Radish Crudo
Serves 4 as a Side
Ingredients:
1 medium watermelon radish
10 small breakfast radishes, or 1 additional watermelon radish of a different color
1 scallion, green parts only
4 small basil leaves, or other tender herbs
2 tbs Buon Gusto Olio Nuovo (Buena Ventura works great too)
juice from half a lemon
zest from half a lemon
flaky sea salt
At its core, this dish goes from a simple plate of vegetables to a modern showpiece by taking
close care while cutting and plating the ingredients.
1) Rinse and dry the radishes well. Trim away the tough top and roots of the watermelon radish.
Slice the remaining body of the radish into 1/8” rounds. Taste the first slice. If it feels tough, slice
it a bit thinner; if it has no snap, slice it slightly thicker. Tender but lively is the goal for how it
should feel when you bite it.
2)Then slice the breakfast radishes in half. If they are fresh, leave the root and a bit of the base
of the green. If those look funky, trim them off. (If you used two watermelon radishes, slice the
same way as the first watermelon radish, taking care to taste the first slice again—different
watermelon radishes, even of the same type, can have very different textures.) Arrange a
portion of the radishes spread across each plate.
3) Very thinly slice the scallion greens into rings. Carefully slice thin threads of the basil leaves.
Sprinkle a small amount of both on each place, holding your hand about 12” above the plate
and moving your hand slowly all over the plate as you go.
4) Using a spoon, drizzle a small amount of lemon juice on top of the radishes on each plate.
Repeat with the Buon Gusto Olio Nuovo. (You don’t want to coat everything, you want drips and
pools to dapple the plate and the radishes.)
5) Using a microplane or other zester, dust a small amount of lemon zest onto each portion of
crude. Using the same height and motion as the herbs, sprinkle a small pinch of flaky salt all
across each plate.