MULLET OF ORBETELLO.



SEA POTAGE, A LACTOSE-FREE CREATION

Usually “potage” and “sea” contradict each other. This recipe is connected to “land” ingredients like potatoes, leeks, and a lot of fresh cream.

I created this recipe when trying to exalt Autumn vegetables, and trying to propose something healthy but extremely stimulating. I have always been inspired by French cuisine, but the recipe of the normal potage sounded really a bit too rich with all that cream. I decided to keep potatoes and leeks, add squash and a good fish stock and prawns, and I have to admit that it is very appreciated.

This encounter of fresh ingredients, poor in calories and rich in vitamins and fibers, is an excellent way to taste an unusual dish, light but full of taste.

In Italy, there are other dishes, mainly first courses, that enhance squash, like butternut squash gnocchi, the Ferrara squash ravioli, the Mantua ravioli. This vegetable is wonderful and versatile, rich in fibers, minerals and increases the sensation of fullness, helping a lot for the diets.

While in traditional Italian first courses squash is processed and squeezed, here the labor is extremely reduced; the addition of prawns and chili pepper balances the sweet note of squash and leeks.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

  • 16 oz. (500 gr.) potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 24 oz. (750 gr.) butternut squash, deseeded, peeled, and cut into chunks
  • 2 leeks, only the white part finely sliced
  • 18 prawns with heads and shells
  • ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (120 ml) dry white wine
  • 1 small carrot, cut into chunks
  • 1 small onion, cut into chunks
  • ½ small celery stalk
  • 4 grains black pepper
  • Sea salt
  • 2 cups (500 ml.) water
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pinch chili pepper

Instructions

Prepare the stock simmering in a pot with the heads and shells of the prawns, vegetables, pepper, salt, water and wine for 30 minutes.

In a pot, sautè the leeks with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Then add the squash, potatoes and the filtered stock and boil for almost an hour; check the salt and season, eventually.

When the soup is cooked, mix the soup using an immersion blender, making a silky velouté.

In a non-stick pan, pour the oil and sauté the garlic clove in it. Discard the garlic and sauté the prawns, when they are roasted add the wine. Season with chili and salt.

After the wine has evaporated, pour the soup in the bowls and add 3 prawns for each serving.

 

 



OCTOPUS SALAD WITH POTATOES

This is an extremely fresh way to be introduced to octopus. This salad is ideal to be served in a hot summer day, above all if you are back from the beach.

Italy has an incredibly wide range of fish and seafood, and as many recipes to cook them. Throughout the country, Octopus is a favourite dish. It is an extremely clever animal, but unfortunaly for it, its meat is extremely tasty, low in fats, but rich in good cholesterol, like prawns and other crustaceans.

I was introduced to the joys of octopus quite late – in my mid-20s – by some friends from Civitavecchia who came to visit with some of them, caught by their father. These cephalopods live in rocky coasts. Hailing from the sandy coast of the northern Adriatic coast, I had never seen it. In these past few decades, Italy has been discovering the cuisines of other regions, and it is common to see it in seafood restaurants all over Italy.

When the octopus is fresh, it is extremely tough. The new way to deal with the problem is provided with technology. (see recipe). The old way, that is quite grisly for my taste, has been turned into a touristic show in the old Harbour of Bari. It consists of pounding the octopus on the rocks for hours. Another technique consists of beating it with a stick until the color changes from red to white. Then it is washed in a basin on a tilting stool until it curls. For more info look here.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 1 hour + 25 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour + 35 minutes | Yield: Makes 6  servings.

Ingredients

  • 1 octopus 1 medium, 3 ½ -4 pounds, thawed (1½-2kg),
  • 2 celery stalks, cut roughly
  • 1 onion, cut roughly
  • 2 tbsp black olives
  • 3 potatoes, medium
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 handful flat parsley leaves
  • flaky sea salt and black pepper
  • 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

In a pot boil the potatoes for about 20-30 minutes.

In another one join the octopus, cold water, salt, celery, carrots and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until octopus is tender, about one hour.Important note: in order to stay soft, octopus should not suffer thermal shock: leave it in the water until it is room temperature.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces, do the same with octopus.

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and garlic and blend them using an immersion blender.

In a large mixing bowl, gently combine the octopus and potatoes with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper and add the olives.

It should be served tepid. If you prepare it some hours ahead it should be kept in the fridge and then put it in the microwave.

Freezing and then thawing the octopus breaks down the toughness in the cellular structure of the flesh. It is the best way to soften it; otherwise, it would be rubbery.

In Italy frozen octopus is sold already cleaned of the guts, still you need to discard the eyes and the beak.



CLAMS AND SUMMER, AN INSEPARABLE DUO.

When summer approaches, two things cannot be missed on an Italian table: spaghetti with fresh clams and a bottle of chilled dry wine
Usually, I love making fresh home-made pasta. However, sometimes stopping for a while, opening a bag of excellent durum wheat spaghetti, and making this simple and delicious pasta means it is summer – the holiday period for the most of Italians.
According to personal and regional preferences, there are a lot of variations in this dish: a pinch of chilli peppers, or 4-5 roughly chopped cherry tomatoes… This version is my favourite because nothing interferes with the taste of clams. To me, it is the symbol of Northern Adriatic – a small, enclosed sea and one of the richest for the production of seafood, particularly shellfish.

Spaghetti with fresh clams

  • 1 lb. (400 gr.) spaghetti
  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 2 lbs. fresh clums, purged*
  • 6 teaspoons marine salt
  1. *How to purge clams:Purging the clams is a simple but time-consuming process: first, pour fresh water in a bowl with a tablespoon salt, and lay a strainer in it. Move the clams in it, discarding the ones with cracked shells. Leave them sit for 20 minutes. Take the strainer off the bowl. You will find sand on the bottom of the bowl, discard the water and rinse the bowl, then pour more cold water in the bowl, a tablespoon salt and the strainer with the clams back in water. Repeat this operation four times more for a total amount of 2 hours.
  2. Heat the clams in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat, covered with its lid, until clams pop open.
  3.  Check them one by one as you move them to a bowl, discarding the ones which did not open (it means that they were not fresh).
  4. Filter half of the water produced by the clams pouring it through a white cotton napkin laid inside a fine mesh sieve. Since the quantity of water is a very limited one, also replacing the napkin with cheesecloth or a coffee filter is not a very lengthy process.
  5. Rinse the skillet and heat oil in it.
  6. Add sliced garlic and sauté until light brown, about 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley; stir 2 minutes. Add clams and their juice. Cover and simmer about a couple of minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Add pasta to clams and toss to coat. Usually there is no need to season to with salt, just add pepper.
  8. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons parsley and serve.