Читать книгу Made in Italy: Food and Stories - Giorgio Locatelli - Страница 53

Where I come from in Northern Italy, the local fish is all lake fish – especially perch – which we would cook and put under vinegar with vegetables, to bring to the table cold as part of the antipasti. The idea here is that you don’t completely cook the fish in the pan but finish it off in the oven, still in the vinegar mixture. We serve it hot, but you can also leave it to cool, cut it into smaller pieces and serve at room temperature, with more antipasti. If you do this, don’t reduce the juices at the end, as you will need enough to cover the fish completely. You can also serve this as a main course with some fregola (see page 166) – use 12 onions, double the quantities of carrots, white wine, vinegar, rosemary and leek, and choose fillets of fish around 200g. Then cook 4 tablespoons of fregola in plenty of salted water for 7-8 minutes, and sauté with some diced cucumber and tomato.

8 baby onions

1 carrot

about 3 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil

4 perch fillets or steaks, each about 80g

2 tablespoons white wine

5 tablespoons white wine vinegar

4 bay leaves

2 small sprigs of rosemary

white part of 1 small leek

4 juniper berries

4 black peppercorns

small handful of flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 220°C, gas 7. Blanch the onions in boiling salted water for about a minute, then remove them with a slotted spoon and cut them in half. Blanch the carrot for 1-2 minutes (you can use the same water), then drain and slice thinly. Set aside.

Heat the sunflower or vegetable oil in a large, ovenproof frying pan (or 2 small ones). Season the fish, put it in the pan, skin side down, and fry until golden; this will take about 2-3 minutes.

Turn the fish over, add the white wine and leave for that to evaporate for a minute or so, then add the vinegar, blanched vegetables and all of the remaining ingredients except the parsley and olive oil. Bring to the boil, then transfer to the oven for 2 minutes, until the fish is cooked through (larger fish may need 3-4 minutes).

Remove from the oven and transfer a fillet to each serving plate. Put the pan on the heat, and simmer until the cooking juices have reduced and thickened slightly. Check the seasoning, then spoon the juices over the fish and finish with the parsley and oil.