Tag: Great Italian Chefs

GREAT ITALIAN CHEFS’ RECIPES, 10 best Sicilian dishes

This site, Great Italian Chefs, is worth looking at. It is part of the Great British Chefs website and on this site you will find information about  some of the different regions of Italy and regional recipes.

The recipes are ‘great’ and are by professional chefs.

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I too have posted many of these recipes on my blog and a passatempo – pass-the-time, a diversion, you could compare their recipes with mine.

10 best Sicilian Dishes:

https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/features/10-best-sicilian-dishes

I have written about them before:

GREAT BRITISH CHEFS, GREAT ITALIAN CHEFS, Feature articles by Marisa Raniolo Wilkins

PESCE CRUDO, raw fish dishes in Sicily

ALSO: 10 MUST-TRY DISHES WHEN YOU ARE IN SICILY

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10 MUST-TRY DISHES WHEN YOU ARE IN SICILY

I’m often asked about the must-try Sicilian dishes when visiting Sicily—and it’s a question I love answering. Sicily’s cuisine is deeply rooted in its rich history, geography, and vibrant culture. It’s no surprise that food is a key reason people return to the island again and again.

If you’re familiar with the Great British Chefs website (a leading source for professional chef recipes in the UK), you may also know their sister site, Great Italian Chefs. This site celebrates the traditions, creativity, and passion behind Italy’s most iconic culinary offerings.

As they rightly point out:

“The Italians themselves are fiercely passionate about their culinary heritage, and with good reason – a large number of the world’s best dishes come from the cities, fields and shores of this deeply cultural, historic country.”

AND

Today, Sicily is one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations, and it’s the food that keeps people coming back year after year.

On 29 September 2017, Great Italian Chefs published an article titled “10 Must-Try Dishes When You’re in Sicily.” In fact, there are 11 dishes once you include the one that’s assumed you already know: arancini.

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The Sicilian specialties are:

  • Fritella
  • Caponata
  • Raw red prawns
  • Busiate al pesto trapanese
  • Pasta con le sarde
  • Pasta alla norma
  • Cous cous di pesce
  • Fritto misto
  • Involtini di pesce spada
  • Cannoli

AND

  • Arancini

Let’s explore these iconic Sicilian specialties—most of which you’ll find recipes for right here on my blog. I’ve included links, photos, and some notes from my cookbook Sicilian Seafood Cooking, with food styling by Fiona Rigg and photography by Graeme Gillies.

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Although I have no recipes on my blog for Fritto misto, Raw red prawns and Involtini di pesce spada, I have explained each of these these Sicilian specialties and where appropriate I  have links to similar recipes on my blog.

Fritella (Frittedda)

This spring vegetable medley is made with artichokes, broad beans, and peas. It’s lightly cooked and often dressed with olive oil, fresh herbs, and sometimes a splash of vinegar. In Sicilian dialect, it’s called Frittedda.

Recipe: Frittedda

Featured in: Jewels of Sicily

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Caponata

Caponata is one of Sicily’s most well-known dishes. It’s a sweet and sour eggplant stew made with vinegar, capers, olives, and sometimes pine nuts or even chocolate, depending on the region.

There are several regional variations:

  • Palermo: Eggplant-focused, sweet and tangy
  • Catania: More emphasis on tomato and celery
  • Other versions: Potato-based or with unique local additions

SICILIAN CAPONATA DI MELANZANE as made in Palermo (Eggplant caponata and Eggplant caponata with chocolate)

CAPONATA SICILIANA (CATANESE – Caponata as made in Catania

CAPONATA of Potatoes (General information and recipe for Caponata di patate)

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Raw Red Prawns

Known as Gambero Rosso (Aristaeomorpha foliacea), these blood-red prawns are a delicacy in Sicily. When fresh, they are served raw with just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice—simple, elegant, and delicious.

Often, the lemon juice slightly “cooks” the prawns in a style similar to ceviche.

All very fresh seafood can be eaten raw and is loved by Sicilians, usually served with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Most times the seafood is marinaded in these even if it is for a short time – the lemon juice “cooks” the fish.

SARDINE, CRUDE E CONDITE (Sardines – raw and marinaded)

PESCE CRUDO, raw fish dishes in Sicily

GREAT BRITISH CHEFS, GREAT ITALIAN CHEFS, Feature articles by Marisa Raniolo Wilkins

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Busiate al Pesto Trapanese (from Tapani in Western Sicily)

This dish features Busiate, a corkscrew-shaped pasta traditionally hand-rolled around thin rods. It’s served with Pesto Trapanese, a Sicilian version of pesto made from tomatoes, almonds, garlic, and basil. In some regions, it’s also called Matarocco.

Pesto trapanese is also called Matarocco. Busiate is the type of pasta traditionally made by coiling a strip of pasta cut diagonally around a thin rod (like a knitting needle).

MATARROCCU, a Sicilian pesto

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Pasta con le Sarde

One of the island’s most iconic pasta dishes, Pasta con le Sarde is made with wild fennel, sardines, pine nuts, raisins, and saffron. It embodies Sicily’s Arabic and Mediterranean influences.

Two versions to try:

  • Classic stovetop version
  • Baked version, often topped with breadcrumbs

PASTA CON LE SARDE (Pasta with sardines, from Palermo, made with fennel, pine nuts and currants)

PASTA CON SARDE – the baked version, Palermo, Sicily

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Pasta alla Norma

A Catania favorite, this pasta dish is made with fried eggplant, rich tomato sauce, basil, and grated ricotta salata. It’s hearty and comforting—a must-try for vegetarians and meat-lovers alike.

PASTA ALLA NORMA (Pasta with tomatoes, and eggplants)

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Cous Cous di Pesce

This North African-influenced dish is popular in Western Sicily, particularly in Trapani. It’s made with semolina couscous steamed and served with a spiced fish broth.

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⚠️ Note: Unfortunately, the original recipe for Cous Cous di Pesce has disappeared from my blog after a platform migration. I plan to repost it soon.

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Great Italian Chefs link to 10 must-try dishes when you’re in Sicily (29 September 2017).

PESCE CRUDO, raw fish dishes in Sicily

Eating fresh fish is a serious business in Sicily – it is eaten cooked in many ways but also raw (called pesce crudo).

Traditionally, Sicilians did not serve raw fish without marinating it first in lemon juice and then dressed with olive oil and referred to as condito (in Italian) or cunzato (in Sicilian). For example fresh anchovies are gutted, cleaned and have their heads removed. They are then left in lemon juice for at least a few hours. Sometimes, the anchovies are referred to in Sicilian as anchiva cotti d’a lumia, that is, anchovies cooked by the lemon juice, and that is exactly what has happened – the acid in lemon in the marinade has done the cooking. The anchovies are then drained and dressed with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

In Sicily, tuna and swordfish used to be the other most common types of fish eaten raw (especially as a starter) but eating other types of pesce crudo (raw fish) is becoming much more fashionable as Sicilian chefs respond to the inspirations and influences of the wider world and appreciate tastes and trends from other cultures.

Recently, I was commissioned to write an article about Sicily’s pesce crudo by Great British Chefs, a food multimedia company that publishes recipes and other cooking-related material via its website. Great British Chefs, has expanded into Italy . . . Great Italian Chefs and the article published on their website is called PESCE CRUDO.

I have always enjoyed fish markets in Sicily and this is a small segment from the article PESCE CRUDO

Fish markets and marinas

Walking through the fish markets in Sicily is always a joy; the hustle and bustle of locals seeking out the best produce among the colourful stalls and traders is what makes the island such a charming place. There is more than one fish market in Catania, but the principal market in the southwest of the Cathedral Square is one of the largest in Sicily. However, wherever you are on the island will never be too far from fresh fish.

Sicily’s fish markets have vast, colourful, varied displays of exotic specimens such as sea urchins and edible algae to the more conventional octopus, squid, tuna and swordfish. Small, live fish swim circles in buckets of sea water, snails crawl about and all types of shellfish, especially the gamberi rossi (red prawns of Sicily), look dazzling. You know the fish is fresh – their shells and scales glisten in the sun.

Swordfish and tuna, the traditional staples of Sicilian cuisine, are the centrepieces of the market stalls. They are often displayed whole, the swordfish bill like a spear thrusting upwards. At other times, their massive round carcasses lie like a trunk on the fishmonger’s bench, while the tuna is sliced vertically and horizontally before being filleted along the length of its spine, while all its parts are laid out, testifying to its freshness.

Links:
Great British Chefs web site: http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/
Great Italian Chefs:  http://www.greatitalianchefs.com/
Scroll down to Latest from Great Italian Chefs:
PESCE CRUDO: http://www.greatitalianchefs.com/features/pesce-crudo-sicily
From my blog recipe for marinaded sardines: SARDINE CRUDE E CONDITE CON LIMONE

The photos in this article were taken over my numerous trips to Sicily (Thank you also to Bob Evans and Angela Tolley). Some of these photos are in my book Sicilian Seafood Cooking.