Fresh Fish
Basics & Techniques
On Fish
Purchasing,
cooking tecnhiques, and its role in the Italian diet.
Baked Sea Bass: Orata al
Cartoccio
Sea Bass baked in a paper packet and opened at table.
The technique works with any fish, and can be extraordinarily tasty (and
romantic too).
Difficulty: Moderate
On Baking Fish
A procedure
more than a recipe, a good baked fish is one of the finest dishes you could
want. And simple to do too.
Difficulty: Easy
Boiled Fish: Pesce Lesso
It's
easy to boil a fish, and the results can be delightful.
Difficulty: Easy
Grilled Fish: Pesce alla Griglia
A good grill and a fine fish are a marriage made in heaven.
Difficulty: Easy
Mixed Fried Fish
A Fritto Misto
di Mare is tremendously refreshing.
Difficulty: Moderate --
Intermediate
Bisato Fritto, and instructions for frying
fish
Bisato is Dalmatian for eel, and fried eel was one of the
standard Christmas Eve dishes among the Italians who lived in the region. Gioia
Colussi also gives excellent instructions for preparing fish prior to frying
(battering, breading and so on).
Difficulty: Moderate-Intermediate.
Salt-Roasted Pandora: Pagello al
Sale
Pandora (a fish, not the Goddess) roasted in salt. You can
also use the salt-roasting technique with sea bass, or other delicate fish,
with delightful results.
Difficulty: Easy
Standbys
Cacciucco
Livorno's fiery fish
stew, a glaring exception to the rule that Tuscan food is bland
Difficulty:
Easy
Catanian Stuffed Sardines: Sarde a Beccaficu
Catanesi
Eastern Sicily's classic stuffed sardines, filled
with breadcrumbs and cheese, and fried.
Difficulty: Moderate
Cod Vicentina Style: Merluzzo alla
Vicentina
Simple, delicate cod filets sauteed with onion and
milk.
Difficulty: Easy
Fresh Anchovy Antipasto: Acciughe Fresche per 20
Giorni
Fresh anchovies quickly pickled with onions are
delightful with boiled beans.
Difficulty: Moderate
Gilded Cod: Merluzzo
Dorato
Fried cod with an egg-and-lemon sauce.
Difficulty:
Easy
Grilled Trout, or Trota in Gradela
Good fish, a few herbs, and hot coals. Perfection in the
making.
Difficulty: Easy.
Reef Mullet Viareggio Style: Triglie alla
Viareggina
Mullet, Viareggio style: stewed in tomato sauce.
Difficulty: Easy
Sole Mugnaia Style: Sogliola alla
Mugnaia
The French call this technique Meunière,
and it's one of the finest ways to prepare sole or other smaller fish,
including flounder and trout.
Difficulty: Easy
Other Fresh Fish Recipes
Baked Anchovies: Acciughe in
Forno
Baked anchovies, a surprisingly tasty (and inexpensive)
treat.
Difficulty: Moderate
Baked Royal Dorade
In
addition to making superb Vouvray, Prince Poniatowski is an excellent cook.
Difficulty: Moderate
Baked Tuna: Tunnacchiu 'Nfurnatu
Baked fresh tuna, with thinly sliced potatoes, is very good.
Difficulty: Easy
Boiled Tuna with Lemon Sauce: Tunnu Squadatu d'u
Capu Rais
Fresh tuna, boiled and served with a delicate lemon
sauce.
Difficulty: Easy
Breaded Cod: Merluzzo Impanato
Breaded cod filet is simple, and can be delightful.
Difficulty:
Easy
Buridda
A Ligurian fish stew
that goes perfectly with the wines from the Cinque Terre.
Difficulty:
Moderate
Cacciucco alla
Viareggina
Viareggio's fish stew is milder than what's made in
Livorno.
Difficulty: Easy
Calabrian Stewed Tuna: Tonnu a Ra
Marinara
Zesty Calabrian stewed fresh tuna.
Difficulty:
Moderate
Chilled Tuna Flan: Sformato di Tonno a
Freddo
A tasty, refreshing tuna-and-potato pie.
Difficulty:
Easy
Cùscussú or
Cùscus
A classic Sicilian recipe that accompanies the
cuscus with fish rather than meat.
Difficulty: Advanced
Dentex Stuffed with Orange: Dentice Farcito
all'Arancia
Orange works very well in the filling of a
delicate fish.
Difficulty: Easy
Fish Loaf: Pan
Pesce
Frugal Ligurian fare, a baked fish loaf made from gilt
head breem.
Difficulty: Moderate
Fish Pie
If you enjoy a Seven
Fishes type dinner for Christmas Eve, chances are you will have some leftover
fish to deal with on Santo Stefano. Here's a tasty idea.
Difficulty:
Moderate
Fish Salad: Caponata di Pesce
An elegant Neapolitan fish & greens salad that will be perfect in important
occasions.
Difficulty: Advanced
Fresh Salmon: Salmone Fresco
A
number of suggestions for cooking fresh salmon.
Difficulty: Moderate
Fried or Roast Eel: Capitone Fritto o
Arrosto
Eel, grilled or fried -- an indispensable part of a
Neapolitan Christmas Eve dinner, and good year round.
Difficulty:
Easy
Gingery Salmon Roll: Rotolo di Salmone allo
Zenzero
An intriguing salmon roll stuffed with rice, minced
vegetables and fresh ginger root.
Difficulty: Moderate
Grilled Pandora with Dried Tomato Pesto - Pagello al Pesto di Pomodori Secchi
Grilling is one of the finest ways to prepare fish, and indeed little tastes better than a well-grilled fish. This dried tomato pesto adds a very nice touch to grilled fish.
Difficulty: Easy
Grilled Tuna Marinated with Olive and Capers:
Tonno Cunzatu
Tuna grilled, and marinated with olives and
capers. Quite nice on a hot day.
Difficulty: Moderate
Grilled Tuna Palermo Style: Tunnu a
Palirmitana
Grilled fresh tuna with garlic, rosemary and
sage.
Difficulty: Easy
Last Minute Flounder: Platessa dell'Ultimo
Momento
A quick improvisation made with
zucchini.
Difficulty: Easy
Ligurian Sea Bass Filets: Filetti di Orata Alla
Ligure
Sea bass filets on a bed of potatoes, with olives,
capers and pine nuts.
Difficulty: Moderate
Mackerel with Wild Fennel: Sgombri al Finocchio
Selvatico
Mackerel, with a delicate fennel-based sauce.
Difficulty: Moderate
Marie's Monkfish a la
Lobster
A tasty way to serve stewed monkfish.
Difficulty:
Moderate
Marinated Grilled Tuna: Tonnu
Rigatanu
Fresh tuna marinated with fresh oregano and
grilled.
Difficulty: Easy
Marinated Tuna, or Tonno con la Marinata
Tuna steaks, sauteed, marinated in an onion sauce, and served
cool: fine summer food from Trapani.
Neapolitan Fried Foods: Frienno e Magnanno alla
Napoletana
A rich Neapolitan mixed fried meats dish with all
sorts of things, including fish.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Palermo-Style Stuffed Sardines: Sarde a
Beccaficu Palermitani
Western Sicily's classic stuffed
sardines, filled with pine nuts, raisins, and breadcrumbs, and baked.
Difficulty: Moderate
Reef Mullet Mosaica Style: Triglia alla
Mosaica
Reef Mullet Mosaica Style, roasted with
herbs.
Difficulty: Easy
Reef Mullet in a Packet: Triglie al
Cartoccio
Reef mullet, seasoned, wrapped in paper, and grilled.
Difficulty: Moderate
Reef Mullet Baked in a Packet:
Triglie al Cartoccio
The rich flavors of mullet are
beautifully complemented by olives, parsley and onions.
Difficulty:
Moderate
Reef Mullet with Raisins and Pine Nuts: Triglie
con Uvette e Pinoli
Reef Mullet, with raisins and pine nuts. A
Roman Jewish dish that likely dates back to ancient times.
Difficulty:
Moderate
Roast Snapper: Spigola Arrosto
Roast Snapper, an elegant dish well suited to holiday meals.
Difficulty: Easy
Sardine Balls: Polpette di
Sarde
A traditional Sicilian dish; you can either fry them and
serve them up a pretty golden color, or stew them gently in tomato sauce, at
which point they are delightful.
Difficulty: Moderate
Sea Bass in a White Sauce:
Muggine in Bianco
Striped sea bass in gelatin is a
traditional Italian Passover dish, and also works quite nicely as an antipasto
year round.
Difficulty: Moderate
Sea Bass in Paper: Orata al
Cartoccio
Few things are as satisfying as opening a packet
containing roast fish at the table and inhaling the aromas that rise up.
Difficulty: Moderate
Snapper Livorno Style: Snapper alla
Livornese
A zesty stewed fish in red sauce (In Livorno they
use reef mullet, but snapper will work well as a substitute).
Difficulty:
Easy
Sole in Saòr: Sogliola in
Saòr
Sole, in a classic Venetian sweet-and-sour sauce.
Difficulty: Moderate
Spit-Roasted Eel: Capitone
Arrosto
Spit-roasted eel, the main dish in the Christmas Eve
dinner of the well-to-do in Altamura
Difficulty: Easy
Steamed White Fish with a Tomatoey
Olive-and-Caper Sauce
White fish work very well with all sorts
of sauces, inlcuding this quick, chunky sauce made with tomatoes and olives.
Difficulty: Easy
Stewed Angel Fish: Pesce Squadro in
Umido
Stewed Angel Fish, "a quick, easy dish, suitable for a
family meal," from Pellegrino Artusi.
Difficulty: Easy
Stewed Cod: Merluzzo in
Umido
Cod stewed with wine, tomatoes and black olives.
Tasty!
Difficulty: Easy
Stewed Tuna: Tonnu a la Matalotta
Fresh tuna Matalotta Style, in other words stewed with tomatoes, olives
and capers.
Difficulty: Easy
Swordfish Saltimbocca: Saltimbocca di Pesce
Spada
A quick and zesty way to prepare swordfish, and a
perfect beginning for a romantic meal.
Difficulty: Easy
Trout Dogana Style: Trota della Dogana
A tasty recipe from Sirmione's Ristorante Dogana (on the shores
of Lake Garda), supplied by Alessandra Tiraboschi of the Ca Lojera Winery.
Difficulty: Moderate
Trout Torigiani Style: Trota
Torigiani
Delicate trout with a creamy sauce.
Difficulty:
Easy
Trout Bishop's Style: Trota del
Vescovo
A quick recipe for stuffed trout pan-fried, from the
Cosentino area in Tuscany.
Difficulty: Moderate
Trout Country Style: Trota
Paesana
An even quicker recipe for trout cooked with a wine
sauce.
Difficulty: Easy
Tuna Croquettes: Crocchette di
Tonno
Tuna croquettes are a perfect lenten dish.
Difficulty: Easy.
Tuna with Peas: Tonno coi
Piselli
Tuna with peas: a quick, easy summer recipe.
Difficulty: Easy
Tuna with Onions: Tunnina Ca Cipuddata
Fresh tuna with onions is good hot but just as tasty cool,
which makes it perfect for the summer months.
Difficulty: Easy
Tuna Roasted in a Packet: Tonno Fresco al
Cartoccio
Tuna baked al cartoccio (in paper), Viareggio style.
Difficulty: Easy
Tuna Marinated in Wine and Grilled: Tonno
Cunzatu 'Nta Gratigghia
Fresh tuna marinated in wine and
grilled with herbs.
Difficulty: Easy
If you haven't found
what you're looking for, please
ask!
Shellfish
Crustaceans
Octopus,
Calamari, Seppie, Etc.
Baccalà and other
Salted or Dried Fish
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