The Recipes

The recipe for the fritters is from A Taste of Southern Italy by Marlena de Blasi:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
12 ounces beer
2 pounds baccala or stoccafisso – prepared
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
2 large egg whites
4 to 6 cups peanut oil
2 lemons

Place the flour in a medium bowl and stir in enough beer to form a batter the consistency of heavy cream. Cover the batter and set aside.

Place the prepared baccala in a large bowl and, with two forks, finely shred the fish. Stir in the cream, blending the elements until thick.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff but not dry peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the creamed baccala.

In a large, deep sauté pan or a deep fryer, heat the peanut oil over a medium flame. With your hands, form ovals of the baccala mixture, about 3 inches or 2 inches, then quickly dip them in the beer batter. Fry the fritters in the very hot oil. Cook the fritters until deeply golden before turning them, then cook the other side, and remove them with a slotted spoon to absorbent paper towels. Present the fritters as fast as you can, with wedges of lemon and cold white wine.

The sauce recipe is from Cucina del Sole: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking by Nancy Harmon Jenkins:

10 canned plum tomatoes, preferably imported San Marzano tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons golden raisins, plumped in hot water and drained
½ cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons capers, preferably salt-packed, rinsed, drained, and chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drain the tomatoes, reserving about ¼ cup of their juice in case you need to add it to the sauce later. Chop the tomatoes coarsely and set aside.

Combine the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan over low heat. Cook the garlic until it is soft but not brown. Add the tomatoes, increasing the heat to moderate. Cook the tomatoes for about 15 minutes. Use the back of a fork to crush them as they cook down, adding a little of the reserved juice if necessary. The sauce, however, should be very thick.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over medium-low heat until they are golden, stirring constantly. Pine nuts burn quickly, so be attentive. Stir the toasted pine nuts into the sauce and add the drained raisins, olives, and capers. Add salt if necessary and pepper to taste. Serve the sauce warm or at room temperature.

The Recipe

Source: Biba’s Italy by Biba Caggione

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 (3-pound) rabbits, cut into serving pieces, washed and patted dry
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, minced (about 1 to 1 ½ cups)
2 cups dry white wine
10 to 12 black Gaeta or Nicoise olives, pitted and quartered
10 fresh sage leaves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup red-wine vinegar

Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet or casserole over high heat. Flour the rabbit pieces lightly. When the oil is very hot, add the rabbit to the skillet without crowding. (The rabbit can be browned in 2 batches.) Season with the salt and pepper and cook, turning once, until golden on both sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter.

Discard the oil and place the skillet back over medium heat. Add the remaining oil. When it is hot but not yet smoking, add the onion. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan to pick up the browned bits, until the onion is lightly golden and soft, 6 to 7 minutes. Return the rabbit to the pan, raise the heat to high, and add the wine. As soon as the wine begins to bubble, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, stirring from time to time and turning the rabbit once, until the wine is almost all evaporated and the rabbit is tender when pierced with a fork, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer the rabbit to a platter, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm in a low oven.

Add the olives, sage, and garlic to the pan, and stir over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the vinegar and stir quickly until the pan juices have thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spoon the pan juices over the rabbit and serve hot.

The Recipe

Source: A Taste of Southern Italy by Marlena de Blasi

8 tiny artichokes, preferably the purple-lipped variety, or 4 small, very young artichokes, several inches of their stems still intact
1 1-pound fillet of baccala, skinless and boneless
1 cup whole milk
juice of 1 lemon
1 small head red lettuce, radicchio or red oak leaf, washed, spun dry, and coarsely shredded
4 ounces large green Sicilian or Greek olives, crushed lightly with a mallet, stones removed, the flesh coarsely chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 fat cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and finely minced
1 small, dried red chile pepper, crushed, or 1/3 to ½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
1 ½ tablespoons good red wine vinegar
fine sea salt

Prepare the artichokes, trimming just a snip from their still-tender leaves and leaving them whole if they are tiny, slicing them in two, or even in fourths, if they are a bit larger, cutting out the choke should it have begun to develop beyond an innocent embryo.

Soften the baccala a bit with a mallet and soak for 24 hours in cold water (change the water three times, adding 1 cup of milk to the final water), rinse the baccala in cold water, cover again with cold water, and poach for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, acidulate the artichokes with the juice of a lemon, add the shredded lettuce, the copped olives, and the poached baccala, cut into 1-inch pieces.

Make a simple warm vinaigrette by heating the olive oil, softening the garlic without coloring it for a minute or two, and scent the oil with the crushed chile. Remove from the heat, add the vinegar and a whisper of sea salt. Beat the dressing with a fork and pour it over the elements in the bowl, tossing them about and combining them well.

Present the salad with a young, cooled red wine that will do its best to stand up to both the artichokes and the baccala.

The Recipe

Source: A Taste of Southern Italy by Marlena de Blasi

1 small head white or green cauliflower
2 tablespoons fine sea salt
1 pound cima di rape [Hard-to-find Italian turnip greens] or dandelion greens, beet greens, or red chard
2 ounces anchovies, preserved under salt
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 small, dried red chile pepper, crushed, or 1/3 to ½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
3 fat cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and finely minced
3 ounces dried black olives, stones removed (optional)
12 ounces orecchiette
coarse sea salt for the pasta water
1 cup just-grated pecorino
1 cup just-made fine bread crumbs, sautéed in ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Trim the cauliflower of its leaves and place it, whole, in a pot, covering it with cold water, adding 1 tablespoon of the fine sea salt and poaching it until tender. Drain the cauliflower and set it aside. Wash and trim the rape and place them in a pot, covering them with cold water, adding the remaining table of salt and poaching them for 3 minutes. Drain the rape very well, transferring them to absorbent paper towels. When the rape are cooled a bit, squeeze each piece, extracting as much water as you can before chopping them coarsely and placing them in a bowl. Add the poached cauliflower, breaking it up and blending it lightly with the rape.

Rinse the anchovies and remove their heads and bones. Dry them on paper towels and crush lightly with a fork.

In a sauté pan over a medium flame, warm the olive oil, scenting it with the fennel, crushed chile, and garlic, taking care not to color the garlic. Add the anchovies and the olives, if you wish to use them, stirring and blending the components. Add this hot mixture to the bowl with the rape and the cauliflower, smashing the whole against the sides of the bowl, permitting the vegetables to inhale the hot, spicy bath.

Cook the orecchiette in abundant, sea-salted water until al dente, draining the pasta but leaving it somewhat wet. Reserve ½ cup or so of its cooking liquids. Transfer the pasta to a large, shallow, warmed bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the cooking liquids and the pecorino to the sauce, thinning it only slightly. Add a few drops more of the cooking liquids only if the sauce is still extremely thick. Add the sauce to the pasta, tossing it and coating each little ear.

Dust the pasta with the browned bread crumbs and present the dish with a rough but honorable red wine.

The Recipe

Source: A Taste of Southern Italy by Marlena de Blasi

4 fat cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
zest of 1 large orange, removed in strips with a potato peeler
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
1 small, dried red chile pepper, crushed, or 1/3 to ½ teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 cup good red wine
4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, drained of their oil and thinly shredded
4 ounces dried black olives, stones removed
12 ounces bucatini or other dried string pasta
coarse sea salt for the water
1 handful of torn basil leaves

With a mezzalune or a very sharp knife, mince the garlic and the zest to a paste.

In a sauté pan over a medium flame, heat the olive oil and add the almonds, sautéing them a minute or two in the oil, taking care not to let them get too dark. Remove from the flame and add the garlic/orange paste and the crushed chile, stirring them about and permitting them to scent the oil and the almonds. Set the pan aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the wine and add the sun-dried tomatoes and the dried olives, bringing the mixture just to a simmer. Remove the pan from the flame, cover it, and permit the tomatoes and the olives to plump up a bit for 10 minutes. Remove the tomatoes and the olives with a slotted spoon and add them to the sauté pan with the almonds. Reduce the remaining wine over a lively flame to a tablespoon or so and add it to the sauté pan.

Cook the pasta in abundant boiling, sea-salted water to al dente, draining it but leaving it somewhat wet. Transfer the pasta to a large, shallow, warmed bowl, tossing it with the just rewarmed sauce, coating each strand. Strew the pasta with a few torn leaves of basil and present it with good red wine.

The recipe

Source: Cucina del Sole: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

1 ½ pounds broccoli rabe (rapini), or 1 pound cauliflower or broccoli
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more oil if using cheese
1 dried red chili, crumbled
sea salt
15 to 20 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
15 to 20 black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup grated hard aged cheese: pecorino, caciocavallo, or parmigiano reggiano (optional)

Rinse and trim the broccoli rabe and discard any yellow or wilted leaves. Cut into 2-inch lengths. If you’re using broccoli or cauliflower, rinse and cut into florets.

Combine the onion with the olive oil in a pan that will not suffer when put under the broiler. Set over medium-low heat. As the onions start to sizzle, add the chili and salt to taste. Stir in the vegetable pieces, halved tomatoes, and black olives. Add about ¼ cup boiling water, then cover the pan, lower the heat, and cook for about 10 minutes. Check the vegetables for tenderness, piercing the thick parts with the point of a knife. If they need to cook a little longer, you may wish to add a little more boiling water to keep the vegetables from scorching.

Meanwhile, if you’re using the cheese topping, turn the broiler on to high. When the vegetables are done, sprinkle the cheese over the top, dribble on a little more olive oil, and run under the broiler just long enough to melt the cheese. Remove and serve immediately.

The Recipe

Source: Pasta Improvvisata : How to Improvise in Classic Italian Style by Erica De Mane

Peperonata Sauce – For One Pound of Pasta

5 or 6 bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange)
olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 or 4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
3 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
a handful of basil leaves, chopped
a handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Roast the peppers over a gas flame until charred on all sides. Place in a paper bag to steam. When cool enough to handle, remove the charred skins, wiping off excess black spots. Seed the peppers and cut into thin strips.

In a large skillet, heat about 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the roasted peppers and saute a minute to blend the flavors. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute longer, just to release its aroma. Add the tomatoes, basil, and parsley; season with salt and pepper; and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, just until all the ingredients begin to thicken and the flavors come together. You can cover the pan if you like a sauce to have a little more liquid. Check the seasonings. The peppers should have a touch of sweetness but also a pleasant acidity.

Ziti with Peperonata, Almonds, and Green Olives

Ingredients for 1 recipe Peperonata Sauce
a generous handful of blanched almonds, lightly toasted
about 1/2 cup pitted green olives, cut in half
a splash of balsamic vinegar
salt
freshly ground black pepper
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 pound ziti

Prepare the peperonata sauce and add all the remaining ingredients except the ziti. Heat gently over medium-low heat in a large skillet for 2 or 3 minutes to warm through and blend the flavors. Check the seasoning.

Cook the ziti until al dente, drain, and add to the pan. Toss well and check the seasoning. Serve hot. This dish also tastes wonderful at room temperature.

The Recipe

Source: Pasta Improvvisata : How to Improvise in Classic Italian Style by Erica de Mane

Ziti with Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce, Prosciutto, Black Olives, and Hot Chile

1 recipe Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce [see below]
3 or 4 thin slices prosciutto, trimmed of some fat, cut in small pieces
a large handful of black olives, pitted and cut in half (I use Gaeta here)
1 fresh red or green chile, seeded and very finely minced (taste a bit of the flesh to see how hot it is; you may want to add only a tiny amount)
1 pound ziti

Make the tomato sauce and, while it is still warm, mix in the prosciutto, olives, and chile.

Cook the ziti until al dente, drain, and toss with the sauce.

Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

about 15 plum tomatoes (2 to 2 ½ pounds), coarsely chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper
a few tablespoons olive oil
2 or 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
a small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
a small handful of fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 500 F.

Place the chopped tomatoes on a baking sheet. They shouldn’t be too crowded, so if you think it is necessary, use 2 baking sheets. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle liberally with olive oil. Mix the tomatoes with your hands until they are well coated with oil. Distribute them evenly in one layer on the baking sheet. Roast about 10 minutes, stirring the tomatoes once or twice so they cook evenly. Sprinkle the garlic and the herbs on top of the tomatoes and mix briefly. Roast another 5 to 10 minutes. The tomatoes should be slightly browned around the edges of the pan but still moist. Transfer the tomatoes to a bowl, and while still hot, break them up a bit with a fork, saving all the juices.

The Recipe

Source: The Red Cat Cookbook by Jimmy Bradley

12 fresh whole sardines, about 5 ounces each, cleaned and gutted by your fishmonger [or by yourself, if you don't mind a little grunt work]
½ cup olive oil
juice of ½ lemon
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon chopped oregano
salt
freshly ground black pepper
salsa cruda (recipe follows)
lemon wedges, for serving

Marinate and Grill the Sardines:

Put the sardines in a baking dish or other shallow vessel. Drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice and scatter the zest, red pepper flakes, garlic, and oregano over them. Turn them to coat with the marinade and let marinate for 1 hour.

Preheat a gas grill to high, or prepare a charcoal grill for grilling, letting the coals burn until covered with white ash.

Remove the sardines from the marinade and brush off any solids. Season with salt and pepper and grill until cooked through, approximately 3 minutes per side.

Divide the salsa cruda evenly among serving plates. Top with sardines, crossing them over the salsa. Serve right away, with lemon wedges alongside.

Salsa Cruda:

Makes about 4 ½ cups

2 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
1 15 1/2-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
½ cup pitted, chopped black olives
½ small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (¼ cup)
¼ red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice (¼ cup)
¼ yellow bell pepper, or an additional ¼ red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice (¼ cup)
½ small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (¼ cup)
1 tablespoon sliced basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl, gently toss, cover, and let rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour, or refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.