5. Turn on the heat to medium and cook for 35 to 40 minutes. The artichokes are done when a fork easily pierces the thick part between the stem and the heart. Cooking times may vary depending on the freshness of the artichokes. If they are tough and take long to cook, you may have to add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water from time to time. If, on the other hand, they are very fresh and are cooked before all the water has simmered away, uncover the pot, remove the towels or muslin, and turn up the heat, quickly boiling away the water. The edges of the leaves resting on the bottom of the pot may turn brown, but do not worry, it improves their flavor.
6. When done, transfer the artichokes to a serving platter, setting them down with their stems pointing up. Reserve the olive oil and other juices from the pot: They are to be poured over the artichokes only just before serving. If you were to pour the oil and juices over the artichoke when it is still hot, it would soak them up, making the artichoke greasy and sodden, and depriving it of the sauce with which later you want to accompany it.
The ideal serving temperature is when the artichokes are no longer hot, but have not yet cooled completely, when they are still faintly touched by the waning warmth of cooking. But they are excellent even later, at room temperature, as they are usually served in Rome. Plan to use them the same day, however; like all cooked greens, their flavor deteriorates in the refrigerator.
Mushroom, Parmesan Cheese, and White Truffle Salad
ONE OF THE happiest coincidences of autumn in Italy is the contemporaneous appearance of white truffles and wild mushrooms. Among the best things it leads to, and easiest to prepare, is this luxurious salad. Fortunately, the basic salad of mushrooms and parmigiano-reggiano is so good that one needn’t forego it just because truffles may not be available or are too expensive. Just skip the truffles. If you can obtain fresh porcini, the wild boletus edulis mushroom, and if they are firm and sound (not wormy), by all means use them. If you cannot, of the cultivated mushrooms, the brown-skinned variety known as cremini is the most desirable to use because its flavor more closely recalls that of porcini. But if cremini are not available either, good-quality white button mushrooms are quite acceptable. What there can be no substitute for is the parmigiano-reggiano cheese and the olive oil. The latter should be a fruity extra virgin olive oil, if possible from the central Italian regions of Umbria or Tuscany. The oil absorbs flavor from the mushrooms, cheese, and the truffle, if any, and wiping the plate clean at the end with a good, crusty piece of bread may be the best part of all.
For 4 servings
½ pound firm, sound fresh mushrooms (see introductory note above)
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
⅔ cup celery cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices
⅔ cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, shaved into flakes with a vegetable peeler or on a mandoline
OPTIONAL: a 1-ounce or larger white truffle
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (see introductory note above)
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. Wash the mushrooms quickly under cold running water. Do not let them soak. Pat them thoroughly dry with a cloth or paper towels. Cut them into very thin slices, about ⅛ inch thick, slicing them lengthwise so that the center slices have a part of both the stem and the cap.
2. Put the sliced mushrooms in a shallow bowl or platter and toss immediately with the lemon juice to keep them white. Add the sliced celery and the flakes of Parmesan cheese. If you own a truffle slicer, use it to slice the optional white truffle very thin into the bowl. Otherwise, use a vegetable peeler in a light sawing motion.
3. Toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Serve promptly.
Tomatoes Stuffed with Shrimp
For 6 servings
6 large, round, ripe firm tomatoes
¾ pound small raw shrimp in the shell
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt
Mayonnaise, made as directed, using the yolk of 1 large egg, ½ cup vegetable oil, and 2½ to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tablespoons capers, soaked and rinsed if packed in salt, drained if packed in vinegar
1 teaspoon English or Dijon-style mustard
Parsley
1. Slice the tops off the tomatoes. With a small spoon, possibly a serrated grapefruit spoon, scoop out all the seeds, and remove some of the dividing walls, leaving three or four large sections. Don’t squeeze the tomato at any time. Sprinkle with salt, and turn the tomatoes upside down on a platter to let excess liquid drain out.
2. Rinse the shrimp in cold water. Fill a pot with 2 quarts of water. Add the vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt, and bring to a boil. Drop in the shrimp and cook for just 1 minute (or more, depending on their size) after the water returns to a boil. Drain, shell, and devein the shrimp. Set aside to cool completely.
3. Set aside 6 of the best-looking, most regularly formed shrimp. Chop the rest not too fine, put them in a bowl, and mix them with the mayonnaise, capers, and mustard.
4. Shake off the excess liquid from the tomatoes without squeezing them. Stuff to the top with the shrimp mixture. Garnish each tomato with a whole shrimp and 1 or 2 parsley leaves. Serve at room temperature or even just slightly chilled.
Tomatoes Stuffed with Tuna
For 6 servings
6 large, round, ripe firm tomatoes
Salt
2 seven-ounce cans imported Italian tuna packed in olive oil
Mayonnaise, made as directed, using the yolk of 1 large egg, ½ cup vegetable oil, and 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons English or Dijon-style mustard
1½ tablespoons capers, soaked and rinsed if packed in salt, drained if packed in vinegar
Garnishes as suggested below
1. Prepare the tomatoes for stuffing as described in Step 1 of the recipe for Tomatoes Stuffed with Shrimp.
2. Put the tuna in a mixing bowl and mash it to a pulp with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, holding back 1 or 2 tablespoons, the mustard, and capers. Using the fork, mix to a uniform consistency. Taste and correct for salt.
3. Shake off the excess liquid from the tomatoes without squeezing them. Stuff to the top with the tuna mixture.
4. Spread the remaining mayonnaise on top of the tomatoes, and garnish in any of the following ways: with an olive slice, a strip of red or yellow pepper, a ring of tiny capers, or one or two parsley leaves. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.
In Carpione—Fried Marinated Fresh Sardines (or other fish)
Carpione, a magnificent variety of trout found only in Lake Garda, used to be so abundant that, when too many were caught to be consumed immediately, they were fried and then put up in a marinade of vinegar, onion, and herbs that preserved them for several days. Carpione has become so rare that few people today have seen one, let alone tasted its extraordinary flesh, but the practice has survived, applied to a large variety of fish, of both salt and fresh water. Similar methods are used in Venice, where they add raisins and pine nuts to the marinade and call it in saor, and in southern Italy, where it is called a scapece and the herb used is mint.
The tastiest of all fish for the in carpione treatment is, for me, the fresh sardine. Unfortunately, one doesn’t see it often in North American markets. Any fish, however, that can be fried whole, such as smelts, or a fillet of flat fish, such as sole, lends itself to this delectable preparation. Those who eat eel will find it particularly well suited to putting up in carpione. So, I suspect, would catfish, but I have never tried it.
For 4 to 6 servings
1 pound fresh sardines OR smelts OR other small fish OR ¾ pound fish fillets
Vegetable oil
An 8- to 9-inch skillet
½ cup flour, spread on a plate
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 cup onion sliced very thin
½ cup wine vinegar
4 whole bay leaves
1. If us
ing whole fish, gut it, scale it, and cut off the heads and the center back fins. If using fillets, cut them into 4 to 6 pieces. Wash the fish or fillets in cold water, and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.
2. Pour enough oil into the skillet to come 1 inch up its sides, and turn the heat on to medium-high. When the oil is hot, dredge both sides of the fish in the flour, and slip it into the pan. Do not crowd the pan. If necessary, you can fry the fish in two or more successive batches.
3. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side until both sides have a nice brown crust.
4. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, transfer the fish to a shallow serving platter, sprinkling it with salt and a few grindings of pepper. Choose a platter just large enough for the fish to form a single layer without overlapping.
5. When all the fish is fried, pour out and discard half the oil in the pan. Put the sliced onion into the same skillet and turn on the heat to medium-low. Cook at a gentle pace, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, but not colored.
6. Add the vinegar, turn up the heat, stir rapidly, and let it bubble for half a minute. Pour all the contents of the skillet over the fish. Top with the bay leaves.
7. Cover the platter with foil or with another platter. Allow the fish to steep in the marinade for at least 12 hours before serving. Turn it over once or twice during that period. It does not need to be refrigerated if you are going to have it within 24 hours. In the refrigerator it will keep for several days. Before bringing it to the table, remove it from the refrigerator an hour or two in advance to permit it to come to room temperature.
Cold Trout in Orange Marinade
OF THE MANY WAYS the Italian tradition has of putting up fried or sautéed fish in a marinade, the most gently fragrant and the least acidic is the one given below, consisting of orange, lemon, and vermouth. It goes best with trout or other fine, freshwater fish.
For 6 servings
3 trout, perch, or other fine freshwater fish, about ¾ pound each, gutted and scaled, but with heads and tails left on
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup flour, spread on a plate
2 tablespoons onion chopped very fine
1 cup dry white Italian vermouth
2 tablespoons chopped orange peel, using only the rind, not the white pith beneath it
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
The freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1½ tablespoons chopped parsley
OPTIONAL GARNISH: unpeeled orange slices
1. Wash the gutted, scaled fish in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.
2. Put the oil in a skillet and turn on the heat to medium. When the oil is hot, lightly dredge both sides of the fish in flour and slip into the skillet. Don’t overcrowd the pan; if all the fish does not fit loosely at one time, cook it in batches, dredging it in flour only at the moment you are ready to put it into the pan.
3. Brown the fish well on one side, then turn it and do the other, calculating about 5 minutes the first side and 4 minutes the second. Using a slotted spatula or spoon, transfer the fish when browned to a deep serving dish broad or long enough to accommodate all of it without overlapping. Do not pour out the oil in the skillet.
4. With a well-sharpened knife, make two or three skin-deep diagonal cuts on both sides of the fish. Be careful not to tear the skin, and avoid cutting into the flesh.
5. Put the chopped onion into the skillet that still contains the oil in which you cooked the fish. Turn on the heat to medium and cook the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold.
6. Add the vermouth and the orange peel. Let the vermouth bubble gently for about 30 seconds, stir, then add the orange juice, lemon juice, salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Let everything bubble for about half a minute, stirring two or three times. Add the chopped parsley, stir once or twice, then pour the entire contents of the skillet over the fish in the serving dish.
7. Allow the fish to steep in its marinade at room temperature for at least 6 hours before refrigerating. Plan to serve the fish no sooner than the following day. Do serve it within 3 days at the latest to enjoy its flavor at its freshest. Take it out of the refrigerator at least 2 hours before bringing to the table to allow it to come to room temperature. Before serving, garnish it, if you like, with fresh slices of orange.
Gamberetti all’Olio e Limone—Poached Shrimp with Olive Oil and Lemon Juice
WHEN VERY GOOD SHRIMP is simmered briefly, then steeped in olive oil and lemon juice and served before ever seeing the inside of the refrigerator, it makes one of those appetizers in the Italian seafood repertory that is as sublime in taste as it is in its simplicity. You’ll find it on the menu of virtually every fish restaurant on the northern Adriatic. As in so many other Italian dishes where the principal elements are so few, the success of the preparation depends on the quality of its main ingredients: here, the shrimp and the olive oil. The first should be the juiciest and sweetest your fish market can provide, the latter the best estate-bottled Italian extra virgin olive oil you can find.
For 6 servings
1 stalk celery
1 carrot, peeled
Salt
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1½ pounds choice small raw shrimp in the shell (if only larger shrimp are available, see note below)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. Put the celery, carrot, 1 tablespoon of salt, and the vinegar in 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil.
2. When the water has boiled gently for 10 minutes, add the shrimp in their shells. If very tiny, the shrimp will be cooked just moments after the water returns to a boil. If medium-to-large, they will take 2 to 3 minutes longer.
3. When cooked, drain the shrimp, shell, and devein. If using medium-to-large shrimp, slice them lengthwise in half.
4. Put the shrimp in a shallow bowl and, while they are still warm, add the olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well and allow to steep at room temperature for 1 hour before bringing to the table. Serve with good crusty bread to help wipe the plate clean of its delicious juices.
Note The dish is far better if never chilled, but if you are compelled to, you can prepare it a day in advance and refrigerate it under plastic wrap. Always return it to full room temperature before serving.
Insalata Russa—Shrimp Salad with Assorted Vegetables
IF YOU ARE SUSPICIOUS, as I am, of dishes that look too pretty, this is one dish whose lovely appearance you can make allowances for, because it tastes as good as it looks. It is, moreover, very simple to execute. It does take time to clean, boil, and dice all the vegetables, but it can all be prepared and completed well in advance, whenever you feel like it and whenever you have the time. The only plausible explanation for this salad being called “Russian”—russa—is the presence of beets.
For 6 servings
1 pound medium shrimp in the shell
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons wine vinegar
¼ pound green beans
2 medium potatoes
2 medium carrots
⅓ of a 10-ounce package frozen peas, thawed
6 small canned whole red beets, drained
2 tablespoons capers, soaked and rinsed if packed in salt, drained if in vinegar
2 tablespoons fine cucumber pickles, preferably cornichons, cut up
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Mayonnaise, made as directed, using the yolks of 3 eggs, 1¾ cups extra virgin olive oil (see note below), 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, and ⅜ teaspoon salt
1. Wash the shrimp. Bring water to a boil, add salt, and as it returns to a boil, put in the shrimp in their shells with 1 tablespoon of the vinegar. Cook for 4 minutes, less if the shrimp are small, then drain. When cool enough to handle, shell, an
d devein. Set the shrimp aside.
2. Snap both ends off the green beans and wash them in cold water. Bring water to a boil, add salt, drop in the beans, and drain them as soon as they are tender, but still firm.
3. Wash the potatoes with their skins on, put them in a pot with enough water to cover amply, bring to a boil, and cook until they are easily pierced with a fork. Drain and peel while still hot.
4. Peel the carrots, and cook them exactly as you cooked the beans, until tender, but still firm.
5. Drop the peas into salted, boiling water and cook not much longer than 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
6. Pat the beets as dry as possible with paper towels. When the cooked vegetables have cooled off, set aside a small quantity of each, including the beets but excepting the potatoes, which you will use later for the garnish. Cut up the rest as follows: the green beans into ⅜-inch lengths; the potatoes, carrots, and beets diced into ⅜-inch cubes. Put all the cut-up and diced vegetables, including the capers and cucumber pickles, in a mixing bowl.
7. Set aside half the shrimp. Dice the rest and add them to the bowl with the vegetables. Add the olive oil, 2 teaspoons wine vinegar, and salt and toss thoroughly. Add half the mayonnaise, and fold it into the mixture, distributing it evenly to coat the ingredients well. Taste and correct for salt.
8. Turn the contents of the bowl over onto a serving platter, preferably round. Shape it into a shallow, flat-topped, oval mound, pressing it with a rubber spatula to even it off and make the surface smooth. Spread the remaining mayonnaise over the mound, covering the entire surface and using the spatula to make it smooth.
9. Use the reserved vegetables and shrimp to decorate the mound in any way that you find attractive. One suggestion: Place a thin carrot disk on the center of the mound, and a pea in the center of the carrot. Use some of the shrimp to make a circle around the carrot, placing them on their side, nestling the tail of one over the head of the other. Over the rest of the mound scatter flowers, using carrots for the center button, beets for the petals, and green beans for the stems. Decorate the sides of the mound with the remaining shrimp, imbedding their bellies in the salad, heads toward the top, tails toward the bottom, backs arching away.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 8
