Fennel, artichoke and broad bean salad

25 Sep 2024

This Lyndey Milan recipe is from Lyndey & Blair’s Taste of Greece Book (Hardie Grant RRP $39.95).

Lyndey is a popular, experienced international tour host and you can join her on one of her Culinary & Cultural Tours in Morocco 30 April – 11 May or Puglia (Italy) 13 – 20 May. 

Marátho, angínares kai koukía saláta

In Greece there are many combinations for salad without a lettuce leaf in sight. The addition of different herbs makes them sing, but here I have taken a liberty by adding fennel to the salad, which is not strictly traditional – but the three main ingredients are all in season during Spring in Australia. 

Serves 4

Preparation time 15 minutes

Cooking time nil

Ingredients

4 baby fennel bulbs

8 bottled artichoke hearts, halved

500g fresh broad beans, shelled and peeled or 250g frozen, cooked, peeled

2 tablespoons (40 ml) extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup fresh dill sprigs, roughly chopped

Freshly ground pepper and lemon juice to taste

80g piece kasseri or kefalotyri cheese (or pecorino), shaved

Method:

Remove the base and cut the stalks from the fennel bulbs, halve the bulbs and remove core. Using a sharp knife, vegetable peeler or mandolin shave the fennel into thin slices. Place fennel on serving platter, add artichoke hearts and peeled broad beans.

Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with dill, and add pepper and lemon to taste. Top with shaved cheese.

Lyndey’s Note: Cook fresh broad beans in boiling water until just tender (don’t salt the water), drain, allow to cool and slip the skin away. I don’t know that peeling broad beans is a very ‘Greek’ as little is wasted, and it makes for a heartier dish. However, I like double peeling as the bean inside is sweet and delicate, a perfect match to the shaved fennel and artichoke. However early in the season when the beans are small, they don’t need peeling anyway.

Recipe from Lyndey & Blair’s Taste of Greece.

Lyndey Milan OAM aims to inspire, nourish and connect people. A familiar face on television and in print, she has been instrumental in changing the way Australians think about food and wine for four decades via her own nine best-selling cookbooks, nine international TV series and influence as former Food Director of the iconic Australian Women’s Weekly. She is an award-winning multi-media presenter, MC, speaker, food & wine teacher, consultant, debater, judge and regional Australian specialist who makes numerous TV & culinary appearances.

With a profile beyond Australia, she is a popular international tour host and will be returning to Morocco and Puglia in 2024. She also works as an enrichment speaker on cruises. 

Lyndey is a key contributor to Selector magazine, writes freelance, has reviewed for the Good Food Guide since 1987. A Councillor of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW where she was the first female Vice-President. She is Co-Founder and Patron of Tasting Success, a mentoring programme for female chefs, an Ambassador for the Leukaemia Foundation, Cure Cancer and is active with many other charities.

Please visit lyndeymilan.com for more information.