Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [265]
3. Pull off the potato skins while they are still hot.
4. Using a sharp knife and very little pressure, cut the potatoes into slices about ¼ inch thick, and spread them out on a warm serving platter. Sprinkle immediately with about 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Turn the potatoes gently.
5. When ready to serve, add salt and a liberal quantity of very good olive oil. Taste and correct for seasoning, adding more vinegar if required. Serve while still lukewarm or no colder than room temperature. Do not keep overnight, and do not refrigerate.
Boiled Swiss Chard Salad
YOUNG SWISS CHARD has thin stems that must be discarded, but mature chard has broad, meaty stalks that are very good to eat. In the salad described here, both the leaves and the stalks are used. If, however, you prefer to utilize the stalks separately, such as in this gratinéed dish, set them aside and make the salad solely from the leaves.
For 4 to 6 servings
2 bunches Swiss chard
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1. If the chard is young, with skinny stems, detach and discard the stems. If it is mature chard with broad stalks, pull the leaves from the stalks, discarding any blemished leaves. Cut the stalks lengthwise into narrow strips a little less than ½ inch wide, and then trim these into shorter pieces about 4 inches long. Soak all the chard in a basin with several changes of cold water until there is no trace of soil in the water.
2. If using just the chard leaves: Put the leaves in a pan with only the moisture clinging to them, add 2 teaspoons salt, turn the heat on to medium, cover, and cook until fully tender, about 15 to 18 minutes from the time the liquid in the pan starts to bubble.
If using both stalks and leaves: Put the trimmed stalks in a pan with 2 to 3 inches water, turn the heat on to medium, cover, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes after the water comes to a boil. Then add the leaves and 2 teaspoons salt and cook until tender.
3. Drain the chard in a colander, and gently press as much moisture out of it as possible, using the back of a fork. Transfer to a serving platter. When lukewarm or no cooler than room temperature, toss with salt, olive oil, and 1 or more tablespoons of lemon juice. Serve at once.
Boiled Zucchini Salad
For 6 servings
6 young, firm, glossy zucchini
3 large garlic cloves
Extra virgin olive oil
Choice quality red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Salt
1. Soak and clean the zucchini as directed, but do not cut off the ends yet.
2. Bring 3 to 4 quarts of water to a boil, put in the zucchini, and cook until tender, but slightly resistant when prodded with a fork, about 15 minutes or more, depending on the vegetable’s youth and freshness. Drain, and as soon as you can handle them, cut off both ends and slice each zucchini lengthwise in two.
3. While the zucchini is cooking, mash the garlic cloves with a knife handle, splitting the skin and removing it. As soon as you have cut the cooked, drained zucchini in half, rub each cut side while it is still hot with the crushed garlic.
4. Lay the zucchini on a long platter without spreading them out, but collecting them toward one end. Prop up that end, to allow the liquid shed by the zucchini to run down. After 15 to 20 minutes, pour off the liquid that has collected, and rearrange the zucchini, spreading it out evenly.
5. Season the zucchini with a liberal quantity of olive oil, a dash of vinegar, the parsley, and several grindings of pepper. Add salt only just as you are about to serve, otherwise the zucchini will begin to shed liquid again.
Variation all’Agro, with Lemon Juice
When served all’agro, zucchini is cooked exactly as described in the preceding recipe, but instead of slicing it in two long halves, it is cut into thin rounds. The garlic is omitted, and lemon juice, to taste, replaces the vinegar. The zucchini rounds are tossed with all the condiments, including salt, only when ready to serve and preferably