Breaded Eggplant with Basil and Lemon

EGGPLANT is a Sicilian staple. It plays a large role in the kitchen and has a wide variety of uses. It can be baked, roasted, fried, cooked in myriad combinations with other vegetables (caponatina reigns supreme where this is concerned) and of course can be used in pasta dishes as well. For our purposes, however, and because it is summer when the eggplants are in lush profusion, nothing is so appealing as eggplant that is breaded and gently fried in olive oil and then layered with lemon juice and basil. It is a dish that screams summer and one that is often served at room temperature. My grandmother and my mother made this often and sometimes mixed this with the home-grown guguzza (gigantic zucchini bigger than a baseball bat) on the same plate. Delicious!

Eggplant with Basil and Lemon

1 or 2 eggplants sliced (not too thinly) and salted to sweat

Flour to dredge

3 eggs

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Juice from 2 lemons

Chopped basil (or chiffonade)

Breadcrumbs mixed with several tablespoons of Romano cheese

High quality extra virgin olive oil
Juice from one or two lemons
Basil leaves

Slice the eggplant and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freely sprinkle Kosher salt over all the slices and allow to sweat for about 45 minutes. After about 20-24 minutes, You can turn them and sweat the other side if you like. 

Mix the eggs with the lemon juice, the olive oil and the basil.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the cheese (you'll need at least 4 cups of breadcrumb mixture.

Set up an assembly line starting with a plate with the egg plant, flour, egg mixture, bread crumbs and another plate for the breaded eggplant.  Dredge each slice and then dip in the egg and then bread the slices and place on the clean plate in a circular pattern (as in the photograph above). Squeeze lemon juice over the top of the eggplant and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Heat a large, deep frying pan and pour in enough olive oil to cover the bottom in a generous layer. When the oil ripples and is just on the brink of smoking, place the eggplant slices in the pan. Gently saute until each side is a crisp and golden brown. Layer the eggplant on a platter and continue to fry all the eggplant until you are done. Drizzle more lemon juice on the top of the eggplant, insert basil leaves and lemon wedges around the platter. 

Serve immediately or at room temperature with other antipasti.

Buon appetition!

TONNO E PATATE CON AIOLI

I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS on my flight to Sacramento last night but was forced to refrain thanks to the child-centric parents who kept getting up and down (I had the aisle seat) with their screaming 18 month old son.

Anyway, summer is the time to cook without heat. Here in New York, when the mercury tops 75º and the humidity is scorching, the last thing you really want to do is cook over a hot stove; forget about the oven. There are many ways to get around this and one of them is tuna with boiled potatoes, some thick, rich Aioli and a loaf of crusty bread. It makes the perfect lunch or a fabulous antipasto before something grilled or roasted in the wee hours of the night when the sun is down. It is perfect for the beach!

TONNO SOTT'OGLIO COLLE PATATE E AIOLI

1 recipe Tonno Sott'Oglio (see blog entry dated, January 12, 2014)

6 new potatoes (quartered, but left unpeeled)

1 recipe Aioli (see below)

1 baguette

Tonno Sott'Oglio

1 cup tuna (left to drain the oil in a small sieve)

Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for about 15 minutes or until pierced easily with a knife

Aioli

2 tbs. dry mustard

At least 6 cloves of garlic

Dash of sea salt

2 anchovy filets

3 egg yolks

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. water

1/2 tsp. vinegar

1 cup olive oil*

1 small packet saffron powder

Smash the garlic with a large chef's knife or cleaver. Mix well with the salt and anchovies and work into a paste (either in a mortar and pestle or a food processor or blender)

Heat the canister of a blender with hot water. Drain and add the egg yolks, dry mustard, lemon juice, water and vinegar and blend until very well mixed. Start adding the olive oil a little bit at a time in a very thin stream. You don't want to saturate the egg yolks too quickly with the oil or the sauce will separate. You want to end up with a very thick mayonnaise. When this is achieved, add the garlic and the saffron. For a deeper flavor, I add a dash of Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco,  Nutmeg and Paprika.

Put into a bowl or container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Arrange the tuna and potatoes around the bowl of Aioli on a platter and serve with a good loaf of bread.

Buon appetito!

* You don't have to use 100% olive oil. You can mix the oils if you like (Canola, Avocado, Peanut, Corn, whichever you prefer), but I would still make sure that half of the oil was olive oil.

PASTA CON POLPO

I KNOW, I KNOW! INDEED, PAOLO DOES KNOW, that it's been a very long while since I've written anything but please, I've been just a tad busy with other professional duties like learning a rather large chunk of Rachmaninoff and all the Chopin Nocturnes. Please forgive me for my neglect. I can only apologize now for repeated offenses in the future as life over the next few months is going to get very harried for me.

As we are now deep in summer, it's fitting that I should write about two elements of the season's fare: seafood and the tomato (n.b., August approaches with its abundance of juicy, sweet, peach-dripping tomatoes!).

SPAGHETTINI CON POLPO

In any event, when I was a little boy, my grandmother made this dish all the time. However, my interest in octopus had nothing to do with touching it much less putting it in my mouth. Octopus and the dreaded canned peas were my nemeses. She did, however, impart the ways of making this dish to some of the "in-laws" who were the German, Polish and Irish wives of cousins, nephews and grandsons. Indeed, everyone marveled at how well these "midigane" (Sicilian for American) could cook pure and simple Sicilian fare. One of them became a fabulous cook in her own right and truly excelled at this dish after working her way up from how to boil water and up ("WHAT? You married a girl who cannot cook? Impossibile!!) under the ever-watchful eye of my Nonna Cefalú! It only takes curiosity and imagination and miracles in the kitchen can and do happen!

You will remember (or not) that I wrote about breadcrumbs (a Sicilian staple) many months ago (April 15, 2013). Remember-ing the cardinal rule of no cheese with fish or seafood,  bread crumbs (preferably toasted) form the essential finishing touch to this dish.

For a complete recipe on how to make octopus for this dish, refer to my blog entry entitled, "Octopus Salad" dated, January 27, 2014. This recipe can be made with large or baby octopus, but be forewarned, one fully grown octopus can weigh at least 2-3 pounds. For this dish, I allow a pound of octopus for two people as a main course or four as a first course. Either way, you don't want to serve more than 100 grams of pasta per pasta. 

Serves 4.

For the sauce:

1 lb. cooked octopus cut into small pieces if using a large octopus or heads removed from bodies of baby octopus.

Olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic smashed
4 or 5 anchovy filets
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
Freshly chopped thyme and parsley
1 lg. can peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano) or 
3-4 cups freshly made passato di pomodoro (April 7, 2013)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large handful of fresh basil cut into chiffonade to be put into the sauce at the end before serving.

Cover the entire surface of a heavy bottomed pan with olive oil. Heat until almost smoking. Add the onion, garlic and hot pepper flakes. Saute over medium heat until the onions become translucent. Add the anchovies, the octopus and the white wine. Bring the liquid to the boil and reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook and reduce to 1/4 cup of liquid. Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil again and reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook for about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary. Add the basil. The sauce should be thick and rich with body and texture.

1 lb. pasta of your choice (long thin pastas like spaghetti, linguini or even the much finer cappellini are best).

Meanwhile, fill a large stock pot with water, cover and place over moderately hight heat. Bring the water to the boil, add a handful of Kosher salt and the pasta.  Cover the pot again to rapidly bring the water back to the boil. Uncover and cook, stirring often until al dente. Before draining the pasta, add a ladleful of pasta cooking water to the tomato sauce and stir into the sauce. Invert the entire amount of drained pasta into the sauce and toss with any leftover chopped parsley and basil.

Serve in large soup bowls and sprinkle some toasted breadcrumbs on top. 

Buon appetito!

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SOME THINGS I MADE FOR EASTER DINNER

I WAS GOING TO MAKE a huge meal, but didn't. It was a good thing, too!

I made Octopus and I also made a fabulous tart, or rather Torta di Ricotta which I found in Michael White's amazing and gorgeous Italian cookbook, Classico e Moderno. It is truly one of the only times that I really followed the recipe (except one or two ingredients) where it looked almost exactly like the picture in his book. 

But let's start with the octopus, shall we?

GRILLED OCTOPUS WITH FINGERLING POTATOES AND LEMON

I know that some people are squeamish, so look away if you must. What one does is wash the octopus (a nice 2-3 pound octopus would be ideal - the one pictured above was about 1-1/4 pounds), remove the eyes and roast it in red wine, some slices of lemon and some pepper corns in a 225º oven for 4 hours. Make sure the pan is covered during roasting. Check periodically if you need to add more wine or water. This draws all of the liquid out of the octopus as well as giving it a rich flavor. When it's done, remove the center (head) and any dark slimy skin from the tentacles. At this point you can reserve until you're ready to grill or broil or do it immediately. 

Octopus - pre-roasting

Cut up about 6 fingerling potatoes in chunks and dress with a little salt and pepper and olive oil and roast in a 350º oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and reserve while you are grilling the octopus. 

Dress the octopus with some olive oil mixed with the juice of one lemon and some oregano and place on the grill. You want a nice scorch but you don't want to burn it. Turn over and grill  the other side. 

Arrange the potatoes on a plate and place the octopus and all the juices on top of that and serve with lemon. It's out of this world. 

Serves 2

The recipe for Torta di Ricotta is a little long (first the crust, then the filling and then the syrup and fruits). I was exhausted. So, rather than exhaust you, I'm just going to display my handiwork! The combination of cheese and syrup with fresh fruit with mint was truly amazing. 

Torta di Ricotta with Port Glaze and Fresh Fruit

Serves 8-12

Buon appetito!

CARCIOFI ALL ROMANA

I'M ON A ROLL HERE! So please indulge me; I haven't been writing in a while and need to do this once and for all or it will never get written.

Carciofi (artichokes) are in season in Italy in the winter but here, we almost always have them in abundance  Large or small, they are always completely satisfying. Trimming the artichoke is key. I use a scissors to cut off the pointed ends of the leaves and then cut the choke so the top is even. Peel off  the outer leaves until you see the white/light green parts of the leaves. If you have stems on the chokes trim the bottom but leave the stems attached. If you're going to use large artichokes, you'll have to take a spoon and scoop out the hairy choke in the center as this is inedible.

Carciofi all Romana

After you've trimmed the artichokes, rub the leaves with    lemon juice. Put into a bowl of cold water and reserve.

2-3 cloves smashed garlic

4 tbs. chopped parsley

4 tbs. chopped mint

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup olive oil

Prepare the herb mixture by mixing the herbs and salt together. Place some of the mixture in the center of each of the artichokes. Reserve any leftover herbs for the pan when cooking.

In a saucepan just large enough to hold all the artichokes standing upside down, heat the oil and the garlic, add the water and bring to the boil. Add the artichokes and any of the remaining herbs and cook covered over medium heat for 35-45 minutes. Check occasionally to see if the artichokes need more liquid. You'll know when the artichoke is done if the leaves come off the stem easily.

Arrange in a small serving dish, stems up, and serve immediately or with antipasto.

Buon appetito!

REFLECTIONS ON A GOLDEN PLATE

Following the golden rule "if you don't love it, don't do it", I've always had fun in the kitchen. Sometimes it may be a great deal of work but it's always enjoyable and extremely satisfying to see people eat your food; it's as if they are eating a part of me. So, the build up to Easter can often be  fraught with great expectation. One fasts, attends church (often) and in addition to that, there are the dietary restrictions to consider (no meat being the rule). That said deciding what to eat and what you can't eat, on which day, must be met with imagination.

I decided to make Tagliatelle al Tónno on Good Friday. Considering it was truly the only meal of the day, it was appropriate that there was a bit of substance. That and a great salad of hearts of romaine lettuce, apples, avocados and blue cheese, it made a great meal to break the fast.

Tagliatelle al Tónno

It is not difficult to make fresh pasta; you just have to know  what you're doing. I've been making pasta in a food processor and a hand cranked pasta machine for years now and it's always worked just fine. However, recently I've found that using a stand mixer with a dough hook is a gentler way of kneading the dough and a far better mode of producing la  Sfolgia. Literally translated, it means "sheet", which when rolled ultra thin becomes transparent, just like a sheet billowing in the wind. You should be able to see your hand through the pasta sheet. There is a well in the center of the  flour in which the egg mixture is added and the dough hook mixes in a circular fashion incorporating all of the flour, little by little, until it results in a large mass (no dry bits of flour  should remain on the bottom or sides of the bowl). The flour and the egg are thus cajoled into binding together whereas the food processor violently shocks the ingredients into submission. Much better for the dough, just like Julia's chicken!

I made my "sfolgia" with "00" flour and I think it was the best noodle I ever produced. It had texture and depth and it wasn't wilted or limp, which often can be the case with fresh pasta. And it stretched to a good 15 inches by the time we were at no. 9 on the roller. Paper thin slices through which I could see my hand.

La Sfolgia

3 cups "00" flour

Pinch of Kosher salt

4 eggs

1 tbs. Olive Oil

Put the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer with the salt. Mix the eggs with the olive oil. Make a small well in the center of the flour pour the egg mixture into that and lower your dough hook into the well. Start out at a slow speed and gradually turn the motor to a higher speed but not too fast. Let this mix for about 2-3 minutes or longer, until everything comes together in one mass. When you have reached the point where all of the dough is collected into one ball, remove from the mixer and cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Tagliatelle

While the pasta is resting, you can make the sauce.

Tomato Sauce with Tuna

Olive oil

Optional: a pinch of red pepper flakes

Collectively called Soffrito

  1 medium onion, minced

  1 stalk celery minced

  1 small carrot, minced

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme

16 fresh basil leaves cut into chiffonade

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1/2 lb. fresh tuna in oil

(Please refer to my blog entry of January 12, 2014 for the recipe for Tuna in Oil)

2 28 oz. cans peeled plum tomatoes in juice (preferably San Marzano) placed in a large mixing bowl and broken up with your hands

Fresh flat leaf parsley coarsely chopped

Salt and Pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed cast iron or stainless steel saucepan until it ripples and is about to smoke (you can add the pepper flakes at this stage if using). Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook them until the onions become translucent. Add the thyme and the tuna and blend into the soffrito. Breaking up the tuna as you stir is okay. Immediately add the tomatoes, bring to a boil and turn down the heat to a simmer. Add half the basil salt and pepper to taste and cover. Simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. When getting ready to serve, add the rest of the basil and the parsley and mix with the sauce.

For specific instructions on rolling out the dough and making noodles see my entry dated November 2, 2012 ("What I did during Hurricane Sandy Part II").

Fill a large pot with water. I use a stock pot; the more water the better. Put on high heat and cover and bring the water to the boil. When the water boils add about 4 tbs. Kosher salt (and handful is good). Add the pasta and cook for about 4 minutes. Since you will have quite a bit of sauce, it's best to prepare a large serving bowl by putting some of the sauce in the bowl with a ladleful of the pasta cooking water. Mix thoroughly and after draining the pasta in a colander, add the pasta and toss. Serve immediately with more sauce. Sorry: it's fish. No cheese!

Buon Appetito!