Episode #303 - Tuna Fish and Cannellini Beans Salad, by The Pool!
Today we decided not to cook and whipped out a quick tuna salad that made a perfect date lunch by the pool.
This is probably the quickest recipe we have done so far, thanks to the canned beans and fish.
Yes, we buy canned food too! Not the heat up and serve kind of can (soups etc...), we always have in our pantry some tuna, some beans, tons of pelati tomatoes, chickpeas...sometimes, and sardines. Gabriele is the only one that eats sardines.
Also Gabriele does not like seeing too many cans around: it reminds him of his mom going nuts when Chernobyl happened. She transformed their house in a 99 cents store of everything canned, with a tree years shelf life. Eventually the radioactive-rain-scare passed, a lot of milk got thrown away...but we believe that some of those cans might remain in the most remote corners or our Tuscan basements.
Time to eat now,
eat and drink!
Today we are drinking a
very special wine: Passito di Pantelleria.
As old as 800 BC, this sweet fruity wine is a very
romantic touch for a sunny summer morning
“Aperitivo”, or in the evening, after having spent
the whole day at the beach.
Enjoy this bottle of Ben Rye’, from Sicily’s Donna Fugata Winery. Imported
by Folio, it can be purchased
online at Noble Merchants.
Tune Fish and
Cannellini Beans Salad
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: none
Episode #211 - Peppers and Seafood Risotto
Debi and I would like to invite you today to challenge yourself, the same way we do it...This is the third Risotto we cooked for the show, but we did not follow a recipe, or called mom or grandma to get directions. We just got inspired!
We assume you know how to
make your risotto by now, and our message to all of
you eaters and feeders out there is: "Invent yourself
in your risotto!".
Basic rules are always the same, soffritto, cooking
technique, broth, etc...Which vegetables do you like?
Go on, feel free to taste what's cooking in your
habitual spots, and try to figure it out.
It is easier than you think, and it will give you a
chance to spend some time in the kitchen, making Art!
Peppers
and Seafood Risotto
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 10
Cooking Time: 35-45
Ingredients
1 ½ Cup of Risotto Rice
½ Red Pepper
½ Orange Pepper
12 Oz of Shrimps (fresh or frozen, cleaned)
8 Oz of mixed calamari and scallops
Episode #206 - Pesce Spada all'Isolana (Swordfish Steaks in Tomatoes and Seafood Sauce)
I remember eating it in Livorno and Isola d'Elba when I was growing up, the smell and the color of it (yes, the taste too) make me think about the old Medici Harbor...the noise of the fishing boats, the continuos mumbling (and hard core cursing) in dialect of the workers at the dock. My father used to keep a small boat there when I was growing up, and he used to drag me with him for "week-end-scheduled-mantainance-and-cleaning"...I used to ask myself: "Why is Mom staying home?".
I eventually figured that out.
However, the memories I
have of those week ends are now worth a treasure in
my heart: my first fishing experiences, the hours of
cleaning under the scorching heat listening to The
Beatles, my first Cecina (thin garbanzo bean flour
bread)...my first beers!!!
Livorno is also very famous for another, even more
traditional recipe, their Caciucco... an intense and
memorable fish soup that deserves its own episode on
this show...will do!
For now,
enjoy our weekly recipe,
Buon Appetito!
Pesce Spada all'Isolana (Swordfish Steaks in
Tomatoes and Seafood Sauce)
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15-20
Cook Time: 40
Ingredients
9 Oz of Mussles
9 Oz of Clams
5 Oz of Shrimps (medium size), peeled.
4 Swordfish Steaks
5 Cloves of Garlic
1 Lb Cherry Tomatoes
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Handful of fresh Parsley
1 Handful of fresh Basil
Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper.
Tip - If you like the “fresh” feel of the sauce,
stick with the cherry tomatoes…but if you’d like to
make it juicier, try using a 12Oz can of Peeled
Tomatoes.
Getting Ready With The Ingredients
Wash thoroughly all the seafood, scrub and remove the
beards from the mussels.
Wash the cherry tomatoes and chop them in halves,
wash the pepper, remove the seeds and the white from
the inside, and then cut it into medium-large slices.