The Cartoccio technique is one of the most spectacular ways of serving pasta -- boiled, sauced, then wrapped in paper and baked. As a preparation method this may sound odd, but your guests will greet the arrival of the packets at the table with mounting anticipation that will turn to joy as they open them and savor the aromas that burst forth. Cartoccio Vucciria is an extraordinarily rich version for a happy occasion.
Prep Time: 2 hours, 00 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours, 00 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 6-8 tablespoons minced parsley
- 1/2 pound swordfish, cut into thin strips
- 1/4 pound mantis shrimp,a Mediterranean variety of crustacean that looks like a small clawless lobsters
- 1/2 pound octopus tentacles
- 1/4 pound prawns, blanched for a couple of minutes and shelled
- 1/4 cup "Sicilian pesto" made as indicated below
- Fish fumetto, made as indicated below
- Flour
- White wine
- 1 1/4 pounds spaghetti
- Olive oil
- A roll of aluminum foil
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 2 cups grated mild pecorino romano
Preparation:
This will serve 6. Begin with the mantis shrimp: blanch them for a couple of minutes and shell them.To make Sicilian pesto: Mince 5 basil leaves with 3 filets from a green bell pepper (you won't want all of the pepper), 4 peeled blanched chopped seeded tomatoes, a clove of garlic and half a red pepper (use what remains as tomato sauce).
To make fish fumetto: Place a pound of fish heads and bones, an ounce of minced onion, a few drops of lemon juice, a bunch of parsley, and a teaspoon of salt in a pint of water, to which a glass of white wine has been added. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it for 20 minutes. Add 10 pepper corns, simmer 20 minutes more, filter the fumetto and it's ready You'll need about half.
When you have assembled everything, combine the minced garlic and parsley, and sauté the mixture in oil until it wilts, then add the swordfish filets, crustaceans, octopus tentacles. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, then dust the pot with a pinch of flour and stir in 1/4 cup Sicilian pesto. Stir briskly, sprinkle with white wine, and cook two minutes more. Stir in 1 pint of boiling hot fumetto, and cook for three minutes more.
While you are preparing the sauce, bring lightly salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until it is half done -- read the time suggested on the package -- drain it into a colander and transfer it into the fish soup. Simmer the pasta with the fish for five minutes, and preheat your oven to 450 F (250 C). You are now ready to make the cartoccio:
If your roll is wide use one sheet; if it is thin you'll need to double it by folding the edges of two sheets over each other to create a good seal. In any case, fold the sides of the sheet up to make something that resembles a bowl. Transfer the pasta and fish mixture to it, stir in the grated cheese, and dot it with several basil leaves. Bring the edges of the sheet together above the pasta and fold them together to create a seal. Bake the cartoccio in the oven for 5 minutes.
Bring it to the table still sealed and open when all are assembled. Little can be as dramatic or as tasty.
A wine? White, for example Flanghina del Taburno or Vermentino dei Colli di Luni.
