Biba's Northern Italian Cooking - Biba Caggiano [37]
2 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 sole fillets
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Lemon wedges
Spread flour and bread crumbs separately on 2 pieces of aluminum foil. Beat eggs with salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Coat fish with flour, shaking off excess. Dip in beaten eggs, then coat with bread crumbs. Press bread crumbs onto fish with the palms of your hands. Let coated fish stand 10 to 15 minutes.
Melt butter with oil in a large skillet.When butter foams, add fish. Cook over medium heat until golden, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Place fish on a warm platter. Garnish with lemon wedges. Serve immediately.
MARINATED SOLE VENETIAN STYLE
Sogliola in Saor
This is a very old Venetian dish with an unusual combination of ingredients.
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
⅓ cup raisins
½ cup all-purpose flour
6 sole fillets
½ cup olive oil
Salt to taste
2 large onions, thinly sliced
⅓ cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
⅓ cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Put raisins in a small bowl. Add enough warm water to cover. Let stand 20 minutes, then drain.
Spread flour on aluminum foil. Coat fillets with flour, shaking off excess.
Heat ⅓ cup of the oil in a large skillet. Add fish. Cook over medium heat until golden, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Season with salt.
Heat remaining oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.Add onions. Sauté over medium heat until pale yellow. Increase heat and add vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add sugar, raisins and pine nuts. Cook 1 minute longer.
Arrange fish in a single layer in a large shallow dish. Spoon onion sauce over fish and sprinkle with parsley. Cover dish. Refrigerate at least 24 hours. Serve at room temperature.
STUFFED GRILLED CALAMARI
Calamari Ripieni
When properly cooked, this odd-looking mollusk is outstandingly delicious.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
16 medium (about 2 pounds total) calamari (squid)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (6-ounce) can tuna in olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 garlic cloves, peeled
4 anchovy fillets
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 small eggs
⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup dry unflavored bread crumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Clean calamari. Hold calamari in one hand and gently pull away tentacles. Cut head just below eyes and discard hard little beak inside the tentacles. Remove the calamari pen. (This is actually a piece of cartilage that resembles clear plastic.) Clean inside of the body under cold running water, pulling out viscera and any matter still inside.Wash and peel away the grayish skin from body and tentacles. (The skin will come away easily from the body but not from tentacles. If it does not bother you, leave it there because it is edible.) Pat dry skin with paper towels. Reserve 12 calamari for stuffing. Cut remaining 4 calamari and half of the tentacles in small pieces.
Heat oil in a small skillet. Add cut-up calamari and cook, stirring, 30 to 40 seconds. (Do not cook any longer or calamari will become tough.) Add calamari to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.Add tuna, garlic, anchovies, parsley, eggs and Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Pulse on and off until smooth. Fill whole calamari with this mixture and secure the opening of each calamari with one or two wooden picks. (Calamari can be refrigerated for several hours or overnight, but they should be brought back to room temperature before grilling.)
Prepare grill or barbecue. Brush calamari with oil and sprinkle lightly with the bread crumb mixture. Cook 5 to 6 minutes, turning calamari to grill on all sides. Baste a few times with olive oil. Serve hot.
BROILED SHRIMP AND SCALLOPS
Scampi e Cape Sante alla Griglia
Whether you serve this dish as an appetizer or main course, it is equally sensational.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 pound medium shrimp
1 pound scallops
½ cup olive oil
⅓ cup chopped parsley
3 garlic