Extra Virgin (19 page)
Authors: Gabriele Corcos
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (2-pound) live lobster
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes
4 cups fish stock
2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 handful fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
Bring an 8-quart stockpot of salted water to a boil. Add the lobster, head first, and cover tightly with a lid. Boil for 12 to 15 minutes, until the lobster is very bright red.
Using tongs, remove the lobster from the boiling water and set it aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, crack open the claws, body, and tail and remove the meat. Reserve any juices in a bowl for adding to the soup later. Chop the lobster meat into chunks.
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the shallot and sauté for 3 minutes, or until tender. Add the red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and beans, bring to a soft boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low.
Using an immersion blender, purée the beans until smooth. Add the lobster meat and the reserved juices and simmer for 5 minutes to blend the flavors.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the parsley, and serve.
Spicy Mussel Soup with Grilled Bread
SPICY MUSSEL SOUP
with grilled bread
COZZE ALLA TARANTINA CON FETTUNTA
SERVES 4–6
G:
When I was in the army and stationed in Florence, home comforts weren’t very far away. When I could leave the base, I would zip to our house in Fiesole, eat a home-cooked meal, and be back by curfew. I would often bring a roommate, and a guy from Taranto who especially loved this mussel soup from his region, Apulia. He always wanted it super spicy. It’s a dish that really reflects the simplicity and freshness of the ingredients—Deborah says it’s what turned her on to enjoying mussels. With a nice chunk of garlic-rubbed, olive oil–soaked, grilled bread called fettunta, and a glass of chilled white wine, this is a wonderful summer meal.
SOUP
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
3 garlic cloves, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ pound cherry tomatoes, quartered
¾ cup dry white wine
3 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
GRILLED BREAD (FETTUNTA)
1 loaf country bread or
Pane Toscano
, thickly sliced
1 garlic clove, halved
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
To make the soup:
In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, or until you smell their sweetness. Stir in the white wine and cook for about 1 minute, until it begins to simmer. Add the mussels and cover tightly. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the mussels just begin to open. Remove from the heat and discard any mussels that did not open.
Transfer to bowls, sprinkle with parsley, and drizzle with oil. Serve with the fettunta.
Meanwhile,
to make the grilled bread:
Preheat the broiler, or place a
stovetop toaster
over high heat. Place the sliced bread on the broiler pan 4 inches from the heat (or on the stovetop toaster, if using) and grill about 1 minute per side until golden brown. Rub the garlic on both sides. Remove from the heat and drizzle generously with olive oil. Serve immediately.
BUTTER LETTUCE AND POMEGRANATE SEED SALAD
SMOKED SALMON TROUT AND CUCUMBER SALAD
GRILLED SQUID WITH ARUGULA AND GRAPEFRUIT VINAIGRETTE
CUCUMBER, BEET, AND BOTTARGA SALAD
D:
Gabriele and I have different histories when it comes to
salads. My mom harvested so many vegetables when we lived in upstate New York. Then I lived the actress life, eating healthy with an eye toward my figure. Lettuce, fresh herbs, a few slices of fruit, a splash of oil and vinegar or lemon, and I’d be happy. Gabriele’s memories of salad on the other hand, are of his mom and dad forcing him to eat it, which goes to prove that just because you’re raised on a property teeming with wild leaves from a garden—arugula, radicchio, dandelion greens—not to mention all kinds of vegetables, it doesn’t mean you’re predisposed to like greens.
When Gabriele and I met, he saw how stocked my very-California refrigerator was with salad ingredients, and I’ll admit that at first it alarmed him. (I’ll never forget the face he made when he spotted alfalfa sprouts.) But he came around to the pleasures of salad, how the right melding of flavors—sweet with savory, bitter with creamy, crunchy with juicy—could be just as exciting as his beloved Tuscan meat fests. Now when we’re back in Italy, we walk the grounds of our home with the kids and make family time to forage for delicious greens, vegetables, and herbs for salads. Gabriele and I experimented together with the unique bounty of each season, and these recipes are the results. They are meant to accompany a main course, and in some cases act as light, fresh entrees on their own. Since many Italian restaurants treat salad as a modest leafy side bowl—maybe with a few sliced tomatoes—this chapter very much reflects the American influence on our home eating.
A word about dressing: Avoid the bottled kind. If you have extra virgin olive oil, an assortment of vinegars, citruses, shallots, and salt and pepper, you have the ingredients for a much healthier, more delicious complement to your salad than any over-emulsified, gluey, preservative-laden bottle can offer. Once you get used to making your own dressing—whether it’s adding lemon juice and seasoning directly onto the platter, or whipping up one of our vinaigrettes or your own—you’ll never go back!
BUTTER LETTUCE AND POMEGRANATE SEED SALAD
LATTUGA E SEMI DI MELAGRANA
SERVES 6
D:
This salad always looks beautiful when care is given to its presentation: The supple butter lettuce and its petal-like visual, decorated with the tiny greens called mâche—or “lamb’s lettuce”—can make any plate look like a garden has just sprung up. With the slight edge in flavor from the shallot-infused vinaigrette, and the tang from the pomegranate seeds, this salad’s a real winner.
VINAIGRETTE
1 small shallot, finely chopped
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
¹⁄³ cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
SALAD
2 small heads butter lettuce
4 ounces mâche greens
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
To make the vinaigrette:
In a small bowl, combine the shallot and vinegar. Add the olive oil, whisking slowly to emulsify the mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To make the salad:
Arrange the butter lettuce on a plate. Sprinkle the mâche on top.
Just before serving, dress the greens with the vinaigrette and garnish with the pomegranate seeds.
IMPORTANTE!
Dried cranberries make a fine substitute for pomegranate seeds.
PEACH AND FENNEL SALAD
INSALATE DI PESCHE E FINOCCHIO
SERVES 4–6
D:
Peaches add a wonderfully juicy dimension to any salad. They’re sweet enough to be an ingredient but not overpowering enough to make you feel you’re just eating fruit. Combined with the licorice-like essence of fennel and the saltiness of the bresaola, which is a delicious cured beef, you have a lively summer salad with succulence and depth.
½ medium bulb fennel
¼ small red onion
3 yellow peaches, cut into thin wedges
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Juice of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ pound thinly sliced bresaola
4 big handfuls wild arugula