Advent Ball, December 9th

Blood Oranges for a salad

Ciccio, on the other hand, wishes us to post one of his favourite Sicilian recipes, so that his own talent doesn’t get outshined by Jacintos writing. Here’s one he recommends for those “piccanti” summer nights! he says it works in witner too, if you're in a warm place!

Sicilian Blood Orange Salad

1 small to medium organic red onion, sliced into thin rings
Ice
Water
3 to 4 blood oranges, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
2 navel oranges, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
About 1/4 cup juice from the oranges
About 12 black Kalamata or Italian olives
Fruity extra-virgin olive oil

Half fill a medium-size bowl with ice, add the onion slices, cover with more ice, and fill bowl with cold water. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or up to a couple of hours.
Shortly before serving, fan the different colored oranges on a large plate. Drain the onions, pat dry, and tuck the onion rings here and there among the orange slices. Lightly dust the salad with salt and pepper.
Drizzle the salad with the orange juice, scatter the olives over it, and sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Taste for seasoning.

Across the Mediterranean in North Africa, the salad is seasoned as above, along with a little orange flower water, sugar, cinnamon, and hot paprika. Add these to taste, starting with very small quantities of about 1/4 teaspoon each and working up from there.