Tag: Braise

CALAMARI RIPIENI CON FORMAGGIO FRESCO E MARSALA (Stuffed calamari with fresh cheese and braised in marsala)

Marsala is the fortified wine of Sicily. Like sherry, there are various blends and some is aged in wood for longer than ten years; it is called marsala stravecchia and as noble as any good liqueur. Those of you who have been to Sicily and have visited the Cantine Florio in Marsala, in the province of Trapani would know what I am talking about.

I use marsala fina or secca (dry) for my cooking. It is nothing like marsala all’uovo – unfortunately this has given marsala a bad name.

The squid are stuffed with fresh cheese. Being a Sicilian/ Italian recipe, the soft cheese used for the stuffing can be one of the following: tuma, pecorino fresco, mozzarella, fior di latte, bocconcini and even ricotta….and not the tub variety! On this occasion I used Danish feta – definitely not traditional, but I had some marinading in extra virgin olive oil, dry oregano and fennel seeds in the fridge.

There were other liberties I took with this recipe: Instead of the parsley, I used fresh marjoram, once again, because I had some growing and because I like the sweetness of this herb – it goes well with nutmeg and with soft cheese. Not Sicilian either! My mother would never have approved of the “fusion” ingredients – Italians are a bit like that, they stick to what is correct and proper. I have come a long way! You may be wondering about the dark colour on the body of the squid – it is because I do not bother to strip each squid meticulously  – what comes off, comes off. (The same with octopus!)

 

For a main course estimate 1 squid per person – these are medium sized squid – usually the smaller the better as large squid can be a bit rubbery.  For an antipasto the squid can be cut into slices and feed 6 people.

INGREDIENTS

4 medium squid, 1 cup breadcrumbs (small), made from good-quality day-old bread, 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely cut,  ¼–½ teaspoon nutmeg, 150g fresh cheese cut into small cubes (see above), 1 cup dry marsala, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

PROCESSES

Clean the squid: pull off the head and the inside of the squid and discard.

Cut off tentacles and save them for another time.

Toast the breadcrumbs in a little oil. Cool. Mix the breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley and nutmeg together and add the seasoning.

Stuff the squid and secure each end with a skewer.

Sauté each squid in olive oil. When golden, add the marsala, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes (depending on size). Uncover and evaporate the juices as necessary.

Variation: replace some of the breadcrumbs with almond meal.

MA2SBAE8REVW

TONNO E PISELLI (Tuna and peas)

Finally, Albacore tuna is available again in one stall at the Queen Victoria market. This tuna is sustainable, it is a lean fish and it can be quite dry if served without a sauce.

You can buy albacore tuna cut as a fillet or as slices from the centre of the fish – this cut will include the spinal bones and if you are braising the fish the bones will contribute to the taste. In Sicily this cut of tuna is called a ruota (wheel); the bones can then be easily removed at the time of serving. The wheel of tuna will have the skin still on make sure that the scales have been removed and make splits into the skin to stop it curling. Or you can remove the skin altogether.

Tuna and peas is a very common combination for Italians. I remember so vividly my maternal grandmother cooking wheels of tuna in very crowded saucepans, bubbling away on her stove in Catania, Sicily. Sometimes she also added tomatoes to the braise and studded the tuna with cloves of garlic.

Peas are sweet, hence the cinnamon stick. Sometimes I add nutmeg instead (for the same reason). Both the cinnamon and the nutmeg are optional; if using nutmeg, add it at the final stages of cooking.

Once cooked, you can also remove the centre bone, break up the tuna and serve it as a pasta sauce.

For 4 people

INGREDIENTS
1 slice of albacore tuna (about 700g)
1 onion,
400g of shelled peas
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil,
salt and pepper
2-3 fresh bay leaves
1tbs tomato paste for colour (optional)
1 cup of white dry wine
1-2 cinnamon sticks or some grated nutmeg (optional)

PROCESSES
Sauté the chopped onion lightly in the oil – use low heat.
Add the tuna and seal on both sides.
Add seasoning, bay leaves, wine and cinnamon stick.
Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the peas 10 minutes into the cooking and If adding nutmeg add it at this time. Do not let the braise get dry and add a little more liquid (water and or wine) if necessary.

 

If using it as a pasta sauce:

Use 400 g pasta, short shapes.
Leave the fish in the pan while you cook the pasta.
Drain it.
Remove the central bones from the tuna (if there are any) and return them to the pan.
Dress the pasta and serve.
Unlike the rest of Italy, Sicilians include grated cheese with fish.

MA2SBAE8REVW

SPEZZATINO DI CAPRETTO (Italian Goat/ Kid stew)

Spezzatino di Capretto is a traditional Italian stew made with kid or goat. Italians tend to cook kid. It is one of those rustic dishes that rewards slow cooking, allowing the meat to become beautifully tender while absorbing the flavours of herbs, vegetables and white wine.

I am always delighted to find good-quality goat meat in Australia. Recently, I discovered some at the Farmers Market in Albury–Wodonga. The meat came from Myrrhee Premium Boer Goats, a farm on the Benalla–Whitfield Road between Benalla and Wangaratta, close to Victoria’s beautiful King Valley food and wine region.

The farm raises free-range Boer goats—the distinctive white and chestnut-brown breed—and produces both milk-fed capretto (kid goat) and chevon, the meat from older goats. I could not resist buying some of each, including their excellent goat sausages, which contain a little pork to add richness and flavour.

*In Australia, goat is still something of a rarity, but it deserves to be better known. Milk-fed capretto is delicate and tender, while chevon—the meat from older goats—has a fuller, richer flavour that is ideal for slow cooking.

Goat with two kids b
Fee Range Boar goats and kids

Capretto and the Italian Spring

In Italy, capretto is especially associated with spring and Easter. Across much of the country—and particularly in Sicily—it is a celebratory meal that has long featured on family tables during the Easter season.

The photograph below was taken in the market in Catania during spring. In Sicily, as in many parts of Italy, whole carcasses or sides of meat are traditionally displayed with the head attached. You may also notice that one hoof is often left with a little fur. My mother always explained that this reassured buyers that they were purchasing exactly the animal they had asked for.

The display also includes the innards, which are highly prized and often cleaned, seasoned, threaded onto skewers or wrapped in caul fat before being grilled.

Kid goat displayed in Catania’s market during spring, with the head attached—a long-standing Italian tradition that identifies the animal
A Simple Country Stew

Although this recipe is made with kid or goat, the same method works equally well with veal or lamb.

Many Italian spezzatini include potatoes, but I like using fennel instead. As it slowly braises, the fennel becomes sweet and silky, complementing the delicate flavour of the goat without overwhelming it.

This is uncomplicated country cooking at its best.

Ingredients
  • 1.5 kg kid/ goat, chopped into serving pieces (bone-in)
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 carrots, cut into large pieces
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 2–3 fresh bay leaves
  • 1 cup chopped parsley
  • 1–2 fennel bulbs, quartered
Method

Heat the olive oil in a heavy braising pan over medium-high heat. Brown the goat well on all sides until lightly caramelised. Work in batches if necessary.

Remove the meat and sauté the onion until softened. Add the garlic and cook briefly before returning the goat to the pan.

Pour in the white wine, allowing it to reduce slightly, then add the carrots, bay leaves, parsley, salt and pepper.

Cover and cook gently over low heat for at least one hour.

Add the fennel quarters and continue cooking until both the meat and fennel are tender. Depending on the age of the goat, this may take a little longer. Check the stew occasionally and add a little water or stock if necessary.

Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.

The stew is delicious with crusty bread, creamy polenta (northern Italy choice) or roasted potatoes to soak up the fragrant cooking juices.

Other kid or goat recipes:

OVEN COOKED KID (capretto)

SLOW COOKED LEG OF GOAT WITH HOT MINT SAUCE

MA2SBAE8REVW

FISH IN MINI CASSEROLES WITH SICILIAN FLAVOURS

Two of my friends live on Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, located about 17.7 km from Auckland. They both have kayaks and when time and weather permits one or two of them go fishing and it seems that every time they do, they catch fish.

They catch mainly snapper off Oretangi Beach where they live, but if they go to some of the other bays they catch John Dory, Kingfish and Hapuka. The fish in the three photos were caught on two separate occasions and when I stayed with them we enjoyed eating fresh fish very much .

My friend boned one of the fish, a Kawhai, a New Zealand fish which needs to be bled. He smoked it using a simple smoker and manuka wood smoking chips.

We cooked some of the snapper in colourful, enamelled, cast-iron mini “casseroles” or “dutch ovens” using simple Sicilian flavours: tomatoes, capers, garlic, olives and some Sicilian common herbs.. They are brought to the table straight from the oven so do tell your guests to be ultra careful when they eat from them. Also protect your table with mats.

Of course the ingredients can go into one large casserole, covered and baked for 25-30 minutes.

For 4 people

INGREDIENTS
4 pieces of fish (1 serve per person)
4 peeled red tomatoes (or tinned)
1 tbs capers
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
½ cup of fresh herbs, use 1 or more: parsley, basil, oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
8 green olives or black olives, stoned

PROCESSES
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan and pan-fry the fish lightly.
Add a little salt. Remove the fish and set aside.
Add the other ingredients and sauté, until the juice of the tomatoes is
reduced.
Spoon some of the tomato mixture into each mini-casserole. Place 1 piece of
fish in each and top with more tomato.
Either cover with a lid or if using a different type of ovenproof small baking dishes cover with metal foil and bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your fish.

MA2SBAE8REVW

PAPPARDELLE Continued…..

On 26/2/09, Fred wrote:
Dear Marisa,

I read your bit about pappardelle. We had pappardelle sulla 
lepre alla cacciatora at La Pentola dell’Oro in Firenze. It includes cinque cucchiai di aceto rosso ( 5 spoons of red wine vinegar).
 Fred





Dear Fred,
your recipe which includes five spoons of red vinegar does not surprise me. 

There are recipes where the hare, rabbit and boar are soaked in water and vinegar before it is cooked to remove the wild taste – my mother always did this with rabbit. It bleached the meat and left some of the taste. I think that Anglo-Australians soaked wild rabbit in salt water. 

I bought a rabbit at the butcher’s in Greve in December 2008 and was given three parcels, one with the rabbit, the other had the head and the third, the liver – these enrich the sauce. The other variation is the use of herbs – the addition of parsley, sage and rosemary.
There is of course the recipe for hare cooked with bitter chocolate. Now there’s a good taste!

Marisa
Hare recipes:

LEPRE ALLA PIEMONTESE (HARE – SLOW BRAISE PIEDMONTESE STYLE)

HARE or RABBIT COOKED IN CHOCOLATE. Lepre o Coniglio al Cioccolato (‘Nciculattatu is the Sicilian term used)

PAPPARDELLE (Pasta with Hare or game ragù)