Green Olives | All Things Sicilian and more

Sicilian Cunnighiu (rabbit) as cooked in Ragusa, ‘a Portuisa’

One of my Sicilian aunt’s favourite ways to cook rabbit in Ragusa was Cunnighiu a Pattuisa (cunnighiu is coniglio in Italian, rabbit in English). I did some research and found that two other Sicilian food writers call it something different: Giuseppe Coria calls it Cunnighiu a Portisa, and Pino Correnti Cunnighiu a Portuisa. In Italian this becomes, alla Portoghese, that is in the Portuguese style.

I am not quite sure why the Portuguese are accredited for this recipe, but one can assume that it is because of the Spaniards in Sicily.

Sicily was ruled by Spaniards at various times by: House of Aragon (1282–1516), Kingdom of Spain (1516–1713), Duchy of Savoy (1713–1720), Habsburg Monarchy (1720–1735) and Kingdom of Naples (1735–1806).

Located on the southwestern tip of the European continent in the Iberian Peninsula are Spain, Andorra and Portugal and Portugal only gained independence from Spain in 1640. Olive oil, olives and capers are used extensively in Sicilian and Spanish cooking.

There are various versions of this recipe for rabbit cooked in the Portuguese style as cooked in Ragusa and most seem to contain green olives and capers. Some contain vinegar, others white wine. Some recipes suggest adding a spoonful of tomato paste (mainly to enrich the colour), some add a little sugar, others chilli.

I cooked a version of this rabbit for friends in Adelaide, the photos tell the story.

In a fry pan I browned 1 rabbit in about ½ cup extra virgin oil. I sectioned the rabbit into 5 pieces (number of pieces is optional).

I then added some salt and pepper, some green olives and capers, 2-4 cloves garlic and some fresh thyme. Sicilians would use a few fresh bay leaves. If you are using salted capers make sure to rinse them and soak them in several changes of fresh water.

I then added about 1 glass of white wine mixed with ½ cup of white wine vinegar. I covered it with a lid and cooked it slowly on low heat.

*If it is a tender rabbit and if it is cut into small enough pieces, the rabbit may be cooked by the time all of the liquid has evaporated. If the rabbit is not as young or as tender as you had hoped, and you feel that it needs to be cooked for longer add a little water, cover with a lid and simmer it gently until it is soft – keep on adding more wine and water.

I partly cooked some potatoes and placed them with the rabbit for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking. The green leaves are mint. These add colour and taste: Ragusani use quite a bit of mint in their cooking.

One way to cook Rabbit like a Sicilian

POLLO OR GALLINA ALLA CONTADINA, ALLA PAESANA. Braised Chicken or rabbit with Olives, Sicilian style

RABBIT with cloves, cinnamon and red wine (CONIGLIO DA LICODIA EUBEA)

CONIGLIO A PARTUISA (Braised rabbit as cooked in Ragusa)

POLLO AL GUAZZETTO (Sardinian Chicken or rabbit braised with Saffron)

CAPONATA FROM PALERMO (made with eggplants)

You can see from the photos how simple it is to make Caponata Palermitana. Unlike its counterpart as made in Catania, this version has no peppers, but the rest of the ingredients and the preparation process for making any caponata remains largely the same.

No need for exact quantities—just like a true Italian!

For my version, I used 2 eggplants, cooking each one separately to avoid overcrowding in the frying pan. I believe in adding salt during the cooking process rather than at the end, which helps to enhance the flavors. And of course, I always opt for extra virgin olive oil to bring out the best in each ingredient. The beauty of caponata is in its flexibility, so feel free to adjust as you go!

A good heavy saucepan is good to use.

After the eggplants, sauté the onions and the celery (either separately or to save time sauté them together). I used 1 large onion, 2 sticks of celery (from the centre) and some of the tender leaves. Add some salt.

When the onions and celery have softened to your liking, add green olives and capers.

Make a space in the centre of the saucepan, add a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Melt it and add about a quarter of a cup of red vinegar. Evaporate it.

Make another space in the centre and add about 1/3 cup of passata.

Mix it and cook a little . You can see that there is very little liquid left.

Time to add the eggplants and combine all the ingredients.

This time I will decorate the caponata with fried breadcrumbs (day old bread – mollica) toasted in a frypan with a little olive oil.

I usually decorate the caponata with toasted pine nuts or chopped blanched almonds for added texture! However, I find that serving it with toasted bread crumbs brings a pleasurable crunch without overshadowing the eggplants’ rich flavor.

The eggplants are particularly fresh and of excellent quality in summer and autumn, making them perfect for this dish.

I opted for mint instead of basil this time, bringing a refreshing taste that really complements the other flavors but at the same time letting the richness of the eggplants shine through.

I also decided to go with mint instead of basil for a refreshing twist that complements the other flavors beautifully. It’s all about finding that balance, and these choices add a lovely nuance to the caponata!

There are numerous recipes for caponate (plural of caponata). Use the search button on my blog.

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

CAPONATA Catanese (from Catania) made easy with photos

CAPONATA SICILIANA (CATANESE; Caponata as made in Catania)

PUMPKIN – Zucca (gialla) – and two Sicilian ways to cook it

In Italian, the word “zucca” can refer to both an overgrown zucchini, a marrow and a pumpkin, but to avoid confusion, we call a pumpkin “zucca gialla,” (yellow pumpkin).

When it comes to Sicilian caponata, the delightful dish is commonly made with eggplants (Caponata Palermitana), and eggplant and peppers (Caponata Catanese). But the creativity doesn’t stop there! You can find variations featuring celery, fennel, and even potatoes. One other standout is the Caponata di zucca gialla, which showcases the sweet, earthy flavors of pumpkin as the star ingredient. Each version of caponata offers a unique twist on this iconic classic, highlighting the versatility of Sicilian cuisine.

The principle for making any Sicilian caponata is the same: onion, celery, the key ingredient (eggplant or eggplant and peppers, fennel, potato etc.), capers, green olives, sometimes a splash of tomato puree, toasted pine nuts, or almonds and agro-dolce sauce – caramelised sugar and vinegar.

The ingredients a fried separately. Pumpkin first – sauté and then set aside.

Sauté onion and celery. Add olives and capers.

Add sugar, then vinegar and salt to taste. Add the fried pumpkin and toasted almonds (or pine nuts). Let rest overnight or for at least half a day.

The other popular Sicilian way to cook pumpkin is also in an agro-dolce sauce.

For this recipe, slices of pumpkin are also fried. I bake mine but it is not the traditional way of cooking it. The recipe is one of a number of Sicilian caponate in my book Sicilian Seafood Cooking (now out of print).

The recipe is called Fegato con sette cannoli. To see the recipe and find out why this recipe is called Liver with seven reeds:

Sicilian Pump kin with vinegar, mint, sugar and cinnamon

CAPONATA DI NATALE (Christmas, winter caponata made with celery, almonds and sultanas)

FENNEL CAPONATA (Sicilian sweet and sour method for vegetables)

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

TUNNU `A STIMPIRATA – TONNO ALLA STEMPERATA (Tuna with onions, vinegar, capers and green olives)

Albacore tuna is sustainable, cheap in price and much under rated in Australia. It is not sashimi grade so the Asian export market does not want it and therefore in Australia we also tend to undervalue it. It is denser in texture but still excellent for cooking (lightly or cooked for longer). As in Australia, Blue fin tuna is the preferred tuna in Sicily; if it is sustainable depends on how and where it is caught – it should be wild caught and aquaculture is not an option.

Unfortunately I rarely find albacore tuna where I live in Melbourne and if I do, I always grab it when I can and cook it as I would cook blue fin tuna.

I like tuna seared and left rare centrally but my Sicilian relatives eat tuna very well done and this is also how it is presented in the traditional home-style restaurants in Sicily.

In Sicily there are numerous ways tuna but Tonno alla stemperata is one of the favourites in the south eastern part of Sicily. It was first cooked for me by one of my cousins, Rosetta, who lives in Ragusa. She and her husband have a holiday house on the beach at Marina di Ragusa, and she usually buys most of her fish from the fishermen on the beach.

Although Rosetta prefers to use tuna in this recipe, any firm-fleshed fish, thickly sliced, is suitable. She prefers to cut the tuna into large cubes – this allows greater penetration of the flavours in the sauce and of course, it will cook to a greater degree and more quickly.

Rosetta cooked the fish in the morning and we ate it for lunch, at room temperature…in Australia you may find this unusual but eating it at room temperature and some time after it has been cooked allows the flavours time to develop.

A version of this recipe is also in my first book: Sicilian Seafood Cooking.

I have used Albacore tuna, trevally, mackerel or flathead (better choice category) successfully in this recipe.

tuna or firm-fleshed fish, 4 slices
sliced white onions, 2
capers, ½ cup, salted variety, soaked and washed
white wine vinegar, about 2 tablespoons or for a milder taste use 1 tablespoon of white wine and one of vinegar
extra virgin olive oil, about 2 tablespoons
salt, black pepper or red chilli flakes (as preferred by the relatives in Ragusa),
celery heart, 2 or 3 of the pale green stalks and young leaves, chopped finely
green olives, ½ cup, pitted, chopped
bay leaves, 4

Soften the onion and celery in about half of the extra virgin oil, and cook until the onion is golden, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the fish, olives, capers, seasoning and bay leaves and sear the fish. The pieces of fish only need to be turned once.

Add the vinegar and allow the vinegar to evaporate and flavour the dish.

Remove the fish from the pan if you think that it will overcook and continue to evaporate.

Optional: Decorate (and flavour) with mint just before serving.

You can tell I am in South Australia by some of the photos of the fabulous varieties of fish I am able to purchase in Adelaide when I visit.

CAPONATA DI NATALE (Christmas, winter caponata made with celery, almonds and sultanas)

Not all caponate include eggplants.

This Sicilian caponata is certainly different to the Christmas fare we are used to in Australia, but it makes a perfect antipasto or salad as an accompaniment to meat or fish .

Eggplants and peppers are summer vegetables and not in season in winter for Christmas, so this caponata is made with celery hearts, traditionally boiled first before being sautéed. In some parts of Sicily green, leafy winter vegetables (for example chicory, spinach, endives) are also used with the celery.

I do not pre-cook the celery; I prefer to slice it very finely and just sauté it till it is slightly softened.

It is a very unusual caponata with a combination of textures and flavours –sweet, salty, sour… soft and crunchy. This recipe is one of the many caponate in my first book Sicilian Seafood Cooking.

Sultanas or currants are both good to use. Muscatels and raisins are OK as well, but their size may not be as visually pleasing.

Sometimes I toast the almonds, sometimes I do not. I made this caponata in a friend’s kitchen and on this occasion I used whole almonds rather than chopped ( the was no food processor/ kitchen wizz). On other occasions I have used pine nuts.

I have paired this with meat and fish but I really like to eat it on by it self… especially at the start of a meal.

INGREDIENTS

almonds, 1 cup, blanched, toasted and chopped
celery, 1 large, but remove the outer leaves and only use the centre, pale green stalks and some of the fine leaves
onion 1, large, chopped
sultanas or currants, ¾ cup, sun-ripened
capers, ½ cup, salted or in brine
green olives, ¾ cup , stoned, chopped
white vinegar, ½ glass
sugar, 3 tablespoons
extra virgin olive oil, ½ cup
salt and freshly ground pepper

Optional
These can be sprinkled on top when the caponata is ready to serve:
Coarse Toasted Breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons, made from good quality 1-2 day old bread and then toasted in a frypan with hot oil.

PROCESSES

Slice the celery finely and chop the leaves.
Sauté the celery with the onion in a deep frypan until it has softened, add salt and cook for about 10 minutes.
Add the olives, sultanas and capers and cook for another 2 minutes.
Empty the cooked ingredients into a bowl.
Agro dolce sauce (sweet and sour sauce): To the frypan already coated with caramelised flavours, add the sugar and heat it very gently until it begins to melt and bubble. Add the vinegar and allow it to evaporate.
Add the vegetables to the sauce and some of the almonds, reserving some for decoration if you are not going to use the toasted breadcrumbs.

Leave the caponata in the fridge, at least overnight. Serve at Room temperature. Top with the rest of the almonds or breadcrumbs when ready to serve.

SICILIAN CAPONATA DI MELANZANE from Palermo (Eggplant caponata with chocolate)

Caponata has evolved over the ages to become a true symbol of Sicilian cuisine. It is cherished especially during festive occasions—making it a perfect dish for Christmas celebrations. As you might expect, there are countless regional variations and enhancements to what began as a humble dish.

The influence of Sicilian aristocracy played a significant role, with the chefs known as monzu—a term derived from the French monsieur—adding their unique flair and creativity. This blend of tradition and innovation has made caponata into an iconic, classic and traditional dish, showcasing the diverse flavours and culinary heritage of Sicily.

In this post I have included the version of caponata enriched with chocolate.

In Sicilian cooking, the melanzana (eggplant) is often referred to as the queen of vegetables, right behind the tomato in importance. This high status is well-deserved, as the eggplant is the principal ingredient in caponata, bringing depth and richness to the dish. The versatility and unique flavor of eggplants make it a standout component in many Sicilian recipes.

Below is a photo of two of the most popular types of Sicilian eggplants – the common very dark variety and the violetta – the violet variety. This is referred to as a sweet variety, it is not as seedy or bitter as its counterpart.

I like to keep my caponata di melanzane simple, though the possibilities for ingredient variations are endless. Some recipes incorporate garlic, while others might include oregano. You’ll find versions with anchovies, sultanas, or even pine nuts and toasted almonds—each of these variations are both authentic and delicious.

Staying true to the Palermo tradition, just before serving, I like to sprinkle a handful of coarse breadcrumbs (toasted in a bit of hot extra virgin olive oil) and/or chopped blanched and toasted almonds on top. This finishing touch adds a delightful crunch and enhances the dish’s overall texture, making it even more enjoyable.

In my view, Peter Robb perfectly encapsulates the essence of Sicilian caponata in his book Midnight in Sicily. He vividly compares the caponata he enjoyed in Palermo with the version he had experienced in Naples. This comparison highlights the unique flavors and ingredients that define Sicilian cuisine with its its distinctive flavours within Italian gastronomy.

As Robb discovered: eggplant is the purple heart of Sicilian caponata – and it is the principal ingredient.

I realised caponata in Palermo was something very different. It was the colour that struck me first. The colour of darkness. A heap of cubes of that unmistakably luminescent dark, dark purply-reddish goldy richness, glimmerings from a baroque canvas, that comes from eggplant, black olives, tomato and olive oil densely cooked together, long and gently. The colour of southern Italian cooking. Caponata was one of the world’s great sweet and sour dishes, sweet, sour and savoury.

The eggplant was the heart of caponata. The celery hearts were the most striking component: essential and surprising. Pieces of each were fried separately in olive oil until they were a fine golden colour and then added to a sauce made by cooking tomato, sugar and vinegar with a golden chopped onion in oil and adding Sicilian olives, capers …….

CAPONATA DI MELANZANE CON CIOCCOLATA (Caponata with chocolate)

In Sicilian cuisine there are a number of recipes, which include chocolate to enrich the flavour of a dish (see HARE or RABBIT COOKED IN CHOCOLATE and chocolate in eggplant caponata is a common variation in certain parts of Sicily.

In the early 1500s, the Spanish conquistadors discovered a variety of unknown foods in the New World.Among these was xocolatl, (chocolate) obtained from ground cacao seeds. Spanish nobility arrived in Sicily during the 15th and 16th centuries and they brought their exotic ingredients from the New World to the island. This was also an ostentatious period of splendour and opulence for the clergy and the Sicilian aristocracy.

Although many traditional Sicilian dishes are said to be Spanish legacies, it is more accurate to say that some Sicilian cuisine incorporated both Sicilian and Spanish traditions.

Follow the recipe for eggplant caponata below and add good quality cocoa or/and dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa .

Cocoa: The majority of the recipes for caponata enriched with chocolate suggest the use of cocoa powder (about 2 tablespoons of cocoa to 2 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in a little water to form a thick paste). Add this mixture to the pan after you have made the agro dolce sauce and before you add the cooked vegetables.

Dark Chocolate: My most favoured alternative is to use 50g of dark, extra fine chocolate (organic, high cocoa content – 70%). Add the chocolate pieces into the agro dolce sauce and stir it gently as it melts, and then I add the cooked vegetables. This results into a much smoother and more luscious caponata.

In a modern Sicilian restaurant with a young chef, I was presented with an eggplant caponata where the chocolate was grated on top, much like grated cheese on pasta. A creative and successful alternative.

Process for making eggplant caponata

You will need a deep, large fry pan aand sometimes I use my wok. If you use a non-stick frypan you may not need as much oil, but the surface will not be as conducive to allowing the residue juices to form and caramelise as in a regular pan. (After food has been sautéed, the juices caramelise – in culinary terms this is known as fond. Non-stick pans do not produce as much fond).

Although the vegetables are fried separately, they are all incorporated in the same pan at the end. When making large quantities I sometimes use a wok.

extra virgin olive oil, ¾ cup (depending how much the vegetables will absorb)
eggplants, 3-4 large, dark skinned variety
onion 1, large, chopped
red tomatoes, 2 medium size, peeled and chopped or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a little water or some canned tomatoes
capers, ½ cup, salted or in brine
green olives, ¾ cup, stoned, chopped
celery, 2-3 tender stalks and the pale green leaves (both from the centre of the celery)
white, wine vinegar, ½ cup
sugar, 2 tablespoons
salt and freshly ground pepper

Cut the eggplant into cubes (approx 30mm) – do not peel. Place the cubes into abundant water with about 1 tablespoon of salt. Leave for about 30 minutes – this will keep the flesh white and remove any bitter juices while you prepare the other ingredients. Although it is not always necessary to do this, the eggplant is said to absorb less oil if soaked previously. You will need to weigh the eggplant down. I use a lid that is smaller than the basin to keep the eggplants submerged.

Prepare the capers – if they are the salted variety, ensure that they have been rinsed thoroughly and then soaked for about 30 minutes before use, and then rinsed again.

Chop the onion.
Slice the celery into very fine slices and chop the green leaves.
Peel, and coarsely chop the tomatoes (or use tomato paste or canned tomatoes).

Drain the eggplants and squeeze them to remove as much water as possible – I use a clean tea towel.
Heat a large frypan over medium heat with ½ cup of the extra virgin olive oil.
Add eggplant cubes and sauté until soft and golden (about 10-12 minutes). Place the drained eggplants into a large bowl and set aside (all of the vegetables will be added to this same bowl).
Drain the oil from the eggplants back into the same frypan and re-use this oil to fry the next ingredients. Sometimes I use a colander to drain the batches of eggplant and this makes it easier to return the drained oil into the frypan.

Add the celery and a little salt gently for 5-7 minutes, so that it retains some of its crispness (in more traditional recipes, the celery is always boiled until soft before being sautéed).
Remove the celery from the pan and add it to the eggplants.

Sauté the onion having added a little more oil to the frypan. Add a little salt and cook until translucent.
Add the tomatoes or the tomato paste (with a little water) to the onions, and allow their juice to evaporate.
Add the capers and olives. Allow these ingredients to cook gently for 1- 2 minutes.
Empty the contents of the frypan into the other cooked vegetables.

For the agro dolce sauce (sweet and sour sauce):

Add the sugar to the frypan (already coated with the caramelised flavours from the vegetables). Heat it very gently until it begins to melt and bubble. Add the vinegar and allow it to evaporate.

Incorporate the cooked vegetables into the frypan with the agro dolce sauce.
Add ground pepper, check for salt and add more if necessary.
Gently toss in all of the cooked ingredients over low heat for 2-3 minutes to blend the flavours.
Remove the caponata from the pan and cool before placing it into one or more containers. Store in the fridge till ready to use and remove it from the fridge about an hour before eating– it will keep well in the fridge for up to one week.

When ready to eat, sprinkle with either toasted almonds or toasted breadcrumbs. I like to add fresh basil or mint leaves.

In my first book, Sicilian Seafood Cooking there is whole chapter devoted to caponata. I have also written other posts with recipes on the blog :

A MOUNTAIN OF CAPONATA – two days before Christmas

CAPONATA SICILIANA (CATANESE – Caponata as made in Catania)

FENNEL CAPONATA (Sicilian sweet and sour method for preparing certain vegetables)

CAPONATA (General information and recipe for Caponata di patate – potatoes)

TROTA CON OLIVE VERDI, LIMONE E ACCIUGHE – Pan fried trout with green olives, lemon slices and anchovies

Anchovies are often added to fish in Sicilian cuisine – they are either stuffed in the slashes made on the sides of the fish or gently melted with a little oil and added to the fish whilst it is cooking. Trout has flaky, delicate flesh and slashing it is not a good idea so I chose to do the latter.

I always use herbs for all my cooking and this time I selected sage that is often associated with veal and pork but I quite like it with trout. Sage is not a common herb in Sicilian cooking and you may prefer to use rosemary instead.

whole fish, one large trout (for 2-3 people)
lemons, 1-2 whole – ends trimmed, sliced into thick circles
extra virgin olive oil, 2-3 tablespoons
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
anchovies, 3-6 cut finely
green olives, a couple of tablespoons, well drained
sage or rosemary

Prepare the fish – clean, dry and stuff a few herbs in the cavity.
Add a little oil (about one tablespoon depending on your pan) to the frying pan and over medium heat. Add the lemon slices and pan fry them until lightly browned – turn once. In order to brown the lemon slices they should not be overcrowded so you may need to pan fry them in two batches.
Remove the lemon slices from the pan with the oil and any of the juices.

Add a little more oil to the fry pan, heat it and add the anchovies. Stir them around in the pan over medium-low heat until they dissolve.
Add the trout. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (remember that the anchovies are salty) and add the sage. Pan fry the fish on both sides and only turn once.
Add the olives half way the cooking.
Toss the slices of lemon and the juices back in the pan and heat through.

When I was in Paris a couple of months ago I saw this hand painted Fridge in a store window. This fridge is part of Sicily is my Love, a colourful collaboration by Smeg fridges and Dolce&Gabbana’s signature decorative style. Each of the 100 fridges illustrate Sicilian folklore in bold, vibrant colour and are hand-painted by Sicilian artists. They were released during the Milan Design Fair, Salone del Mobile di Milano in 2016.

Sicilian Duck with green olives and anchovies – Anatra a Papparedda cu l’ulivi

This recipe for cooking a whole duck with green olives and anchovies is amazing!

In this post I have also included a recipe for making a risotto using some of the left over juices and sauce that was generated by the cooking of this duck with what may sound like very unusual flavours.

Ducks are not standard fare on Sicilian dinner tables. In fact, ducks are few and far between in Sicily. While the island’s cuisine is rich and diverse, duck doesn’t feature prominently in traditional Sicilian dishes.

Living in Australia, where duck is relatively easy to find (and even more so in recent years), I cook duck quite frequently.

In Profumi Di Sicilia, Giuseppe Coria’s comprehensive recipe book that beautifully captures the flavors and scents of Sicilian cooking, I found just one recipe for braised duck. As you can see, it is an uncommon dish in Sicilian cuisine and is rarely feautured in cookery books.

The recipe calls for a fascinating combination of ingredients: anchovies, garlic, parsley, the heart of celery, white wine, rosemary, and green olives. Although this combination may seem like an unusual mix, especially for duck, these bold and diverse flavors ate characteristic of this Mediterranean region.

The use of anchovies, olives, and rosemary speaks to the island’s history as a crossroads of various cultures—Greek, Arab, Norman, French and Spanish, to name a few.

Anchovies arefrequently found in Sicilian dishes, they dissolve into the sauce, adding a salty, almost invisible richness.

Green Olives, another product of Sicily balances the richness of the duck while adding a distinctive flavour.

Rosemary, a fragrant herb provides a contrast to the duck’s richness.

Garlic & Parsley are very common in Sicilian cooking as is the fragrant olive oil.

White Wine that I used to deglaze the pan, adds acidity. Wine is not as common as it is in the cuiisine of Northern Italy but it is an ingredient that use very much in my cooking. Rather than using wine, Sicilians use vinegar and lemon juice frquently in their cuisine.

Celery is also a favouritea addition in cooking. The celery is not the crispy, long stemmed plant that we are used to in Australia and rather than adding crunch, it is used like a fragrant herb.

I roasted the duck (on a rack so that the fat drains off) and make an accompanying sauce using the same ingredients as Coria suggested for the braise.

Here is the duck roasting in the oven. I stuffed it with some rosemary. I placed some potatoes in the fat that had dripped in the pan about 30 minutes before the end of cooking.

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre heat oven to 190C.
Dry duck with paper to obtain a crispier skin.
Ensure the opening at end of the duck is open to allow even cooking.
Place duck on a rack in a roasting tray.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and roast it.

My duck was 2k so I roasted it for 2×40 minutes= 1hr 20mins.

For the sauce:

Remove the duck, drain the fat (use it at another time to roast vegetables and it also makes good savoury pastry, as does lard).

Reserve any juices that are in the bottom of the pan.

Using the baking pan, add a little extra virgin olive oil and over a low flame melt 4-6 anchovies in the hot oil.
Add 2 garlic cloves, chopped finely (or minced as some say). Stir it around.
Add about 1 cup of finely chopped parsley and 2-3 stalks from the pale centre of a celery also sliced finely. Stir it around in the hot pan for about 2 minutes…add salt and pepper to taste.

Add ½ cup of white wine and evaporate. Add the juices of the duck, or if you did not save them, add some meat stock – about ½ cup.
Add some chopped green olives last of all. I had stuffed olives, so I used them….probably about ¾ cup full.
Heat the ingredients through, and there is your accompanying sauce.

And it looks much better in a gravy boat than it does in the pan.

Even though duck may not be the most common meat on the island, this dish demonstrates how local and common ingredients can turn into something extraordinary.

The beauty of Sicilian cuisine is that it’s always evolving, while still holding onto its tradition and a couple of days later I used the leftover sauce with the stock made from the duck carcase/carcass ( water, onion, carrot, celery, whole peppercorns and salt) and some mushrooms to make a risotto, a beautifully rich and flavorful dish.

Risotto with the leftover sauce And the stock made from the duck carcase/carcass

Ingredients:

1 cup Arborio rice (or another risotto rice)

1 cup of braising juices and sauce from the duck

1 small onion, finely chopped, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter, salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup dry white wine (optional, but helps to balance the flavors)

3 cups of stock (or more, depending on how much liquid you need to finish the risotto)

Grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino to place on the table for those who would like it. (I often prefer not to add cheese to pasta, soup or risotto dishes because cheese often overides the suble flavours of some dishes).

Instructions:

In a large skillet or saucepan, heat the olive oil (or butter) over medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.

Add the Arborio rice to the pan and stir it into the oil, onions, and garlic. Toast the rice for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. The rice should begin to look slightly translucent around the edges but still opaque in the center.

Deglaze with Wine – pour it in now and stir until the wine is mostly absorbed by the rice. This adds a nice layer of flavor and balances the richness of the duck sauce.

Slowly add about 1/2 cup of the reserved duck braising sauce to the rice, stirring constantly. Allow the rice to absorb the liquid. Continue stirring and adding the braising sauce until it’s absorbed into the rice.

Add warm stock to the rice in stages, stirring frequently. Wait until each addition of stock is absorbed before adding more. Keep the heat at medium-low, allowing the rice to slowly cook and to release its starches. Continue this process until the rice is still slightly al dente. You may not need all the stock, so taste the rice to check the texture and consistency.

Spoon the risotto onto plates or into bowls and servewith grated cheese if you wish.

For other risotto recipes see:
RISOTTO AL RADICCHIO ROSSO

RISOTTO AL TALEGGIO; risotto made with Taleggio cheese

RISI E BISI (Risotto with peas)

MUSSELS, three ways: in brodetto, with spaghetti and in a risotto with saffron

Melbourne; August: Winter Artichokes in risotto and stuffed

BACCALÀ MANTECATO, risotto

The last of my pickled olives

This year’s olives…… hardly worth it. Larger than last year’s crop, but probably just as few.

I think that my tree is refusing to produce many olives because it is objecting to being in a pot. It gets root bound and every year we pull it out of the pot and trim the roots – this probably traumatizes it.

It has given me many years of pleasure and I have certainly experimented with processes for curing the olives and dressing them.

Once pickled, my olives do not keep their colour – I pick them when they are a green- violet colour but the pickling process turns them into a uniform light brown colour.

I was horrified when I read this article in The Age (Melbourne news paper):

Olives painted with copper sulphate top largest-ever Interpol-Europol list of fake food

A statement by Interpol on Wednesday said a record 10,000 tonnes and 1 million litres of hazardous fake food and drink had been recovered across 57 countries, with Australia also making the list.

Italian olives painted with copper sulphate solution, Sudanese sugar tainted with fertiliser, and hundreds of thousands of litres of bogus alcoholic drinks top Interpol’s annual tally of toxic and counterfeit food seized by police agencies across the world. The haul of bogus diet supplements, adulterated honey and ……….etc.

I have often been asked about the colour of Sicilian Olives (those bright green ones as in photo above) and I really do not know how they are pickled and how the bright green colour eventuates.

My tree has given me a great deal of pleasure and I have certainly experimented with processes for curing its olives and dressing them.

There are many posts written about pickling olives and recipes using olives on my blog…. key in OLIVES in the search button. I have just tried this and there are 72 posts about olives! Here is one of them:

Various Ways to Pickle Olives

The olive trees in Agrigento are among the oldest in Sicily. This photo was taken in the Valley of the Temples.
Oh, to be in Agrigento now!

POLLO OR GALLINA ALLA CONTADINA, ALLA PAESANA. Braised Chicken with Olives, Sicilian style.

Any time you see Italian dishes described as alla contadina, alla paesana, alla campagnola………do we really know what is meant by these terms?

These all translate as of the peasantry – peasant style – and as those who live on the land would cook these dishes. They imply to be dishes that are healthy, nourishing, unsophisticated, hearty, country-style and as cooked at home. In these dishes you would also expect some common vegetables – onions, carrots, celery, some common herbs and wine (someone living on the land usually makes their own wine).

Carne – meat, or coniglio – rabbit, or pollo or gallina, seem to be cooked alla contadina, alla paesana, alla campagnola very frequently in home kitchens. The method of cooking is braised or stewed.

What is meant by pollo and gallina, and is there a difference?

Pollame are farmyard birds, therefore pollo is derived from this word.

Gallina is chicken and female. Gallo is the masculine, i.e. a rooster and would probably be not as tender as a gallina and would require more cooking.

Once a pollo would most likely have been considered a male, but in modern times there is no difference between the terminology or the gender and especially in Australia, UK and US, it is what we commonly refer to as chicken. Usually chicken is 6-12 months old when it is killed.

A gallina vecchia would be the description of a chicken used to make broth/ stock and would be older than 12 months.

Proverb: Una gallina vecchia fa buon brodo…. An old hen makes good broth

Cappone is a capon and is a castrated male – this is likely to be sold as a larger bird as it will be fattened intentionally; the implication is that it will be tasty. I doubt if I could purchase a capon in Australia.

Recipes for pollo or gallina (chicken) alla contadina etc. cooked with these simple ingredients and braised are found in every region of Italy; the only variations may be the addition of a few tomatoes or mushrooms or a pepper (capsicum) or two. The wine can be red or white.

In Sicilian recipes you may find the addition of olives. More common would be the green, olive schacciate (cracked olives) as they have no stone. (The photo below was taken in Palermo. I have so many photos of Sicily and do not necessarily add them in my posts – silly me.)

I always buy whole chicken for a braise. My mother and relatives always did and I guess I just do without question.

Although I always buy free range, there is always some fat and I remove as much as possible before I cook it. I also always skim fat from the top of the braise once it is cooked.

As you can see by the way I dissect the chicken into pieces, I am no butcher, but if it is peasant style after all so I get away with it being roughly cut. I usually cut rough the vegetables as well. And who needs exact measurements if the recipe is home style.

1 chicken
2 carrots
2-3 celery stalks
1 large onion
2-3 red tomatoes (peeled fresh or canned)
½ -1 glass of white or red wine
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
rosemary, parsley or sage
1 cup green olives (no stones)

Cut the chicken into pieces and remove the fat (unless you like fatty chicken).
Brown the chicken in a tiny amount of oil – one side and the other. Remove from the pan. I like to drain off any fat before I continue cooking the rest.

Use the same pan, add the olive oil. Sauté the onion.
Add celery and carrots and sauté some more.
Add the chicken, herbs, tomatoes, seasoning and pour in the wine. Do not use much salt as the olives are likely to be salty.

Add some water to almost cover the chicken, cover and braise the contents (on low heat) for 40-60 minutes, stirring now and again. Add the olives about 10 minutes prior to the finish.
If there is too much liquid and you wish to concentrate the flavours, remove the chicken, increase the heat and evaporate the liquid lid until it has thickened. At this stage I skim more fat from the top if it is necessary. Add the chicken, mix, cover and leave until ready to serve.

Remember, Italian food is not usually presented at the table piping hot; the flavours are left to mature for at least 30 minutes.Italians like to savour their food and not have scalded palates!

Tag: Green Olives

Sicilian Cunnighiu (rabbit) as cooked in Ragusa, ‘a Portuisa’

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CAPONATA FROM PALERMO (made with eggplants)

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PUMPKIN – Zucca (gialla) – and two Sicilian ways to cook it

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TUNNU `A STIMPIRATA – TONNO ALLA STEMPERATA (Tuna with onions, vinegar, capers and green olives)

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CAPONATA DI NATALE (Christmas, winter caponata made with celery, almonds and sultanas)

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SICILIAN CAPONATA DI MELANZANE from Palermo (Eggplant caponata with chocolate)

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TROTA CON OLIVE VERDI, LIMONE E ACCIUGHE – Pan fried trout with green olives, lemon slices and anchovies

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Sicilian Duck with green olives and anchovies – Anatra a Papparedda cu l’ulivi

Risotto with the leftover sauce And the stock made from the duck carcase/carcass

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The last of my pickled olives

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POLLO OR GALLINA ALLA CONTADINA, ALLA PAESANA. Braised Chicken with Olives, Sicilian style.

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