Everyday Italian (4 page)
Authors: Giada De Laurentiis
Throw these pantry ingredients together and you’ve got a terrific salad. You could add other ingredients to jazz it up, like ½ cup capers, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, and some fresh basil leaves, and you could even serve it over 2 cups fresh arugula.
4 MAIN-COURSE SERVINGS
| 2 | (6-ounce) cans dark meat tuna, packed in olive oil |
| ½ | teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste |
| ½ | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste |
| 2 | (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed |
| 1 | medium red onion, thinly sliced |
| 6 | tablespoons red wine vinegar |
In a Large Bowl,
add the tuna with its olive oil and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Using a fork, break up the tuna into bite-size pieces, then gently toss in the beans and onions. Drizzle with the red wine vinegar and season with more salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the salad to plates and serve.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Chickpeas
If your pantry includes a window box of fresh herbs (mine does, and I highly recommend it), you can make this recipe even more delicious by substituting fresh basil and parsley for the dried herbs. Add ¼ cup of each fresh herb when you add the sun-dried tomato, and top the finished crostini with the fresh leaves for a colorful, lively presentation to go with the great flavors.
24 APPETIZER SERVINGS
| Crostini | |
| 1 | baguette, cut into 24 diagonal slices ⅓ inch thick |
| 2 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
| ½ | teaspoon salt |
| ½ | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper |
| ¼ | cup extra-virgin olive oil |
| ¼ | cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped |
| Dip | |
| 1 | large garlic clove |
| 1 | (15½-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed |
| 3 | tablespoons fresh lemon juice |
| 2 | tablespoons dried basil leaves |
| 2 | tablespoons dried Italian parsley |
| Lemon zest for garnish |
To Make The Crostini
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet, and lightly brush with oil. Toast in the oven until golden, about 8 minutes. (You can toast the bread 1 day ahead. Cool, then store airtight at room temperature.)
To Make The Dip
Mince the garlic in a food processor. Add the chickpeas, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water, salt, and pepper. Process until the mixture is almost smooth. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil. Process until the mixture is completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the work bowl occasionally. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and dried herbs. Blend until the tomatoes and herbs are finely chopped. (The dip can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) To serve, spoon 1 teaspoon of the dip on each crostini, and garnish with lemon zest or fresh herbs.
This dip is the Italian version of hummus, and in my opinion it’s smoother and tastier. This is a staple antipasto when I’m entertaining. The pita chips aren’t Italian, but they work really well with this dip.
6 APPETIZER SERVINGS
| 4 | pita breads, split horizontally in half |
| 2 | tablespoons plus ⅓ cup olive oil |
| 1 | teaspoon dried oregano |
| 1½ | teaspoons salt, plus more to taste |
| 1¼ | teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste |
| 1 | (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed |
| ¼ | cup (loosely packed) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves |
| 2 | tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about ½ lemon) |
| 1 | garlic clove |
Preheat The Oven
to 400 degrees F. Cut each pita half into 8 wedges. Arrange the pita wedges evenly over a large baking sheet. Brush the pita wedges with 2 tablespoons of the oil, then sprinkle with the oregano and 1 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Bake for 8 minutes, then turn the pita wedges over and bake until they are crisp and golden, about 8 minutes longer.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the beans, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Pulse on and off until the mixture is coarsely chopped. With the machine running, gradually mix in the remaining ⅓ cup of oil until the mixture is creamy. Season the purée with more salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the purée to a small bowl and serve the pita toasts warm or at room temperature alongside. (The pita wedges and bean purée can be made 1 day ahead. Store the pita wedges airtight at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate the bean purée.)
SEAFOOD STARTERS
Italians love to linger over long, multicourse meals, with a different wine for each course and lots of time to leisurely sip it. And they almost always start with seafood. But where Italians are likely to prefer such first courses as an octopus salad, grilled sardines, or a
crudo
of raw fish, the Italian-
American
favorites are these two classics: baked clams and fried calamari—dishes that, unfortunately, are often served greasy and soggy. The recipes that follow produce the right result: crispy and fresh-tasting, ready for those leisurely sips of white wine.
This is an easy yet impressive appetizer—especially perfect for a romantic evening for two. While any type of clam would work in this recipe, I use Manilas because they are hard-shelled and have less grit inside—and they are easier to find in supermarkets. But you could also use littlenecks, cherrystones, or nearly any other large or medium-size clam.
2 APPETIZER SERVINGS
| ½ | cup plain dried bread crumbs |
| ½ | cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling |
| 2 | tablespoons chopped fresh oregano |
| 1 | tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley |
| 1 | tablespoon chopped fresh mint |
| ½ | teaspoon kosher salt |
| ¼ | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Coarse salt (for lining the baking sheet) |
| 12 | small Manila clams, scrubbed and shucked (shells reserved) |
Preheat The Broiler.
In a large bowl, gently toss the bread crumbs, ½ cup of oil, all the herbs, the kosher salt, and the pepper. Be careful not to overwork the mixture. Set aside.
Line a heavy baking sheet with coarse salt and arrange 12 clam shells atop the salt. Place one clam in each shell, then top each with 2 tablespoons of the bread-crumb mixture. Drizzle with more oil. Broil until the bread-crumb topping is golden and the clams are just cooked through, about 2 minutes.
Calamari
means “squid” in Italian. Italians love squid and they prepare them in lots of different ways, but one of their favorites is fried, either eaten alone or as part of a
fritto misto
(a selection of fried seafood). Below is the traditional Italian way to make them, the way I grew up eating them. It’s all about the calamari itself, not about the thick, gooey coating that they are often covered with. But best of all they are super-duper easy.
6 APPETIZER SERVINGS
| Vegetable oil (for deep-frying) | |
| 2 | cups all-purpose flour |
| 2 | tablespoons dried parsley |
| 1 | pound clean squid with tentacles, bodies cut into ½-inch-thick rings |
| 2 | lemons, cut into wedges |
| 1½ | teaspoons salt |
| 1 | cup Marinara Sauce , warmed |
In A Large, Heavy Saucepan,
add enough oil to reach the depth of 3 inches and heat over a medium flame to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix the flour and parsley. Working in batches, toss the squid into the flour mixture to coat. Carefully add the squid to the oil and fry until crisp and very pale golden, about 3 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried calamari to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
Place the fried calamari and lemon wedges on a clean plate. Sprinkle with salt and serve with the marinara sauce.
If you don’t have
a thermometer to check the oil temperature, there are two ways to test the oil. One is by dropping a small piece of bread into the oil. If it sinks to the bottom of the pan, the oil is too cold, and if it burns immediately, the oil is too hot; but if the bread sizzles slowly, the oil is just right. The other is to place the end of a wooden spoon into the oil; if the end sizzles, the oil is ready.