The Sunny Kitchen - An Italian cook in Amsterdam

Almost-video recipe: carpaccio di zucchine

This is an almost-videorecipe because the video is made of photographs.

It's a very quick 'n' easy dish to make, perfect and refreshing for the hot Summer days.

The recipe in a simplified version is originally from Davide Varone, Claudio's brother (you can see Claudio cooking with me in the almost-video).

We made it a bit more elaborated and changed the marinating procedure. The end result was really, really to our liking!

The video has no subtitles, so read the recipe too to understand how to make this simple and yet wonderful dish.

 

 

Carpaccio di zucchine

Ingredients:

1 big courgette or 2-3 small ones
1 fresh chilli pepper
juice of 1,5 lemon
grated rind of 1/2 organic lemon
4 little twigs of fresh mint
6-8 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs pink peppercorns
salt and black pepper
30 gr. grana or parmigiano shavings

Remove the courgette ends. Cut the courgette in very thin round slices using a mandolin slicer (see video). If you use sall courgettes cut them in the length.
Prepare the marinade mixing lemon juice, olive oil, salt and black pepper.
Add the chilli pepper after removing almost all its seeds and slicing it thinly, the finely chopped mint leaves, the crushed pink peppercorns (you can crush them using your knife like I do in the video) and the lemon rind.
Mix well and distribute over the zucchini slices.
Leave to rest in the fridge for at least one hour and add the parmesan or grana shavings just before serving.

Less is more: sole fillet with baby peas and basil

Simplicity. That's what I'm looking for these days and that's what I'm putting on my plate.
Like tonight. A very simple yet delicious dinner. So simple that I don't even need to explain everything in grams and deciliters.

To make this dish even simpler I've used frozen baby peas, one of the few things I regularly have in the freezer. I don't like to keep left-overs or to use lots of frozen food but certain things come in handy when you need them. Fresh filled pasta to plunge in boiling water directly from the ice compartment for emergency lunches or dinners, the odd ciabatta bread, Alaska pollock for the cats when I forget to buy their food, and peas.

Italians love to use peas in lots of recipes even when it's not exactly the right season. They're practically indispensable in the minestrone, for example, and thus in Italy it's quite common to have them frozen and ready for use.
So get yourself some nice baby peas (fresh ones are even better, if you have them), a couple of fillets of sole, some fresh basil ed ecco fatto, you'll have a quick and easy to make Italian classic.

Gently fry a small onion or shallot in a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil until soft and glazy.
Add the peas with some hot water from the kettle.
Let them cook until almost tender, letting most of the water evaporate. Season with a bit of salt.
Lay the sole fillets on top of the peas and put the lid on the pan, leaving them to gently steam for a few minutes.
Season with salt, black pepper and fresh basil and serve immediately.

The music that goes with this dish is from Pierangelo Bertoli with Tazenda, "Spunta la luna dal monte"

 

 

 

Surf & Turf My Way: prawns and n'duja

Yesterday evening I felt like making something different from the usual stuff I cook. Not that I always cook the same things but I felt more experimental than usual.
I love to improvise with what I have in the fridge and to try unusual combinations like this one: prawns and n’duja, the wonderfully tasty hot salami paste with red chili peppers from Calabria.

In the fridge I had some Black Tiger prawns already de-shelled and de-veined plus a bunch of spring onions and two big organic courgettes. This is the end result of my little experiment: a nice and hot surf & turf dish that I’ve enjoyed with two glasses of cold Villa Antinori Bianco.
Mixing together ingredients that are not exactly an obvious combination I managed to create a captivating dish that really surprised me. The recipe?
Here it is.

Surf & Turf My Way

Serves 2

300 gr. clean Black Tiger prawns
1 middle-sized red onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of n’duja (hot salami-chili paste from Calabria)
6-7 Spring onions
2 big courgettes or 4 small ones
e.v. olive oil
1 teaspoon of brown cane sugar
1/2 glass dry white wine

Peel the onion and cut it in rings (not too thick). Fry them in olive oil together with the peeled ad sliced garlic. Once the onion is well cooked (soft and glazy), caramelize it lightly by adding the sugar and let it cook a bit further if it’s still too wet.

Remove and discard the ends of the zucchini. Cut the zucchini lengthwise in halves and then slice them not too thinly.
Add the courgette slices to the caramelized onion and let them cook with the lid on the pan until reasonably tender (they have to be still a bit al dente).
Add the Spring onions cut in chunks of about 3-4 cm and the n’duja. Let everything simmer for another minute stirring regularly.

Add the prawns, season with salt and cook further for a maximum of 3 more minutes, stirring from time to time. About one minute before ending the cooking process add the white wine, stir and let it evaporate.

Serve with steamed basmati rice.