Sugarloaf (Pane di Succhero) Chicory
More winter-hardy and longer-keeping than lettuce, this is a fantastic winter salad green. Actually, the one pictured grew in summer, in the shade of larger plants. A perfect understory for corn in hot weather. Looks like a glossier, bigger, more fully-wrapped romaine lettuce with a mild, blanched heart, Flavor "like walnuts", bittersweet and great with a creamy-tart dressing. Also good cooked--chicory and endive are the mainstays of the Italian winter kitchen, good braised with meats as well as for salad and risotto. I find them very welcome indeed as a change from kale and mustard in the winter garden, with a more tender texture, much more digestible, and no mustard bite. The photo shows the head opened out--it was much more tightly-wrapped in the garden, almost like a cabbage. A gorgeous vegetable, 150 seeds.