Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [247]
6. After taking the dish out of the oven, let it settle for a few minutes before bringing it to the table. If you find there is more oil in the dish than you’d like, spoon away the excess before serving.
Potatoes with Onions, Tomatoes, and Sweet Pepper
HERE IS A DISH that is as hearty and satisfying as a meat stew, without the meat. It begs for good, crusty bread to sop up the delicious juices.
For 6 servings
1 sweet yellow bell pepper
2 cups onion sliced very thin
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
1½ cups fresh, firm ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, OR canned, imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1½ pounds round, waxy, boiling potatoes
Salt
1. Split the pepper open, remove the seeds and pulpy core, and peel it, using a swiveling-blade peeler. Cut it lengthwise into ½-inch-wide strips.
2. Choose a saute pan that can accommodate all the ingredients, put in the onions and the olive oil, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until the onions wilt and become colored a light gold, then put in the yellow pepper. Cook the pepper for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the cut-up tomatoes with their juice, adjusting the heat to cook at a slow, but steady simmer.
3. While the tomatoes are cooking, peel the potatoes, wash them in cold water, and cut them into 1-inch cubes.
4. When the oil floats free of the tomatoes, add the potatoes, turn the heat down to very low, and cover the pan. Cook until the potatoes feel tender when prodded with a fork, about 30 minutes, depending on the potatoes. While cooking, turn the contents of the pan over from time to time. Add several grindings of black pepper, taste and correct for seasoning, and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note The dish can be prepared entirely a day in advance. Reheat gently and thoroughly in a covered pan.
Pan-Roasted Potatoes with Anchovies, Genoa Style
For 6 servings
1½ pounds round, waxy, boiling potatoes
2 flat anchovy fillets (preferably the ones prepared at home)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Salt
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into ¼-inch-thick slices. Soak the slices in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes, drain them, and pat thoroughly dry with a cloth towel.
2. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently contain the potato slices stacked about 1½ inches high. Chop the anchovies to a pulp, put them in the pan together with the oil and butter, turn on the heat to very low, and cook the anchovies, using the back of a wooden spoon to mash them against the sides of the pan, until they begin to dissolve.
3. Add the sliced potatoes and a few grindings of pepper. Turn the potatoes over completely 2 or 3 times to coat them well. Turn the heat up to medium, cover the pan, and turn the potatoes occasionally while they cook. After about 8 minutes, uncover, and continue cooking, turning the potato slices from time to time, until they are tender and form a very light brown crust, another 15 minutes or so.
4. Taste and correct for salt, add the garlic and parsley, turn the potatoes over several times, then transfer the contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Treviso Radicchio with Bacon
OF THE SEVERAL varieties of red radicchio discussed in detail in Fundamentals, the sweetest, hence the most desirable for cooking, is the late-harvested one with spiky spear-like stalks