Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [24]
Hand-cut method Chop enough parsley to make 2½ tablespoons and enough capers for 2 tablespoons. Chop 6 flat anchovy fillets very fine, to as creamy a consistency as you can. Put the parsley, capers, and anchovies in a bowl together with the garlic and mustard from the ingredients list above. Mix thoroughly, using a fork. Add the vinegar or lemon juice, stirring it into the mixture. Add the olive oil, beating it sharply into the mixture to amalgamate it with the other ingredients. Taste and correct for salt and vinegar or lemon juice.
Ahead-of-time note Green sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week. Bring to room temperature and stir thoroughly before using.
Variation with Pickles and No Anchovies
What makes this alternative to classic salsa verde interesting is its chewier consistency, which is better achieved by hand-chopping than with the food processor.
4 to 6 servings
⅓ cup cornichons OR other fine cucumber pickles in vinegar
6 green olives in brine
½ tablespoon onion chopped very fine
⅛ teaspoon garlic chopped very fine
¼ cup chopped parsley
1½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. Drain the pickles and chop them into pieces not finer than ¼ inch.
2. Drain and pit the olives, and chop them into ¼-inch pieces, like the pickles.
3. Put the pickles, olives, and all the other ingredients in a small bowl, and beat with a fork for a minute or two.
Warm Red Sauce
Salsa Rossa
WARM RED SAUCE is generally paired with green sauce, when that is served with boiled meats, to provide a mellow alternative to salsa verde’s tangy flavor. An exceptionally enjoyable way to use salsa rossa alone is alongside or over a breaded veal cutlet. It is very good, too, with grilled steak and delicious with hamburgers.
4 servings
3 meaty red or yellow bell peppers
5 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced thin
¼ cup vegetable oil
A tiny pinch chopped hot chili pepper
2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, with their juice, OR 3 cups cut-up fresh tomatoes, if very ripe
Salt
1. Split the peppers lengthwise, and remove the core and seeds. Skin the peppers, using a peeler, and cut them into slices more or less ½ inch wide.
2. Put the onions and oil in a saucepan and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the onions, stirring, until wilted and soft, but not brown.
3. Add the peppers, and continue cooking over medium heat until both peppers and onions are very soft and their bulk has been reduced by half. Add the chili pepper, the tomatoes, and salt and continue cooking, letting the sauce simmer gently, for 25 minutes or so, until the tomatoes and oil separate and the fat floats free. Taste and correct for salt, and serve hot.
Ahead-of-time note Salsa rossa can be prepared up to 2 weeks in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container. Reheat gently and stir thoroughly before serving.
Horseradish Sauce
Salsina di Barbaforte
Barbaforte, or cren as it is commonly known in northeastern Italy, makes an appetizing condiment not only for the boiled beef and other meats with which it is often served, but also for grilled lamb and steak, for boiled ham or cold turkey or chicken, for hamburgers and hot dogs. It is the most bracing seasoning you can have on a chicken or seafood salad. Horseradish in the Italian style does not have the acidic bite of other horseradish sauces because the vinegar is played down, replaced in large part by the silken touch of olive oil. The ideal tool for making the sauce is the food processor. Grinding a horseradish root is one of its kindest actions, effortlessly making a superbly uniform spread while saving cooks all the tears that accompany hand shredding on the grater.
About fresh horseradish It looks like a root and, indeed, it is a root. Although, like all roots, it seems to have an unlimited life span, the fresher it is, the better. Its weight should not be too light in the hand,