Italian Kitchen Secrets: fish

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7/20/2014

Fake fish ( finto pesce).

This is an old recipe often made on Christmas holidays, it comes from Genoa and it's a classic lowly dish but it's so easy and tasty!

Don't mind if you don't have a fish mould, I don't too but I used a simple plum-cake pan.

You can serve it with green salad and have a perfect lunch/dinner.

You can use less mayonnaise or a light version or even no mayo at all, just some milk.

36 oz potatoes

10 tablesp. mayonnaise

2 cans of tuna in oil (drained)

1 tablesp. capers

6 anchovies

1 bunch of parsley

lemon zest to taste

salt and pepper

2 boiled eggs

Boil potatoes untill tender, peel them and mash with a potato masher.

In a mixer blend anchovies, tuna, capers, lemon zest, parsley and eggs, when potatoes are cold add the mixture and the mayo, then salt and pepper to taste.

If it's not creamy enough just add more mayo or some milk, pour in a mold or a pan covered with a baking sheet and then cover with cling.

Let it rest in fridge for at least 6 hours (but not more than 24 as it's easy to spoil because of mayo).

5/06/2013

Orecchiette with anchovies and sun dried sweet peppers.

Few months ago I received a great present from a close friend who lives in Basilicata (deep South of Italy).

I received a lot of dried local pasta like orecchiette and cavatelli, wild boar salami, local cheese and much more.

I received also a big packet of sun dried sweet peppers which are typical of Basilicata.

I still have some of them and I used those peppers in a quick but very tasty recipe combined with some orecchiette left.

If you can't find orecchiette you can use spaghetti, penne, maccheroni of any kind. :)

2 servings:

3 medium sun dried sweet peppers

2 anchovies in oil

3 tablespoons tomato sauce

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 cups orecchiette (or the serving size you like of the pasta you have)

Let orecchiette boil in a big pot of salted water, if they're dried they should boil for 14-16 minutes (taste them).

In a pan heat extra-virgin olive oil, add chopped peppers (without seeds) and garlic and stir frying for a couple of minutes then add anchovies and let them "melt" with peppers.

Remove the garlic, add the tomato sauce and stir well.

Cook for 2-3 minutes more then use a blender and reduce the sauce to cream.

Season your pasta hot with this sauce and eat immediately, it's sooo tasty!

9/13/2009

Grilled squid with potadoes and lemon aromatic sauce ( Seppia con patate e salsa al limone aromatica)

Easy recipe I did just last evening, it's tasty and light and squids are a kind of seafood that don't cost that much.

The photo you see is mine, I'm trying to getting better with food photographs but it's not easy at all.

For 2 serves you need:

2 squids, cleaned and without tentacles

1 lemon

salt and pepper

2 big potadoes (or more, up to you)

extra-virgin olive oil

chopped parsley

Stew potadoes untill they're soft, pell them off and slice.

Open the squids and cut them in 3 pieces each.

Make diagonal cuts on the pieces with a knife, being careful not to cut too deep: they are just a way to avoid squid curling during the cooking; make the cuts the way to obtain a nice grid.

In a little bowl squeeze the lemon, pay attention to seed of ourse.

Add extra-virgin olive oil, chopped parsley, salt and pepper and mix energetically, let it rest for about half an hour.

Grill the squid slices on a hot griddle 3 minutes on each side, put the sliced potadoes on the serving dish, add squids and pour the sauce after another energetically mix.

Enjoy your seafood!

7/06/2009

Sauteed clams ( Sautè di vongole)

And once again I post something that fits the summer season.

Here the weather is terrible: really hot but it's raining at least twice a day.

Of course it increases air humidity and the temperature seems even higher.

Me and my husband really love fish in general and in summer we try to eat it often douring the week.

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary (two years, we're still at the beginning of a long trip :D) and almost surely we'll indulge on a romantic dinner in a nice (and a little expensive but hey...the recurrence justifies it!) fish restaurant not far from home.

Probably we'll eat something particular and classy but as starter I almost always ask for sauteed clams: it's a cheap dish but it's so tasty!

For 4 serves you need:

2 pounds and 1/4 fresh clams

1 garlic clove

white dry wine

extra-virgin olive oil

fresh washed and chopped parsley

4 bread slices, grilled as you do with bruschetta bread

Clams must rest in a big bowl filled with cold water and stored in a dark place for few hours to purge the sand: if there's a lot of sand change water once or twice.

After this time put them in a large pan under high fire: it will make them open, dump the ones that remain close, it means they were already dead and then not fresh ( it happens, even if you have the most fresh clams you can reach you always have to throw away some).

In another large pan stirfry garlic with a generous pour of oil, add a little wine, let it evaporate then add 2 spoons of chopped parsley and the juice that came out of the clams filtered with a fine strain (this juice is quite salty, so don't add too much if you have a lot and don't add salt).

Add the clams too and let it sautee for 3-4 minutes.

Put in a soup plate a grilled bread slice then cover with clams and their juice.

Serve hot or warm.

Delicious!!

P.S. : You can serve this dish as a starter or as a main dish, even as complete meal, it depends on quantity.

6/30/2009

Fried fish mix ( Fritto misto di pesce)

This recipe is a must of holiday dinners, expecially in my zone ( Rimini- Adriatic Riviera).

It's so tasty, surely not dietetic but you know, when you're on holiday calories don't count...

You can see whole families at restaurants sharing generous portions of this fried mix: the most common mix is made of shrimps and squid rings but you can add anchovies (fresh, not salted), little fish of any kind, even some vegetables like courgettes' sticks.

For 4 serves you need:

7 oz. squid rings

7 oz. cleaned shrimps (just leave tails)

5 oz. anchovies

5 oz. courgettes chopped in sticks

flour

2 lemons

salt

frying oil

If the fish is wet dry it with kitchen paper, pass it in the flour and shake a little to keep exceeding flour off.

Do the same with courgettes' sticks.

Fry fish and vegetable in a large pan filled with hot frying oil, not too much fish altogether, rember that courgettes need few minutes more than fish to get ready.

Drain the oil putting the fried fish on kitchen paper, add salt and serve immediately with lemon segments.

In Italy there are many different fried mix, this is the most famous but sooner or later I'll post even others ^^.

5/30/2009

Salted mullet roe spaghetti ( Spaghetti alla bottarga)

Salted mullet roe ( called "bottarga" in Italian) is a food speciality that comes from Sardinia island.

It's also called Mediterranean caviar because it's just fish eggs ( mullet ones are very esteemed because of their gentle taste but you can find bottarga made with tuna eggs and others) salted, pressed and matured.

Once bottarga was the lunch of fishermen when they were all day long on their boats: eggs and fish entrails were a property of "tonnarotti" ( fishermen who fish tuna), nowadays it' s a common pasta season: it must be grated the same way you do with Parmesan and it's the best way to serve and taste it.

For 4 serves you need:

1 garlic clove

extra-virgin olive oil in plenty

a piece of bottarga (about 2 1/2 oz.)

1 pound spaghetti

fresh parsley if you like, washed and chopped

Cook spaghetti in boiling water with salt (less than usual because bottarga is already salad).

Meanwhile grate bottarga, take a large bowl (large enough to serve pasta), pell the garlic clove and rub it on the whole inside of the bowl, then leave it on the bottom.

Add oil in the bowl, a lot of oil, grease the sides of the bowl too then sprinkle sides and bottom with a part of grated bottarga.

Drain spaghetti "al dente" with a big fork and put them in the bowl (don't use the classic colander because it could dry pasta too much).

Add the rest of bottarga, some more oil if needed, parsley.

Mix well and serve.

P.S. : you can find bottarga already grated or fresh, vacuum packed: prefer the second one, the aroma is better preserved than the first one!

4/16/2009

Cuttle fish and potadoes in red (Seppia con patate in rosso)

Great fish dish, not too expensive and good for children or elders because it's quite soft (if cuttle fish are cooked well).

You can use also squids, they're bigger, maybe a little less tasty but (here at least) even less expensive.

For 3-4 serves:

18 oz. little cuttle fishes

18 oz. podadoes

7 oz. peeled tomatoes

1 garlic clove

extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 glass of white wine

cooking salt

pepper (if you like)

black olives chopped (if you like)

chopped fresh parsley or thyme

Wash and clean cuttle fishes, cut it in tiny stripes.

Peel potadoes and chop them in pieces (not too big).

In a saucepan pour oil and add garlic, stirfry it for few minutes then add peeled tomatoes and their sauce.

Cook for about 5 minutes, add potadoes, cooking salt ( be carefull, not too much!) and let it cook for about other 10 minutes then add wine and let evaporate.

Now add cuttle fishes and thyme or parsely and cook again for about 20 minutes: it should be enough but it depends on how big are cuttle fishes so check them if they're still hard.

2/17/2009

Shrimps cocktail ( Cocktail di gamberetti)

This is probably a recipe well known worldwide, I'm not even sure it has Italian origins but surely it's a common find in fish restaurants' menus.

To tell the truth sometimes you find places where the shrimps cocktail is made of lot of lettuce, lot of sauce and 3 shrimps...

So why don't do it at home?

For 4 serving you need:

1 pound shrimps, without heads and tails, well washed.

2 spoons finely chopped fresh parsley.

8 1/2 oz. mayonnaise.

1/2 tablespoon cognac.

1/2 tablespoon sugar.

1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce.

2 tablespoon ketchup.

some fresh and washed lettuce leaves.

Mix all the ingredients with mayonnaise, adding cognac at last.

Cook shrimps in salted hot water for 5 minutes, drain them and let getting cold.

Mix shrimps with sauce, put the mixture on lettuce leaves and sprinlke with parsley.

If you like you can also take a mature avocado, cut it in cubes, sprinkle with lemon juice and add it to cocktail mix.

You can choose to serve the cocktail on a dish or, even better, into a glass goblet: really chic and up to date.

It's a perfect entree' for a fish themed dinner, just pay attention to calories because shellfishes and mayonnaise (and avocados) are fatty!

2/10/2009

Mussels in garlic butter sauce ( Cozze in intingolo bianco)

Easy way to cook mussels, prepare a lot of plain crusty bread slices to serve with it because you have to sup up in the sauce!

This quantity is intended as a starter dish (the most part of the wheight are shells) but often people here could have a whole meal with mussels and crusty bread so don't worry and abound^^.

So delicious!

You need for 4:

2 pounds fresh and cleaned mussels

2 minced garlic cloves

a bunch of finely chopped fresh parsley

4 oz. butter (unsalted)

salt & pepper

a glass of white dry wine

Put in a large pan the mussels with butter, garlic, parsley salt and pepper and wine.

Light the stove up, high heat, let the mussels stew for about 15 minute.

Turn off the fire, check the mussels and discard the ones that do not open, put the good ones in a serving bowl then filter the sauce with a strain (this is because often moussels, even if cleaned, leave little pieces of dirt/shell/sand and so on) and pour over the mussels.

You can serve also in individual little bowls, in this case divide equally the sauce and add bread crouton aside and a little bunch of fresh parsley to garnish.

1/12/2009

Swordfish with almonds sauce (Pesce spada con pesto di mandorle)

Quick recipe today because I'm always in a hurry.

I have so many things to do between work and housekeeping...

Today I made food shopping: I usually love it but when I run out of food at home and I have to buy tonz of things I go crazy!

You need:

4 slices of swordfish (about 7 ounces each)

2 1/2 ounces peeled almonds

1 ounces parsley

1 garlic clove

1/2 ounces breadcrumbs softened in a little vinegar

1 potado

salt and pepper

2/3 cups extravirgin olive oil

Mince into a mixer almonds, garlic, parsley, a little salt and pepper untill it has a smooth texture.

Boil the potado chopped in little cubes into salt water, mash it, put the sauce in a bowl, add the mashed potado and the breadcrumb well squeezed.

Mix very well, add oil little by little untill the sauce is well blended.

Cook the swordfish slices on a hot skillet two minutes per side, put the fish on each plate and add the sauce.

You can garnish with whole almonds and parsley wisps.

9/30/2008

Perch fish with lemon sauce (Pesce persico al limone)

Today I have a very quick and easy recipe, light and tasty, a great solution for dinner when you don't want to cook for hours.

Take a perch fish fillet (one per person), flour it on each side, put it in a pan where you melted a little butter with a garlic clove, let it golden then add the juice of two lemons and salt.

Let it cook for a while (perch is really quick to cook), keep off garlic and at the end add a little parsley if you like.

Here you are the dinner!

So fast and so good...Isn't it easy?

If you don't like lemon you can do the same with white wine.

Of couse you can serve it with any kind of side dish, boiled potadoes and carrots are the best according to me.

Italian Kitchen Secrets

7/20/2014

Fake fish ( finto pesce).

5/06/2013

Orecchiette with anchovies and sun dried sweet peppers.

9/13/2009

Grilled squid with potadoes and lemon aromatic sauce ( Seppia con patate e salsa al limone aromatica)

7/06/2009

Sauteed clams ( Sautè di vongole)

6/30/2009

Fried fish mix ( Fritto misto di pesce)

5/30/2009

Salted mullet roe spaghetti ( Spaghetti alla bottarga)

4/16/2009

Cuttle fish and potadoes in red (Seppia con patate in rosso)

2/17/2009

Shrimps cocktail ( Cocktail di gamberetti)

2/10/2009

Mussels in garlic butter sauce ( Cozze in intingolo bianco)

1/12/2009

Swordfish with almonds sauce (Pesce spada con pesto di mandorle)

9/30/2008

Perch fish with lemon sauce (Pesce persico al limone)

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