. When finished, reserve the membrane of the orange as you may want to add a little more juice later on.
4 Season with a pinch of salt and add the oil. Toss to coat, then add the bulgur wheat and stir once again. Taste for seasoning, then add either a little more salt or a squeeze of orange before finally adding the watercress.
Pickled daikon and carrot
A typical Japanese New Year’s side from Anna Thomson, and quite possibly my favourite way to enjoy a daikon – a mild radish native to south-east Asia. This comically large white tuber is so well suited to strong flavours and quick pickles.
Serves 2-4
⅓ daikon, peeled and julienned
1 carrot, julienned
½ tsp salt
4 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar or honey
1 Put the carrot and daikon in a bowl, then gently massage the salt into the vegetables until well mixed. Leave for 20 minutes. Gently squeeze the veg to remove the excess water that the salting has drawn from them.
2 Mix together the rice vinegar and sugar to make a quick dressing, then combine it with the daikon and carrot. Serve immediately – or you can keep it for up to a week in the fridge.
Sweet and sour braised radishes
MarmadukeScarlet’s is the recipe that most keenly relishes the colour of these blushing roots. To keep it vibrant, she specifies to add the salt only after the radishes are cooked.
Serves 4
2 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp unsalted butter
1 bunch of radishes (about 300g), washed, trimmed and halved
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh chives, chopped, to serve
1 Combine the honey, lemon juice and cider vinegar. Set aside.
2 Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add the butter and radishes. Fry for 2 minutes, spooning the fat over the veg.
3 Pour the honey mixture over the radishes and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, shaking the pan frequently to prevent the contents sticking.
4 Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then serve with a light sprinkling of chopped chives.
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