Note Here is one of the uncommon occasions when the snappy flavor of good olive oil in mayonnaise is more desirable than the mildness of vegetable oil. Its density is also useful in pulling together the ingredients of the salad, making it more compact.
Ahead-of-time note You can make the salad up to 2 days in advance, refrigerating it under plastic wrap, but take it out in sufficient time to be able to serve it not too much colder than room temperature. Caution: If you are preparing the dish several hours or even a day in advance, use the beets in your decorative pattern at the last moment because their color tends to run.
Salmon Foam
LONG BEFORE the Norwegians raised salmon on farms and made it a commonplace ingredient in Italian markets, where it now costs far less than locally caught fish, it was better known to Italians in its canned form. Just as they have succeeded in elevating the status of canned tuna, Italian cooks produce excellent things with canned salmon, of which the recipe given here is one of the best examples.
For 6 servings
15 ounces canned salmon
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1½ cups very cold heavy whipping cream
1. Drain the salmon and look it over carefully, picking out any bones and bits of skin. Using a fork, crumble it in a mixing bowl. Add the oil, lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper, and beat them with the fork into the salmon until you have obtained a smooth, homogeneous mixture.
2. Put the whipping cream into a cold mixing bowl and whip it until it is stiff. Gently fold the cream into the salmon mixture until it is wholly a part of it. Refrigerate covered with plastic wrap.
Chill for 2 hours before serving, but not longer than 24.
Optional garnish Spoon individual servings onto radicchio leaves, shaping the salmon foam into small, rounded mounds. Top each mound with a black olive—preferably not the Greek variety, but a milder one, such as the ones from California, and align half slices of lemon on either side of the olive, embedding them in the salmon.
Poached Tuna and Potato Roll
HUMBLE CANNED TUNA here undergoes a transformation into a dish as elegant in texture and flavor as it is in appearance. It is combined with mashed potatoes and cheese, shaped into a long roll, then poached in liquid lightly flavored with vegetables and white wine. When cold, it is served sliced, topped by caper mayonnaise.
For 6 to 8 servings
1 medium potato
2 seven-ounce cans imported Italian tuna packed in olive oil, drained
¼ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 whole egg plus the white of 1 egg
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Cheesecloth
FOR THE POACHING LIQUID
½ medium yellow onion, sliced thin
1 stalk celery
1 carrot
The stems only of 6 parsley sprigs
Salt
1 cup dry white wine
MAYONNAISE MADE AS DIRECTED, USING
The yolk of 1 large egg
⅔ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
AND INCORPORATING
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped capers, soaked and rinsed if packed in salt, drained if in vinegar
1 anchovy fillet, chopped very fine
FOR THE GARNISH
Slivered black olives
1. Boil the potato with its peel on until it is tender. Drain, peel, and mash through a food mill or a potato ricer.
2. Mash the tuna in a bowl. Add the grated cheese, the whole egg plus the 1 white, a few grindings of pepper, and the mashed potato. Combine with the tuna into a homogeneous mixture.
3. Moisten a piece of cheesecloth, wring it until it is just damp, and lay it out flat on a work counter. Place the tuna mixture at one end of the cloth, and shape it with your hands into a salami-like roll, about 2½ inches in diameter. Wrap it in the cheesecloth, winding it around three or four times. Tie each end securely with string.
4. To make the poaching liquid: Put the sliced onion, celery stalk, carrot, parsley stems, a pinch of salt, and the wine in a saucepan, oval casserole, or a fish poacher. Put in the tuna roll and add enough water to cover by at least 1 inch. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. When the liquid boils, adjust the heat so that it subsides to the gentlest of simmers. Cook for 45 minutes.
5. Remove the tuna roll, taking care not to split it and lifting it up from both ends at the same time with spatulas. Unwrap it as soon as you are able to handle it. Set aside to cool completely.
6. Make the mayonnaise as directed above. When it is done, mix in the chopped capers and anchovy.
7. Cut the cold tuna roll into slices less than ½ inch thick. Arrange the slices on a serving platter, overlapping them slightly. Spread the mayonnaise over the tuna slices and garnish with the slivered olives. One way of doing it is to place the olives over the middle of each slice, running them in a straight line from one end of the platter to the other.
Ahead-of-time note: The roll can be finished up to this point one or two days in advance. When it has cooled down completely, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Take it out in time for it to come to room temperature before proceeding with the next step.
Poached Tuna and Spinach Roll
HERE IS ANOTHER preparation in which everyday canned tuna is endowed with a lovely presentation and flavor to match. (Also see Poached Tuna and Potato Roll.)
For 8 servings
1½ pounds fresh spinach
Salt
A 3½-ounce can imported Italian tuna packed in olive oil, drained
4 flat anchovy fillets (preferably the ones prepared at home), chopped fine
1½ slices good-quality white bread, trimmed of the crust
1½ cups milk
2 whole eggs
1½ cups freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Cheesecloth
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
FOR THE GARNISH
1 lemon, sliced thin
1 small carrot, sliced into very thin rounds
1. Pull the spinach leaves from their stems and soak them in a basin in several changes of cold water until they are totally free of soil.
2. Cook the spinach in a covered pan with just the moisture clinging to the leaves and 2 teaspoons of salt to keep it green. When very tender, after 10 minutes of cooking or more, depending on how fresh and young the spinach is, drain it and let it cool.
3. When cool, take a fistful of spinach at a time, and squeeze it firmly until no more liquid runs out. When all the spinach has been squeezed dry, chop it very fine, and put it in a mixing bowl.
4. Chop the tuna and add it to the bowl, together with the anchovies.
5. Put the bread in a deep dish and pour the milk over it. Let it soak.
6. Break the eggs into the bowl with the spinach and tuna. Add the Parmesan, bread crumbs, salt, and liberal grindings of pepper.
7. Squeeze the soggy bread in your hand, letting all the milk run back into the dish. Add the bread to the bowl. Mix thoroughly into a homogeneous mixture.
8. Follow the directions in step 3 of the preceding recipe to shape the tuna roll and wrap it in cheesecloth.
9. Put the roll in an oval pot or a fish poacher in which it will fit rather snugly. Add enough water to cover the roll, cover the pot, and turn on the heat to medium. When the water comes to a boil, adjust heat so that it maintains a steady, gentle simmer, and cook for 35 minutes.
10. Remove the roll from the pot, taking care not to split it and lifting it up from both ends at the same time with spatulas. Let the roll cool slightly, then unwind and remove the che
esecloth. Let the roll cool completely to room temperature but do not refrigerate because it would adversely affect the flavor of the spinach.
11. Cut into slices less than ½ inch thick, and arrange the slices on a platter so they overlap slightly, like roof shingles. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Over each green slice place a thin slice of lemon with the skin on and on each lemon slice a tiny carrot disk.
Warm Appetizers
Bruschetta—Roman Garlic Bread
DIRECTLY from the Latin verb and into the modern vernacular of Rome comes the verb bruscare, which means to toast (as in a slice of bread), or roast (as with coffee beans); hence bruschetta, whose most important component, aside from the grilled bread itself, is olive oil.
On those brisk days that bridge the passage from fall to winter, and signal the release of the year’s freshly pressed olive oil, toasting bread over a smoky fire and soaking it with spicy, laser-green newly minted oil is a practice probably as old as Rome itself. From Rome bruschetta spread through the rest of central Italy—Umbria, Tuscany, Abruzzi—and acquired other ingredients: invariably now, garlic and, here and there, tomatoes. Two versions of bruschetta follow.
Basic Bruschetta
For 6 to 12 servings
6 garlic cloves
12 slices good, thick-crusted bread, ½ to ¾ inch thick, 3 to 4 inches wide
Extra virgin olive oil, fruity and young
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. Preheat a broiler or, even better, light a charcoal fire.
2. Mash the garlic cloves with a heavy knife handle, crushing them just enough to split them and to loosen the peel, which you will remove and discard.
3. Grill the bread to a golden brown on both sides.
4. As the bread comes off the grill, while it is still hot, rub one side of each slice with the mashed garlic.
5. Put the bread on a platter, garlicky side facing up, and pour a thin stream of olive oil over each slice, enough to soak it lightly.
6. Sprinkle with salt and a few grindings of pepper. Serve while still warm.
The Tomato Version
All the ingredients given in the recipe above plus
8 fresh, ripe plum tomatoes
8 to 12 fresh basil leaves OR a few pinches oregano
1. Wash the tomatoes, split them in half lengthwise, and with the tip of a paring knife pick out all the seeds you can. Dice the tomatoes into ½-inch cubes.
2. Wash the basil leaves, shake them thoroughly dry, and tear them into small pieces. (Omit this step if using oregano.)
3. After rubbing the hot grilled bread with garlic as directed in recipe above, top it with diced tomato, sprinkle with basil or oregano, add salt and pepper, and lightly drizzle each slice with olive oil. Serve while still warm.
Carciofi alla Giudia—Crisp-Fried Whole Artichokes
OF THE SUBSTANTIAL achievements of Jewish cooks in Italy, none is more justly celebrated than the fried artichokes of Rome, whose crisp outer leaves, looking like those of a dried chrysanthemum, curl around the tender, succulent interior.
The cooking is done in two stages. The first more slowly, at a lower temperature, giving the heat time to cook the artichokes thoroughly. The second with hotter oil, which is then excited by a sprinkling of cold water, to give the outer leaves their crisp finish.
For 6 servings
6 medium artichokes, as young and fresh as possible
½ lemon
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Vegetable oil
1. Trim the artichokes exactly as directed in Step 1 of Artichokes, Roman Style, except that here you will cut off the stem, all but for a short stump. As you snap off the hard outer leaves, keep them progressively longer at the base, giving the artichoke’s core the look of a thick, fleshy rosebud. Remember to cut off the inedible, tough tops, and to rub all cut parts with juice squeezed from the half lemon to keep them from turning black.
2. Turn the artichokes bottoms up, gently spread their leaves outward, and press them against a board or other work surface, flattening them as much as possible without going so far as to crack them. Turn right side up and sprinkle with salt and a few grindings of pepper.
3. Choose a deep skillet or sauté pan and pour enough oil into it to come 1½ inches up the sides of the pan. Turn the heat on to medium, and when the oil is hot slip in the artichokes, their bottoms facing up. Cook for 5 minutes or so, then turn them over. Turn them again, from time to time, as they cook. They are done when the thick part of the bottom feels tender at the pricking of a fork. It may take 15 minutes or longer, depending on how young and fresh the artichokes are. Regulate the heat to make sure the oil is not overheating and frying the artichokes too quickly.
4. When the artichokes are done, transfer them to a board or other work surface, their bottoms facing up, and press them with a wooden spoon or a spatula to flatten them some more.
5. Turn on the heat to high under the pan. Have a bowl with cold water near you by the stove. As soon as the oil is very hot, slip in the artichokes, their bottoms facing up. After frying them for just a few minutes, turn them over, dip your hand in the bowl of water, and sprinkle the artichokes. Stay at arm’s length from the pan because the oil will sizzle and spatter.
6. As soon as the oil stops sputtering, transfer the artichokes face down to paper towels or to a cooling rack to drain. Serve with the leaves facing up. They are at their best when piping hot, but they are quite nice even a little later, at room temperature. Do not refrigerate or reheat.
Baked Stuffed Mushroom Caps
A KEY INGREDIENT in the stuffing of these mushrooms—which also has pancetta, garlic, egg, and marjoram—is reconstituted dried porcini mushrooms. As in many other recipes, their presence helps to transform the shy flavor of cultivated mushrooms into the effusive, dense one of the wild boletus edulis.
For 6 servings
A packet dried porcini mushrooms OR, if bought loose, about 1 ounce
¼ heaping cup crumb (the fresh, soft, crustless part of bread)
¼ cup milk
1 pound fresh, stuffing (large) mushrooms
¼ pound pancetta
4 flat anchovy fillets (preferably the ones prepared at home)
4 fresh basil leaves, torn by hand into small pieces
A small garlic clove, chopped fine
1 egg
3 tablespoons parsley chopped fine
⅛ teaspoon dried marjoram OR ¼ teaspoon chopped fresh
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ cup dried, unflavored bread crumbs
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
1. Put the dried mushrooms in 2 cups of lukewarm water and let them soak for at least 30 minutes.
2. Put the soft crumb and milk together in a small bowl or deep dish and set aside to soak.
3. Wash the fresh mushrooms rapidly under cold running water, and pat them thoroughly dry with paper towels, taking care not to bruise them. Gently detach the stems without breaking the caps.
4. Line a wire strainer with a paper towel and place it over a small saucepan. Lift the porcini from their soak, but do not discard the liquid. Pour the liquid into the strainer, filtering it through the paper towel into the saucepan. Rinse the reconstituted porcini in several changes of cold water, making sure no grit remains attached to them. Add them to the saucepan and cook, uncovered, over lively heat until all the liquid has boiled away.
5. Preheat oven to 400°.
6. Chop the cooked reconstituted porcini, the fresh mushroom stems, the pancetta, and anchovy fillets all very fine. It can be done by hand or in a food processor.
7. Put all the above chopped ingredients in a mixing bowl, adding the basil leaves and chopped garlic. Take the milk-soaked crumb into your hand, squeeze it gently until it stops dripping, and add it to the bowl. Break the egg into the bowl. Add the parsley, marjoram, salt, and several grindings of pepper
, and thoroughly mix all the ingredients in the bowl with a fork until they are combined into a smooth, homogeneous mixture. Taste and correct for salt and pepper.
8. Stuff the mushroom caps with the mixture from the bowl. Put enough stuffing into each cap to make a rounded mound. Sprinkle the mounds with bread crumbs.
9. Choose a baking dish that will accommodate all the mushroom caps side by side in a single layer. Smear the bottom and sides of the dish with a little of the olive oil. Put the mushrooms in the dish, stuffed sides facing up. Crisscross the mushrooms with a thin stream of olive oil, lightly daubing the stuffing.
10. Place the dish in the uppermost level of the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the mounds of stuffing have formed a light crust. After removing from the oven, allow them to settle for several minutes before serving.
Bagna Caôda—Hot Piedmontese Dip for Raw Vegetables
THE FLAVORS and sensations of the winter season are nowhere more affectingly celebrated than at a Piedmontese table when the bagna caôda is brought out: They are expressed by the austere taste of the cardoons, artichokes, scallions, and Jerusalem artichokes and others that form the classic assortment of dipping greens; by the cold of the raw vegetable softened by the heat of the sauce; by the spritzy, astringent impact of the newly racked wine that is its traditional accompaniment.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 9
