TAGLIATELLE AI FRUTTI DI MARE
(Tagliatelle with sea food)
Ingredients:
- 200g fresh tagliatelle
- 75g prawns, shelled
- 1 small squid, cut to about the size of the prawns
- 25g shelled mussels
- 50g butter
- 30 ml olive oil
- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
- 2 medium sized shallots, finely sliced
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 lemon: zest and juice
- Salt and pepper mill
Preparation
- Heat the oil and butter and fry the shallots and garlic until they start to colour
- Add the fish and bay leaves, with some salt and pepper
- Cook gently for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and rest in a hot place
- Add the pasta to a pan of boiling salted water (with a dash of oil)
- Bring to a boil and turn the heat off, cover with a lid and leave for 5 minutes. (Try to coincide this for when the sauce is done)
- In a large heated terrine, place the drained pasta and then pour in the fish sauce
- Add the lemon zest and juice
- Mix well and serve
Serving Suggestion:
Italians do not tend to serve this dish with grated Parmesan but some people may enjoy a sprinkle of it over the pasta.
CASTRATO CON SALSA DI CAPPERI
(Boiled Mutton and Caper sauce, Italian style)
Ingredients for the meat
- 800g boneless mutton leg
- 1 large onion
- 2 sticks of celery
- 2 carrots
- 4 bay leaves and 10 cloves
- Salt
Preparation
- Cover the mutton in water with a little salt, bay leaves, & cloves, and leave for at least 6 hours.
- Replace the water and bring it to the boil
- Simmer for at least 1 ½ hours
- Roughly chop the vegetables then add to the mixture and cook for a further 45 minutes
- When the time is up, the meat will be cooked sufficiently, but you can simmer for longer if desired
- Take out the meat and keep warm. The stock should be kept hot
Ingredients for the sauce
- 40g plain flour
- 40g butter
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) nut oil
- 500 ml mutton stock
- 100g of the vegetables drained from the stock and liquidised
- 1 egg
- 20 ml double cream
- 60g capers
Preparation
- Melt the butter and oil, add the flour to make a roux and cook until it starts to colour
- Add the hot stock, whisking carefully so as not to leave lumps
- Add the liquidised vegetables, 2 bay leaves, and the capers
- Cook this sauce gently for half an hour then remove from the heat
- Whisk the egg then add the cream, mixing well
- Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of the sauce to this mixture
- Add the mixture to the sauce, stirring well
- Remove the bay leaves and adjust the seasoning
Serving the “CASTRATO”
- Slice the mutton 1 cm thick
- Pour a little sauce on the serving dish and arrange the meat
- Decorate with Parsley bouquets
- Serve the sauce separately on an appropriate dish
BANANA FLAMBÉE
Ingredients
- 4 Skinless bananas, cut lengthways
- 60g plain flour
- 2 beaten eggs with a little milk
- 40g Butter
- 20 ml nut oil
- 50g soft brown sugar
- 30 ml Brandy, Rum, or Kirsch
Preparation
- Dip the bananas in flour then add the beaten eggs, dip in the flour again
- Heat the butter in oil
- Shake excess flour from the bananas and fry them in the hot oil until golden brown on both sides. Remove from the heat
- Dip them in the brown sugar and arrange them on a metal serving dish. This must be kept hot
- Just before serving, heat your preferred liquor and pour over the bananas before setting alight (This will only work if the correct temperature is reached: 75ºC)
- Serve with pouring cream and caster sugar
