London was awash with blood oranges in January. Margot Henderson drizzled them over an impressive looking cheesecake, the Clove Club served them with a delicious goat’s curd and emerald green fennel granita, Quo Vadis had them with Campari and Spuntino in a sprightly salad with walnuts.
Instead of filling my bags with the wonders of Liberty’s jewellery department, which I really wanted to do, I filled my handbag with blood oranges from a delightful little shop and brought them all the way back to Newcastle. The result was this simple, seasonal salad.
SERVES 2 lunch, 4 side
• 200g mixed bag of salad, such as watercress, spinach and rocket
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• salt and pepper
• 1 blood orange, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 handful of walnuts
• 100g ricotta, crumbled
Alternatives
Feta
Place all the salad leaves in a bowl.
To make the dressing, mix the olive oil, both vinegars, maple syrup and salt and pepper together in a jam jar. Close the lid and shake to combine, then dress the leaves well.
Toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan, being careful that they don’t burn. Mix the toasted walnuts and orange slices through the leaves. Pile the salad onto plates and finally top with some crumbled ricotta.