Potato Pizza

Pizza di Patate. From Bari.This is another recipe from Nonna Stella. Calling it a pizza is a bit misleading as no bread or flour is involved. It is basically mashed potato baked with a cheese filling. Serves about 6 as a side dish.

Potato pizza ingredients

• 800g  potatoes
• 150g scamorza or mozzarella
• 2 eggs
• About 50g Grana padano or Parmesan
• Butter
• Dry breadcrumbs

1. Boil and mash the potatoes. I prefer to boil them whole and unpeeled, allow them to cool for a few minutes and then peel.
2. Add the eggs and Grana to the potatoes and mix well.
3. Well grease a pizza tin or spring form cake tin with butter. Dust the tin with breadcrumbs.
4. Spread half of the potato mix over the base. Cover with the grated scamorze or mozzarell. Finally add the rest of the potato to form a layer over the cheese.
5. Sprinke the top of the pizza with some more dry breadcrumbs an dot with small knobs of butter.
6. Bake at 200°C for about 30 minutes. The pizza is ready when the top is nicely brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin.
7. Can be eaten hot, warm or even cold.

Potato pizza finished dish

 

 

Pesto Genovese – Official recipe

Basil is very much in season here at the moment, so I bought a couple of bunches at the market and decided to make pesto.I dug out the official recipe from Consorzio Pesto Genovese. It’s very specific about exactly where the ingredients should come from. I’m providing the original recipe, but feel free to substitute ingredients from another region. eg. Basil not from Genoa The recipe also calls for a pestle and mortar. This is undoubtably the best way, but you can get very acceptable results using a blender. Just put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until almost smooth. Serves 6

• 50g of basil leaves (from Genoa of course)
• Extra virgin olive oil (from Liguria)
• 6 Tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano
• 2 Tbsp Pecorino (romano, toscano, sardo or siciliano)
• 2 cloves of garlic (can be omitted)
• 1 Tbsp pine kernels (from the Mediterranean area)
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts can be substituted for the pine kernels (must be European from the species “Juglans regia”)
• Coarse sea salt

1. The traditional method uses a wooden pestle(where the dish gets its name from in a round about way) and a marble mortar. Start by pounding the garlic and salt until you get a smooth paste.
2. Add the basil, a handful at a time, and keep grinding using a circular motion until each batch of the leaves is incorporated. To preserve the essential oils in the basil, you shouldn’t be too rough with it.
3. Add the pine kernel and grind some more.
4. Add the cheese and mix well.
5. Add the oil, little by little, until the pesto has the right consistency – a matter of taste.
6. Serve with pasta or added to minestrone. The recommended pastas are troffie, trofiette or trenette, but it goes with just about any pasta. I usually serve it with spaghetti or linguine.

Mackerel in tomato sauce

Scombri in salsa di pomodoro. The “tomato sauce” in this recipe is really a tomato flavoured poaching liquid. The recipe appears to contain an awful lot of oil, but you wont actually be eating much of the sauce, so it’s not as bad as it seems.Serve warm or cold. Serves 4.

Mackerel in tomato sauce ingredients

• 1 kg Mackerel – cleaned.
• 3 onions – sliced
• 3 carrots – finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
• 6 tbsp passata
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 glass of olive oil

1. In a pan big enough to accommodate the fish (a fish kettle would be ideal), soften the onions in half the olive.
2. Add the carrots, garlic and parsley and fry for a further couple of minutes.
3. Add the rest of the oil, 2 glasses of water and the passata. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a simmer and add the fish. If the fish isn’t covered by the liquid, add a little more hot water.
5. Cover and cook until the mackerel are done, about 10 minutes.
6. Allow to cool before serving. This dish is best served warm or cold.
7. Alternative method: Add the fish. When the liquid returns to the boil, remove from the heat, cover and allow the fish to cool in the liquid.

Mackerel in tomato sauce finished dish

Baked anchovies

Alici arraganate. From Puglia. There is probably not much chance of finding fresh anchovies in the UK, but if you do, this is a good recipe to try. It takes a fair bit of preparation, but it’s worth it in the end. You need to clean them as soon as you get them home as they will spoil extremely quickly. Do not do as I did this morning and leave yourself 30 minutes to clean a couple of hundred anchovies before you have to go to work To clean them, snap the back bone just behind the head and pull. The guts should come out with the head. If you can’t get the hang of that, use a small sharp knife to cut through the back bone, taking care not to cut all the way through and pull. Next remove the backbone by running your thumb along the spine of the fish, flattening it out into two fillets. The backbone should then be easy to pull out. “Close” the fillets by folding them along the line of the backbone. The recipe says this will feed 4 as an antipasto, but it would feed at least that number as a British style starter.

Baked anchovies ingredients

• 800g fresh anchovies
• 60g pecorino – grated
• 80g dry bread crumbs
• 2 ripe tomatoes – sliced
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 clove of garlic – chopped
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• Dry white wine
• Olive oil

1. Clean and prepare the anchovies as above.
2. Mix together the pecorino, breadcrumbs, parsley, oregano and parsley
3. Grease an oven dish with a little  oil. I used 4 individual dishes.
4. Line the dish with a little of the breadcrumb mix. Add a layer of anchovies and cover with the breadcrumb mix. Repeat until all the anchovies are used up, finishing with a layer of breadcrumbs.
5. Top with the tomato slices and a little more of the breadcrumb mix.
6. Splash some wine and drizzle olive oil on top.
7. Bake at 180C until golden brown and sizzling.

Baked anchovies finished dish

Bavette with clams and courgettes

Bavette alle vongole e zucchine. This is a nice alternative to the standard spaghetti alle vongole recipe. Serves 4.

• 320g bavette
• 800g clams
• 1 shallot – finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic – peeled, whole
• 1 chilli (fresh or dried) or to taste
• 300g courgettes – cut into match sticks
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 100ml dry white wine
• 200g tomatoes – peeled and diced

Bavette with clams and courgettes ingredients

1. Open the clams by  putting them in a dry pan over a high heat for about 5 minutes. Reserve any liquid that is produced.
2. Remove the clams from their shells and put aside.
3. Heat some oil in a pan and cook the shallot, chilli and garlic clove until softened.
4. Remove and discard the garlic.
5. Add the clams, courgettes and parsley and cook for a few minutes.
6. Add the wine and the liquid from the clams and allow to reduce for a while.
7. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and cook  until the sauce thickens – about 20-30 minutes.
8. Cook the bavette until al dente, drain and add to the pan with the sauce and mix well.

Bavette with clams and courgettes finished dish

Sea bass in “acqua pazza”

Branzino all’acqua pazza. This is a very simple way to poach fish. Acqua pazza translates as “crazy water”. Just what exactly is meant to be so crazy about it, I’ve no idea. It works best with firm, white fleshed fish. You can use fillets, steaks or whole fish. On this occasion I used fillets. Serves 4

Bass in acqua pazza ingredients

• 4 sea bass – filleted
• 400g cherry tomatoes – halved or left whole according to preference
• A few sprigs of parsley – chopped
• A clove of garlic – chopped
• 1 chilli – fresh or dried (optional)
• Dry white wine
• Olive oil

1. Fry the garlic and chilli in olive oil until the garlic has started to colour. Use a pan big enough to take all the fish in a single layer.
2. Add the tomatoes, parsley and a generous slug of white wine.
3. Add the fish in a single layer. Add water to bring the level of liquid up to about halfway up the fillets.
4. Cover and simmer until the fish is done. About 10 minutes for medium sized fillets.

Bass in acqua pazza finished dish

Sun dried tomato struzzichini

In Italy it is regarded as essential to eat something if you are drinking.  Only a reckless madman (or uncouth foreigner) would ever consider not doing so. Struzzichini are little snacks to go with your drink. It might be something as simple as a bowl of peanuts or something  more elaborate, like the following dish. In Lombardy the bars compete to provide the best selection. There is one bar I used to go to in Bergamo that served such a large variety that I very rarely had any appetite for a meal after my apperitivo. If you are using tomatoes preserved in oil, you of course don’t need to soak them. It’s worth doing with the dry variety though if you can find them.

Sun dried tomato struzzichini ingredients

• Sun dried tomatoes – soaked for an hour in a mixture of water and vinegar
• Olives – stoned and cut into slivers
• Capers – soaked for a few minutes and drained
• Fresh basil leaves
• Anchovy fillets
• Olive oil

Assembling the struzzichini

1. Drain the tomatoes and dress with olive oil.
2. On top of each tomato place 2 capers, a piece of anchovy, a sliver of olive and basil leaf.
3. Roll up and secure with a tooth pick.

Sun dried tomato struzzichini finished dish

Sea bass on a bed of lemons.

Spigola su letto di Limoni. This recipe comes from an Italian tv chef. It’s a bit showy as you might expect. You have to clean the fish by making a slit down either side of the back bone. Snip through the back bone and remove it along with the guts. If you’re not so worried about the look of the thing, I’m sure it would taste just as good if you cleaned it the usual way, via the belly. Better still, you could fillet the bass and bake the fillets covered with the chopped tomato mixture. Serves 4

Sea bass on a bed of lemons ingredients

• 4 small sea bass – prepared as above
• 100g cherry tomatoes – chopped
• 8 whole cherry tomatoes
• 2 or 3 lemons thinly sliced
• A few needles of fresh rosemary
• 1 clove of garlic – finely chopped
• 1 or 2 sprigs of parsley – finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

1. Mix together the chopped tomatoes, rosemary, garlic,  parsley and a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity of the fish with this mixture.
2. Add two slices of lemon to each fish, one on each side of the cavity. They should look something like the leaves of an open book.
3. Add two whole cherry tomatoes to each fish and drizzle with a little more oil.
4. Crumple a sheet of aluminium and use this to support the fish and keep them upright while cooking.
5. Bake for ten minutes at 180C
6. Cover a serving plate with the rest of the lemon slices arrange the cooked fish on top.

Sea bass on a bed of lemons finished dish

Bavette with fresh tuna

Bavette al tonno fresco. I’m not sure where this dish originates, but it feels like a Sicilian recipe due to the inclusion of tuna and pine nuts. It’s quite economical too as 200 grams of tuna feeds four people. My problem now is trying to think of a way to use up the other 800g I bought at the fish market this morning. I couldn’t resist, it was €2 a kilo Serves 4.

Bavette with tuna ingredients

• 320g bavette (or spaghetti or linguine) I used bavettini – a smaller version of bavette
• 100g cherry tomatoes – halved
• 2 anchovy fillets – chopped
• 20g pine nuts
• 70g good quality black olives
• 200g fresh tuna – cut into small cubes
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic – finely sliced
• 1 shallot – finely sliced
• 1/2 glass white wine

1. Fry the shallot and the garlic in olive until the start to colour.
2. Add the anchovies, half the pine nuts, the olives and the tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the capers and tuna. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add the wine and allow to reduce a little.
5. Remove from the heat. Add the lemon zest, parsley and the rest of the parsley.
6. Meanwhile cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and add to the pan with the tuna. Return to the heat and mix well.  Allow the pasta to take up the flavours for a minute or so, remove from the heat and serve.

Bavette with tuna finished dish

Spaghetti with Gurnard

Spaghetti con la gallinella. Gurnard is used mainly as a soup fish here. This recipe however serves it poached and flaked with spaghetti. This avoids the problem of navigating the numerous bones.  When you’ve finished you’ll be left with a couple of litres of pretty good fish stock which is worth saving and would freeze well. Serves 4.

Spaghetti with gurnard ingedients

• 320g spaghetti
• 300g whole gurnard – cleaned
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Parsley – finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic
• 100g small or cherry tomatoes – sliced
• Stock vegetables (Onion, carrot, celery)
• Olive oil

1. Peel and chop the stock vegetables. Add to a pan with 3 litres of water and a large pinch of salt. Simmer for 30 minutes. You can omit this step if you are pressed for time.
2. Add the fish and poach for 5-6 minutes. The fish should be starting to flake, but not dissolving. Remove the fish and allow to cool slightly. Strain and reserve the stock.
3. Flake the fish taking care to remove all the bones.
4. Mince together the lemon zest, the garlic and the parsley.
5. Fry the fish gently in a little olive oil and add a little of the stock. Be careful not to add to much, you don’t want it too sloppy.
6. Cook the spaghetti in the stock until al dente
7. Just before the spaghetti is done, add the minced ingredients and the tomatoes to the fish and warm through.
8. Drain the spaghetti and add to the pan with the fish. Mix well and cook for a further minute or so.
9. Serve immediately.

spaghetti with gurnard finished dish

Gratinated mussels

Cozze gratinate. From Puglia. I wanted to try this recipe to see if it makes a difference cooking the mussels from raw, rather than opening them in a hot pan first. I have to say it does! They were much nicer. Use a short knife to open the mussels over a bowl to catch the liquid. I still need a bit of pratice, but I was getting it towards the end. Serves 4 as a main course, more as an antipasti.

Gratinated mussels ingredients

• 1 kg mussels – well cleaned and opened on the half shell (reserve the liquid)
• 100g dry breadcrumbs
• 100g parmesan – grated
• A few sprigs of parsley – finely chopped
• A pinch of dried oregano
• A clove of garlic – finely chopped
• Olive oil

1. Mix together the breadcrumbs, parmesan, oregano, parsley and garlic.
2. Arrange the mussels on a baking tray and top each one with a little of the mixture.
3. Put a few drops of the mussel liquid on to of each one and drizzle with olive oli.
4. An alternative method is to mix the mussel liquid in to the breadcrumb mix to form a dryish paste. Press a little of the paste into each mussel and drizzle with oil as before.
5. Grill the mussels until they are golden brown and sizzling.

Gratinated mussels finished dish

Bucatini and Mussels all’Amatriciana

Bucatini e cozze all’amatriciana.  This is a new twist on the classic amatriciana. The addition of mussels works surprisingly well. It is adapted from “Sale e Pepe” which is something like the Italian equivalent of “Good Food Magazine”. The original recipe calls for guanciale, but as this is hard to find, even in Italy, this is my version using pancetta. Serves 4

Bucatini amatriciana with mussels ingredients

• 320g bucatini or spaghetti
• 1 kg mussels
• 400g passata
• A clove of garlic
• 50g pancetta – cubed
• 1/2 a glass of dry white wine
• Pecorino romano cheese – grated
• Chilli powder to taste
• Olive oil

1. Fry the pancetta in a little oil along with the whole garlic clove.
2. When the garlic has browned, remove and discard.
3. Add the chilli and fry for a few seconds.
4. Add the passata and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile put the mussels in a pan along with the wine and cook over a high heat until the mussels have opened. Drain and reserve the liquid.
6. Shell the mussels, reserving a few for decoration.
7. Pour the mussel liquid into a large pan and add water to make it up to about 3 litres. Bring to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente.
8. Shorlty before the pasta is ready, add the mussels to the tomato sauce and allow to heat through for a minute or so.
9. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with tomato sauce.
10. Mix well and serve with the pecorino on the side.

Bucatini amatriciana with mussels finished dish

Spaghetti with Prawns and Courgettes

Spaghetti zucchine e gamberetti. I cooked this to use up the leftover prawns from yesterday’s trip to the  fish market. Serves 4.

Spaghetti with prawns and courgettes ingredients

• 320g spaghetti
• 300g medium prawns, legs and antenae removed.
• 1tbsp capers – soaked for a few minutes and drained.
• 3 small or 1 large courgette -sliced thinly into rounds or quartered lengthways and sliced into quadrants if large.
• 1/2 onion sliced
• Tomato sauce or passata
• A pinch of dried thyme
• Olive oil

1. Fry the onion gently in the oil until it starts to soften.
2. Add the tomato sauce, the capers and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile fry the courgettes gently in olive oil until soft. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the prawns to the tomato sauce and cook for a further few minutes until the prawns are cooked.
5. At the last minute add the courgetttes to the sauce.
6. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti until al dente.
7. Dress the pasta with the sauce and serve.

Spaghetti with prawns and courgettes finished dish

Slow Cooked Octopus “alla Luciana”

“Purpo” alla Luciana. From Campania. A nice way to cook a large octopus. Very simple, but delicious. The octopus ends up very tender and the liquid it produces makes a very tasty sauce. Serves 3-4

Octopus Luciana ingredients

• 1 Octopus weighing about 1kg – cleaned and tenderised.
• 1/2 glass olive oil
• Parsley – chopped
• 1 clove of garlic – chopped
• Salt and pepper

1. Remove the eyes and beak from the octopus.
2. Place the octopus in a (preferably) terracotta pot. The pot should be just larger than the octopus so it’s a reasonably tight fit.
3. Add the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt though.
4. Cover the pot with aluminium foil or grease proof paper and tie as tightly as possible with kitchen string. Cover with a lid.
5. Cook over a very low heat for two hours. Shake the pot from time to time to prevent sticking.
6. Remove the foil, add the garlic and parsley, and cook for another few minutes.
7. Serve hot or leave to cool in the cooking liquid and serve cold as an antipasto.

Octopus Luciana finished dish

Grilled, Marinated Bream

Orata ai ferri. I’ve decided to make better use of my local fish market seeing as it’s just five minutes walk away from my flat. I’d forgotten that Monday is a bad day to go, as the day boats don’t go out on a Sunday. As a result, all that was available was either farmed or frozen. I made the best of it however and bought a couple of very fresh bream. So fresh in fact that they were still in rigor mortis.

Update: I’ve just realised that I cooked this recipe about a year ago and it’s already on the blog. D’oh! Oh well, it proves I like it I suppose

Grilled, marinated bream ingredients

• 1 medium sea bream per person – cleaned and scaled
• Plenty of chopped parsley (pref. flat leaf)
• Fresh lemon juice
• Fine dry breadcrumbs
• Olive oil
• Salt

1. Make a marinade by mixing together roughly equal amounts of lemon juice and olive oil. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper.
2. Pour the marinade over the fish making sure that some gets into the cavity. Leave to marinate for a few hours in the fridge.
3. Drain the fish well, reserving the marinade. sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
4. Cook under a medium grill for around 15 minutes (depending on the size of the fish). Turn two or three times during cooking. Baste with the marinade every so often.
5. Serve immediately.