Tag: Mussels

MUSSELS IN TRIESTE and Mussel recipes

In the Italian language mussels are known as cozze. Those of you who have travelled to Italy or like Italian food would know that mussels are enjoyed in all regions of Italy.

Trieste, Ponte Rosso

In Trieste, mussels are called pedoci in the Triestino dialect.

The people in Trieste have a sense of humour, because pedoci (slang for the Italian word pedochi) in English are lice/parasites. The Venetians must have also shared the joke because in the Veneziano dialect they call them peoci.

As a child I was always amused by this term because parasites (head lice) were only found on those who did not bathe. Because they were contageous, all had to keep away.

In the 50 years before World War I, Trieste was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and because of’ its seaside the location it was the empire’s only international port. Following the 1954 London Memorandum, Trieste was appropriated by Italy and since 1963 it has been the capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Mussels have been bred in the Gulf of Trieste for a very long time and were an offshoot enterprise from a successful and profitable international oyster trade. Some archaeological evidence shows that oyster farming and the exploitation of natural oyster beds were distinct features of the Roman era in various parts of the empire. Trieste was under Roman control from the 2nd century BC until the collapse of the empire.

The success of the modern oyster industry motivated the Austrian Marine Fishing and Fish Farming Society to develop new oyster cultivation systems. This indirectly increased the abundance of mussels and well before the end of the nineteen century, mussels achieved significant, economic importance.

The location of Trieste on the northern most shores of the Adriatic meant the city was always a rich mix of Mediterranean cultures along with peoples from Central Europe and the Balkans. This blend of cultures and cuisines influenced the culinary popularity of both oysters and mussels in Trieste.

Mussel farms are still abundant and popular in Trieste and in the nearby municipalities of Muggia and Duino-Aurisina. Muggia is the first town on the Istrian peninsula and the last coastal town before the border between Italy with Slovenia. Duino is a picturesque settlement on the steep Karst cliffs of the Gulf of Trieste and is famous for its castle.

I have been thinking about why the Triestini and Veneziani referred to mussels as lice/parasites. and thought that perhaps it was because early fishermen were successful in implementing the growth of mussels on poles in the seabed where oysters were bred. So, figurately, the mussels are like lice/parasites freeloading on the expanding oyster beds. The fact that mussels are also considered to be unattractive and to spread very easily, added to the impression of being like parasites.

In Trieste the most common way to cook mussels is to steam them with a little white wine and, as you would expect, parsley and garlic. What I find unusual and appetising in this regional recipe is the addition of fresh/day-old breadcrumbs to the juices to thicken the sauce. Trieste has a few old recipes that add breadcrumbs to soups as a thickening agent. I remember my mother making pappa di pane (bread soup) when my brother was a baby.

When you open mussel shells and look inside some will be orange or yellow. Orange is the female specimen, yellow is a male. Usually, the females are the tastiest mussels. It is true of fennel, too.

So why was I suddenly inspired to cook mussels?

I saw an article recently about the mussel industry in Victoria and I was excited by what I read. The mussels came from the Queen Victoria Market from Happy Tuna and are from Mount Martha.

The article was written by Benjamin Preiss and is from the May 4 issue of The Age Digital Edition.

Here are a few quotes from the article:

They sow crops over vast areas and harvest when the size and season is right. But these farmers work the sea, not the soil, feeding Australia’s growing appetite for fresh and locally grown mussels.

Thirty-five years ago this industry was tiny, with few Victorians interested in eating the shellfish. But now the industry is poised for further expansion. Some mussel farmers say they need more room to grow as the government prepares to release additional areas within existing aquaculture reserves.

Phil Lamb, managing director of the Victorian Shellfish Hatchery and partner of Sea Bounty mussel-growing company, said: ‘‘Portarlington mussels are renowned in Victoria. I’d like to see them gain a similar reputation internationally.

Lamb said the mussel sector had been increasing steadily for the past 20 years. ‘‘ It was a cottage industry, and it’s been slowly growing every year.’’ He said local mussels compared ‘‘ very favourably’ ’ to those regarded as the best internationally, including those grown in Spain and France.

Michael ‘‘Harry Mussel” Harris began working in the industry in 1993 and later started his own farming business in the water off Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula.

He described mussels as a superfood — healthy to eat and environmentally friendly to grow. ‘‘They’re the canaries of the sea,’’ he said. ‘‘If the waters aren’t good enough for the mussels and bivalves to grow, it’s not good enough to swim in either.’’

In total, there are more than 2480 hectares of area reserved for aquaculture in Victoria — most of that in Port Phillip Bay, although there are sites in Western Port and some on land.

Victorian Fisheries Authority aquaculture manager David Kramer confirmed 330 hectares of vacant water within aquaculture reserves would be released for tender in coming months.
Kramer said the authority expected the mussel industry to grow between 10 per cent and 20 per cent in coming years.
He said the government had committed to grow the industry. ‘‘We want to do everything we can to allow that industry to grow.’’

Melbourne University honorary fellow, John Ford, who specialises in sustainable seafood, said mussel farming required little physical infrastructure — all of which could be removed. ‘‘Mussel farming tends to be a win for pretty much everyone, the environment included,’’ he said.

Mussels in Trieste are cooked in simple home recipes. As a child I remember stalls that sold mussels and mussoli (other type of molluscs) on street corners, just like roasted chestnuts used to be sold.

I have several books on the cooking of Trieste and there are some small variations in the ingredients and cooking procedures, but all are cooked plain with garlic, parsley and breadcrumbs.

I like the use of bread to lightly thicken the juices. Some recipes omit the breadcrumbs and just mop up the juices with slices of bread, but I am in favour of this very ancient way to thicken liquids (rather than using flour). Some recipes do not add wine, but wine has always been popular in my cooking. I also found some recipes that suggest adding a tablespoon of tomato paste, but this does not resonate with my memories of eating mussels in Trieste. Also tomato was introduced much later in the cooking of Trieste as they were grown Southern Italy.

In some recipes the name of this dish is Pedoci a Scotadeo, (cozze alla scottadito), ie burn your finger… cooked quickly, eaten hot.

As I said, it is a very simple recipe. Adjust amounts of ingredients to your liking.

Ingredients for 4 people (two of us comfortably ate 1.5 kg)

 2 kg of mussels

4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, a couple of handfuls of parsley, 2 cloves of chopped garlic, black pepper, 75-100 ml of white wine

2 handfuls of grated bread – fresh or from the day before, no crusts, in fine/small pieces to give it a chance to break down

lemon wedges/juice (optional)

Remove the beards and wash mussels quickly.

In a large pan over medium heat, add about half of the extra virgin olive oil with the garlic. Stir it until it is slightly fragrant but be careful not to burn it. Add the wine and bread. Stir a couple of times to mix everything together, the wine will partly evaporate.

Add the parsley and black pepper, then the mussels .

Cover with the lid and bring to the boil. The mussels should open in about 5- 8 minutes. Don’t overcook them because no one likes rubbery mussels. Some mussels take longer to open. These are fresh healthy mussels, cook them until they too open.

Lift the mussels out and put them into a serving bowl. Check the sauce to see if the bread has broken down in the liquid. If you would prefer it to be more softened bring the liquid to the boil and stir it a little longer.

Pour the liquid over the mussels. Drizzle with the remaining extra virgin olive oil and toss well.

They need to be hot (remember? Pedoci a Scotadeo). Sprinkle a little lemon or some lemon cut into quarters.

You can see I like Mussels:

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

MUSSELS (Cozze) IN BRODETTO (Mussels in a little broth)

SPAGHETTINI E COZZE; Spaghettini with mussels

MUSSELS WITH CHICKPEAS

MUSSELS (Cozze) IN BRODETTO (Mussels in a little broth)

COZZE CON SAMBUCA (Mussels with Sambuca- anice flavoured liqueur)

COZZE (Mussels) GREEN LIPPED MUSSELS WITH TOMATO AND CANNELLINI BEANS

SAFFRON RISOTTO WITH MUSSELS (Risu cu Zaffaranu e Cozzuli is the Sicilian, Riso con Zafferano e Cozze is the Italian)

MUSSELS WITH FRENCH FLAVOURS (Provencale)

 

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

Victorian fresh mussels are always fabulous and they go a long way. There are two people in my household and we usually buy 2kilos. Sometimes we eat them all and at other times I use the left over mussels to make something else. There is usually some mussel broth left over and I store this in a glass jar in my freezer.

My partner likes to do the shopping and off he goes with his list, his bag and his mask and shops at the Queen Victoria Market. This time he cam home with 3kilos.  We are in lockdown here so no inviting someone to join us.

I really like mussels and from a 3kilo batch my partner and I had  three meals. Very frugal, but by the third day we were a little sick of mussels.

For the first meal, I cooked the mussels steamed in their own broth. In Italian this is called  In brodetto.. brodo is broth.

I begin with a soffritto of chopped carrots, celery, onion and garlic, with the help of a little white wine, then add the mussels, put on a lid and let them steam open and I sprinkle a little chopped parsley towards the end. We ate these with good quality, home baked bread, rubbed with oil and garlic and toasted in the oven.

On the second day we made some home made egg spaghetti. I made a salsa, first by dissolving a few anchovies in a little hot extra virgin  olive oil, then I added a can of chopped tomatoes, a whole clove of garlic, a sprig of fresh oregano (because there is no basil growing on my balcony in this cold season) and a little of the mussel broth. I let it cook with no lid, to reduce and thicken. I added the cooked mussels to the sauce just to heat up and dressed the pasta. I keep the garlic whole so that I can remove it, this is my preference but maybe not yours.

Next day, a risotto, and very simple once again.

This time I used a fresh fennel and some of the left over mussels out of their shells that I kept in a jar in the fridge with yet again some of their broth. But this time I also used some mussel broth I had in the freezer from the time before. That mussel broth comes in handy and there always seems to be plenty of it.

There are three types of rice you can use for making risotto. Arborio is the most common and easily available in Australia, but carnaroli  has more starch as does vialone nano; these two varieties make a risotto creamier. However, when I make a seafood risotto I prefer to use aborio because with seafood I like the risotto to be less gluggy. Don’t let this confuse you… all three varieties are suitable and it is just personal preferences. Perhaps I like to taste the flavour of the sea. Perhaps this is also why I do not  generally add butter to a seafood risotto.

You may be remembering that you have read many recipes that indicate that you stick to the stove while you cook risotto. Sicilian rice dishes are interesting.  I have watched  my Sicilian aunties cook rice and have read numerous recipes where some stock is added, the lid is put on and it is left to absorb for about 5 minutes or more,  then more stock is added and once again it is not continually stirred. The stirring happens in the last 5-7 minutes.

Making risotto is so simple, quick and easy.

I used 2 thinly sliced spring onions, 2  chopped cloves of garlic and once again began the cooking process by tossing it around in some extra virgin olive oil in a hot pan.

Then I added a finely sliced fennel and some parsley and tossed this around,  added 1.5 cup of rice (this is sufficient for 2 people but you can add more). Toss it around to coat, add a splash of  white wine. I added saffron, a generous pinch soaked beforehand in a little bit of water.

Keep on adding hot fish or mussel broth as you cook the rice until it is nearly cooked. This is when you add the shelled mussels. Cook the risotto until it is cooked all’onda…till the risotto looks wavy like the sea, and still moist.

I do not wish to eat mussels again for a couple of weeks.

 

 

 

MUSSELS (Cozze) IN BRODETTO (Mussels in a little broth)

IMG_2797It turned out rather well and we ate it with oven toasted bread rubbed and baked with extra virgin olive oil and garlic.

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There were four separate components:

  • a tomato salsa – extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic cloves, fresh oregano and a little rosemary,
  • steamed mussels (cozze), most taken out of their shells…. a little white wine and a little fish stock,

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  • a soffritto of celery, chopped fennel, spring onions and baby carrots,

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  • chopped herbs – fennel fronds and parsley.

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All assembled at the end to make this:

IMG_2797 Was it Italian regional?

I do not know. I used Italian methods and ingredients and I guess that it could have been made in any part of Italy. Maybe in the South a little chilli would be added.

And we liked it.

SPAGHETTINI E COZZE – Spaghettini with mussels

Culturally In Australia Easter is no big deal, however in Italy it is tied to religious observances and fish is traditionally eaten on Good Friday by Italian Catholics even if they are not practising Catholics.

I plan to cook something simple – a pasta dish with Mussels. Cozze in Italian, cuzzili in Sicilian.

This is not a complicated dish. It is made with fresh mussels and a little fresh tomato, but not so much to mask the taste of the other ingredients.

Local mussels are prolific in Victoria and I regularly buy them at the Queen Victoria Market; these are generally farmed in Port Phillip Bay and recently from Mount Martha; when I get the chance, I like to go to Portarlington, where they are sold straight off the boats. Mussels are sustainable.

Red, ripe tomatoes are fabulous at this time of year, but tinned tomatoes are OK too. I even used some ripe, yellow,  heirloom tomatoes in this sauce!

Spaghettini (thin spaghetti) are used for this dish – the thin strands result in a greater surface area and allow greater absorption of the sauce.

The sauce is prepared quickly while the pasta is cooking. The same ingredients and method of cooking this dish can also be used with other fish – try squid.

Do not be horrified and think me a phony for using grated cheese with fish!  The rest of Italy may not, but Sicilians do it. Using cheese is not necessary, especially if you like to savor the fresh taste of the tomatoes.

spaghettini, 500g
mussels, 2 kg fresh, live mussels
red tomatoes, fresh, 500 g, chopped and peeled
garlic, 3 chopped…to taste
parsley, 1 cup finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil, ½ – ¾ cup
salt and pepper
basil, fresh, some stalks and leaves in the sauce and some leaves to decorate and provide a last-minute aroma
grated pecorino, (optional), to taste

Clean the mussels by rubbing them against each other in cold water (or use a plastic scourer). Pull the beards sharply towards the pointy end of the shell.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep pan.
Add the mussels.
Cover and cook over a brisk flame, shaking the pan every now and then, until the mussels have opened. Turn off the flame and let them cool slightly, then remove and discard the shells of about ¾ of them. Use the whole mussels for decoration.

If you have given the mussels sufficient time to open and some have remained closed, there is no need to discard them. They are very much alive, place them back on heat and they will eventually open.
Save the juice from the mussels in a separate vessel.

Add the onion to a new pan, sauté till golden.
Add the chopped tomatoes and some basil stalks with leaves attached (these can be removed at time of serving).
Simmer the sauce for about 8-10 minutes, just to blend the flavours and to evaporate some of the tomato juice. Place the tomato sauce aside.

Cook the spaghettini.
Add some extra virgin olive oil and garlic to a new pan (or wipe down the same pan that you have used to cook the sauce).  Soften the garlic and add the parsley.

Add the  mussel meat to the pan and toss the ingredients around for a few minutes before adding the tomato sauce and as much of the mussel juice as you think you will need for the sauce. Remove the cooked basil (it has done its job).
Add the mussels in their shells (gently) to warm through.

Drain the pasta. Add it to the pan with the rest of the ingredients toss them around till they are well coated. Be gentle with the cooked mussels in their shells as you want to keep the mussel meat in the shell.
Add fresh basil leaves.

Present with grated cheese for those who wish.

Pasta with cozze is eaten all over Italy but in Northern Italy parsley and garlic are the preferred flavourings and no tomatoes.

PASTA FANTASIA CON FRUTTI DI MARE, Multicolored Pasta with Seafood

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This is a very small serve of pasta with seafood, but we all had seconds. In Italy less seafood would be used – it is pasta with a condiment (seafood sauce) and not seafood with pasta.

The packet of dry pasta was bought in Amalfi where my friends were holidaying recently. The packet was packed in a suitcase and arrived in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast in Queensland where they live.

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Last week I visited these two friends who had purchased the pasta for me and were waiting for my comingl to cook it. All four of us who were eating the pasta love seafood and this is what we did.

Fresh prawns and squid are prolific on the Gold Coast and the idea of using the broth left over from steaming some mussels open appealed to us. Also there was plenty of basil and fresh thyme in the fridge, left over from the meal of the night before. White wine is always on hand as are garlic and onions.

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The colours for the pasta are all derived from vegetables and spices: spinach is used for the green, beetroot is used for the magenta, sepia (ink from ink fish or squid) for the brown, paprika for orange and the yellow is derived from turmeric.

The makers call it Pasta Fantasia Multicolore – it is easy to guess what these words mean and the mixture of shapes and colours and stripes are truly very appealing visually. Unfortunately the flavours of the vegetables and spices were not at all evident and if they had been, the pasta would have been truly fantastic (in the true sense of the word).

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We cooked the pasta at the same time as we cooked the seafood.

500g pasta
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, cut small
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
500g mussels, debearded
500g squid cut into slices
500g green prawns, cleaned
1 cup white wine
½ cup fresh thyme and ½ cup shredded basil, leave some leaves whole for serving

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Clean the mussels and place them into a pan with a little water. Cook for 5 minutes or longer, making sure all the shells have opened. If some don’t, cook the unopened ones for longer and they will open. Remove mussels from their shells, but save a few for decoration and save the broth. The broth will be quite salty because the mussels would have released their juices and sea water. Filter it before using in case there is grit. Some of the broth will be used to flavour the seafood part of the cooking and the rest can be used with the boiling water to cook the pasta. we ended up with about 1 and 1/2 cups of broth.

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In a large, heavy based pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and sauté for 3-5 minutes until golden. Add the squid and cook for 3- 5 minutes, then add the prawns, a pinch of salt and pepper and stir them around in the heat until they colour. Add the wine and about 1/3 cup of the mussel broth and the herbs. Evaporate some of the wine. Add the mussels and cover contents with a lid – cook for 3-4 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water mixed with the left over mussel broth to the boil over high heat. Adjust by adding salt if it needs it. Add the pasta and cook it till al-dente and stirring occasionally. The packet states cooking time is about 9-11 minutes. Drain pasta and add the seafood mixture. Toss to combine.
Add more basil if you wish and either transfer it to a a serving platter or serve it from the pan. We are very good friends and we served it from the pan.

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MUSSELS WITH CHICKPEAS

I love mussels: they are just so quick to cook, sustainable, economical and so flavourful. By using different herbs and adding a variety of ingredients you can vary the looks and taste of mussels and have a new dish every time. Mussels are called cozze in Italian.

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Mussels or vongole (pipis or cockles) cooked with pulses (usually chickpeas or cannellini or lima beans) feature in many cuisines – Italian, Moroccan, French, Spanish and Greek and there are likely to be more examples. Each cuisine may have a few variations: as an Italian I use parsley, the French recipes may suggest using thyme, Moroccans may add harissa and the Spaniards may add chorizo. Fennel is in season and its aniseed, liquorice -like flavour compliments the taste of any seafood.

I also like to accentuate the taste of the fennel by adding 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds or instead of the wine, using one of the anise flavoured alcoholic drinks, like Ricard, Pastis or Pernod (French) or Raki (Turkey). Ouzo (Greek) and Sambuca (Italian) are sweeter in taste (contain sugar) so unless you particularly like sweetness do not use too much. I have mentioned the most popular of the alcoholic beverages, but there are more in other countries.

I use a lot of wine or alcohol in my cooking but this is not compulsory. I do not use salt when I cook mussels as they release their own liquid and this is usually sufficiently salty.

1 k mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup white wine or ½ cup of anise flavoured alcohol and ½ cup of water or if you have cooked the chickpeas yourself, use the liquid
1 bulb fennel or 3 stalks of young celery
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups of cooked chickpeas (home cooked or canned)
pepper or chilli flakes
 
Prepare the fennel: remove the tough outer leaves, slice the fennel and chop finely any of the fronds. Because I prefer to have some crunch in the fennel I slice it into medium -thin slices, but if you prefer it to be soft, slice it very thinly. Substitute the fennel with celery if you prefer.
Use a heavy bottomed large saucepan with a tight fitting lid, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and sauté the garlic, sliced fennel and fennel fronds.
Add chickpeas, parsley, pepper or chilli flakes to taste and 1 cup of liquid – either wine or anise flavoured alcohol and water – and bring to the boil.
Add mussels, cover and cook until they open.
Serve with the broth. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top. Use bread to mop up the juices.

COZZE (Mussels) GREEN LIPPED MUSSELS WITH TOMATO AND CANNELLINI BEANS

Mussells

A must when in New Zealand is to eat the green-lipped mussels. They are so much larger and meatier than the varieties of black mussels common in Australia and Europe.

I stayed with friends on Waiheke Island located in the Hauraki Gulf. It is about 17.7 km from Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand. I bought the mussels from the local fish shop and cooked them with extra virgin olive oil, white wine, parsley and quite a bit of garlic (Cozze in Brodetto).

The next time I cooked green lipped mussels was a few days later when I visited other friends in Queenstown in the South Island. I bought the mussels in another great fish shop in Dunedin and both towns are in the South Island of New Zealand. I cooked these with tomatoes and cannellini beans and these are the photos and the recipe. On this occasion I used tinned beans.

Black mussels can also be used in this recipe.

 There were 4 of us.

INGREDIENTS
mussels, 2.5 k
dry white wine ½  cup
parsley, ½  cup chopped
cannellini beans,  I used 2 x 400g tins, cooked and drained
tomato salsa: 800g of tinned red tomatoes, oregano (dried) or fresh basil leaves, salt, 1/4 cup of  extra virgin olive oil, garlic, 4 cloves chopped finely

Make salsa:
Place the tomato, basil or oregano, extra virgin olive oil and liquid from the mussels in a saucepan and cook uncovered for 10-15 minutes until reduced to about 2 cups.
Clean and de-beard mussels.
Place mussels in a large, wide saucepan, add wine and parsley, cover and place over high heat to steam open.
Remove the open mussels from the cooking liquid as you go (I placed mine in a large serving bowl). Leave the unopened ones in the liquid until they all open.
Evaporate the cooking liquid until you only have about 1 cup of concentrated liquid. This will be salty and this is why no salt has been used elsewhere.
Add the cannellini to the salsa and heat.
Combine all of the ingredients together and serve.

Reduction of liquid

 

You can see that I like mussels quite a bit. For other mussel recipes see:

MA2SBAE8REVW

ZUPPA DI COZZE SGUSCIATE (A thick soup made with mussel meat)

I have a tendency to always cook too much food and there are leftovers, but I enjoy transforming cooked ingredients into something different. You could say that I am being frugal.

musselsouphero

This time I had some cooked mussels in their shells in some of their broth and I thought that I would use these ingredients to make a soup by adding red tomatoes;  I also added a lot of basil and some grated zucchini and the results were a thick, fragrant and highly flavoured soup.

This made a soup for 4 people.

If you do not have ready cooked mussels, this is what you can do:

Stage1: The mussels
Clean the mussels in their shells (about 500gm; remove beards, wash or scrub the mussels under running water.
In a saucepan, heat two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and add 2 spring onions chopped finely; sauté for 1 minute. Add mussels in their shells, 2 tablespoon chopped parsley and about ¾ cup of white wine. Cover, cook on high heat and bring to a boil.  Toss them around now and again until the shells open.
Once cool keep the juice (this is the broth) and remove the mussel meat from the shells. Keep a few in their shell for decoration.

Stage 2: The soup
Mussels and their broth, see above,
ripe tomatoes, peeled  and chopped, 800g
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
fresh basil leaves, some to cook with and some to add at the end
2 zucchini, grated
1 spring onion
black pepper or fresh chill (sliced thinly)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 
salt to taste (mussel broth could be salty)

PROCESSES
Place the tomatoes in a saucepan  add garlic, some of the oil and some basil. Leave uncovered and cook on low-medium heat until thickened (about 15 mins). This results into a tomato salsa which could also be used for dressing pasta.
In a  pan that is large enough to take all of the ingredients, heat the rest of the olive oil, add spring onion and zucchini and  cook until soft, stirring often.
Add the mussel meat, their broth and more water if necessary and simmer for another 5 minutes until heated through.
 Add fresh basil and serve.

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PESCE ALLA PIZZAIOLA (Fish Braise Cooked Pizzaiola Style)

There are many Italian recipes cooked alla pizzaiola and If you cook something “alla pizzaiola’ it will have tomatoes, garlic, and parsley; in this case there are also anchovies and chillies.

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This mixed fish braise is very easy to cook and although the recipe may appear to have too much garlic and chillies, the flavours meld into a mild, sweet flavoured sauce with subtle tastes. Serve the dish with bread to mop up the flavourful liquid.

The anchovies add another layer of taste and do not overwhelm the flavours of this dish; if you do not like them, leave them out or, for a milder taste, use white anchovies (called boquerones, from Spain).

Vary the amounts of shellfish and fish to suit your tastes, for example the last time I made this dish I used only fish fillets and it was great.

INGREDIENTS
300g fillets of firm white-fleshed fish
200g squid, cut into rings
200g mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
100g cockles
100g prawns
1 whole bulb of garlic, very finely chopped (to taste)
3-5 red chillies (remove the seeds), very finely chopped
salt to taste
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
300g red tomatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces (or use tinned)
anchovies to taste, (I used 4)
¾ cup white wine
½ cup chopped parsley; also use some to sprinkle onto the finished dish

PROCESSES
Cut fish fillets into serving size pieces. Pat the fish dry, rub with a little salt and pan-fry them in a in a large frying pan with a little of the oil. Remove them and set aside.
Pan fry the squid rings in the same pan and set aside.
Heat the rest of the oil and over medium heat sauté the garlic and chilli until the garlic begins to soften – with cooking, these ingredients will disappear in the sauce. Leave some of the seeds in the chillies if you like hot food.
Stir in chopped anchovies until they dissolve.
Add the wine and evaporate for 2-3 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, parsley, a little salt and cook the sauce until it is reduced. (Remember that the anchovies will be salty and that the mussels and cockles will also release their salty liquid).
Place the mussels, cockles and prawns into the sauce, cover and cook until the mussels and cockles have opened. The prawns will cook at the same time as the mussels.
Add the fish and squid to the pan and gently press them into the sauce ensuring that the sauce covers them and heat through.

MA2SBAE8REVW

COZZE CON SAMBUCA (Mussels with Sambuca- anice flavoured liqueur)

I had some saganaki recently at a friend’s place. She did the usual thing of cutting it into large cubes, dipping it in a little flour and pan frying it in hot oil until golden, but she then added a drizzle of Ouzo over the hot cheese, and lit it – (Flambé). Finally she added a squeeze of lemon juice. We ate this with some tomatoes that had been slowly baked on a low temperature.

It was the Ouzo that interested me. I particularly like the taste of aniseed and us a lot of fennel in my cooking.  I also use wine quite often in my cooking and sometimes if I wish to accentuate the taste of the fennel I use Ricard or Pernod – both are anise flavoured liqueurs. I have also used Ouzo at times (based on a Greek way of cooking them) and recently I cooked some mussels with Sambuca; they make a great antipasto.

When travelling in Italy to places on the coast in summer, you will often see piattoni (large platters) of mussels presented as a stater to a meal in restaurants; these are a great favourite. With the warmer weather, I have enjoyed placing a large platter of mussels in the centre of the table and having guests help themselves. The mussels I cooked with Sambuca were greatly appreciated.

Whilst I was in Adelaide recently I also ate at  a restaurant and enjoyed an Anisetta Meletti, another aniseed flavoured drink from Ascoli Piceno and sold at Mercato (Campbelttown in South Australia). This too would work.

The following recipe is in my second book, Small Fishy Bites. The food stylist and photographer are in the photo above.

Fishy Bites Jacket

INGREDIENTS
2 kl mussels, scrubbed and cleaned of beards
extra virgin olive oil ½ cup
cloves of garlic, 7-8 chopped finely
Italian flat-leaf parsley, 1 small bunch, finely chopped
black pepper, finely ground
Sambuca, ½- ¾ cup (or Ouzu)
lemon juice, 1-2 lemons (grated peel optional)

PROCESSES
Sauté the garlic lightly in hot extra virgin olive oil. Use a saucepan that will fit the mussels.
Add the mussels and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the Sambuca, a dash of water, pepper and the parsley. Cover with a lid and cook till the mussels open.
Remove the mussels and place into another warm saucepan with a lid to keep them hot. If you do not mind presenting the mussels warm, place the opened mussels on a platter. (Italians do not seem to bother about keeping food hot). Evaporate the juices until you only have about 1 cup of concentrated liquid. Add lemon juice and pour the juice over the mussels and serve.

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