Blood orange, fennel and walnut salad recipe

A great tip for entertaining is to serve a cold starter and a cold dessert, so you only have to worry about cooking the main courses on the day. This blood orange and fennel salad is the perfect example: if you prepare it in advance and let it sit, the flavours will intensify nicely.

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 5 minutes

SERVES

six

INGREDIENTS

• ½ tsp Dijon mustard

• 10ml white wine vinegar

• 100g olive oil

• 50g walnuts, chopped

• 3 blood oranges

• 3 heads of fennel

• 1 tbsp chopped dill

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/Gas 3½.

2. Make a vinaigrette by placing the mustard and vinegar in a bowl with some seasoning. Add the olive oil, whisking as you do so, to emulsify. Set aside.

3. Spread out the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for four minutes. Remove them from the oven and season with salt.

4. Peel the oranges and cut them into segments by running a small, sharp knife between each membrane and carefully easing out each segment (collect any orange juice that is released).

5. Remove any discoloured outer leaves from the fennel and cut each bulb into quarters. Remove the tough root and slice each quarter widthways into half-centimetre slices. Toss in a bowl with the reserved orange juice.

6. To assemble the dish, season the fennel with some of the vinaigrette, season it well and arrange on a serving plate with the orange segments, plus the juice. Scatter with the walnuts and dill.