Italian Orange and Fennel Salad

Italian Orange and Fennel Salad

This authentic Italian orange fennel salad tastes just as good as it looks. With chopped olives and lemon vinaigrette for extra flavor and texture, this crisp, sunny citrus salad can be assembled in minutes and brightens any table. Adapted from Italy's iconic cookbook, The Silver Spoon.

Prep Time15

Cook Time0

Servings: 6 people as a side

Calories: 176kcal

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Ingredients

▢ 4 or 5 seedless oranges, such as Navel, blood oranges, or Cara Cara oranges
▢ 1 fresh fennel bulb, with stalk and fronds
▢ 1/2 cup pitted green olives, such as Castelvetrano, drained

For the vinaigrette and to finish

▢ 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
▢ 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 1 tablespoon)
▢ 2 tablespoons finely-chopped Italian parsley
▢ Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper
▢ Red pepper flakes, to garnish

Instructions

Slice and chop the fennel, oranges, and olives.

To slice the fennel: With a cutting board and a sharp knife, slice the base and top (stalks) from the bulb. Reserve the stalks and fronds, discarding the base of the bulb. You now have a baseball-sized white bulb. Remove the outer layer if it looks bruised.
Slice the fennel in half from top to bottom. Place each half flat-side down on the cutting board and rotate sideways, so that the top is to the right, the bottom to the left. Use your knife to thinly slice the fennel into half-circle slices. Break the slices apart with your fingers and set aside.
PRO TIP: You can also use a mandoline to slice the fennel. Set the mandoline to a wide setting to match the thickness of the oranges.
To slice the oranges: Use a sharp knife to slice the top and bottom from the orange. Place the orange right-side up on its flat bottom. Slice the rind's pith and peel from the orange in a rotating series of top to bottom cuts, tracing the shape of the orange. Place the orange back on it's side, and slice into rounds. Repeat with the remaining oranges.
Roughly chop the olives and set aside.

Make the Vinaigrette and Assemble the Salad

For the lemon vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together four tablespoons of the olive oil, the fresh lemon juice, a pinch of salt and black pepper, and the finely-chopped parsley.
To assemble and finish: Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil over the base of your serving plate. Arrange the fennel and orange slices on the platter. Scatter the olives over the top, and spoon the vinaigrette over the oranges and fennel.
Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh red pepper flakes and several delicate pieces of fennel fronds and serve.

Notes

A note on ingredients and substitutions:

Black olives can be used as a substitute for green, but are not preferred
My preference is to use a variety of oranges, if you can find them. Navel oranges alone will be fine, but a combination of navel, blood, and cara cara oranges will really make this pop.
Some orange and fennel salad recipes call for raw red onion. I find this flavor to be too harsh and overpowering against fennel's mild flavor.

Storing and serving this salad:

This salad is best fresh at room temperature, but can be held in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 24 hours. For best flavor, do not serve the orange and fennel salad too chilled.

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Nutrition

Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.