Читать книгу Made in Italy: Food and Stories - Giorgio Locatelli - Страница 62

This is good when fresh borlotti beans are in season, from June to September, otherwise use dried ones. Just remember to soak these in water for twenty-four hours, without putting them in the fridge, and change the water as close to every five or six hours as you can. You can cook the beans well in advance. They will keep in their cooking water in the fridge for four or five days, but don’t put your fingers into the water or you will introduce bacteria. When the beans become cold, they harden a little, so take them out of the fridge an hour or so before using, or warm them up in a pan, and they will soften again.

450g fresh borlotti beans (around 200g shelled), or 100g dried borlotti beans, soaked for 24 hours (see page 183)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 garlic cloves, unpeeled

bunch of sage

1 red onion

about 500ml vegetable oil for frying

300g fresh tuna, cut into 16 cubes (about 5 × 5 × 5cm)

4 bunches of rocket

2 tablespoons Giorgio’s vinaigrette (see page 51)

salt and pepper

Put the beans in a large pan with plenty of water, plus the olive oil, celery, garlic and sage (no salt, or the beans will toughen). Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Try a bean: they are cooked when the skin, and not just the bean inside, feels soft in the mouth. At this point, you can add salt to taste, then leave the beans to cool in their cooking liquid.

Slice the red onion into very thin rings. Rinse under cold running water to remove some of their sharpness, then put them in a bowl with some ice cubes.

Take out 2 tablespoons of the beans and pulse to a purée in a food processor. Keep on one side.

Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fat fryer or a deep saucepan (no more than one-third full) to about 180°C. Season the tuna with salt and pepper, then put about 3-4 cubes at a time (so as not to lower the temperature of the oil) on a ‘spider’ (see photograph, below left) or in a fine sieve. Dip them into the oil and cook for about a minute, moving the cubes around, until the outside of the tuna turns crisp but the inside stays rose-coloured. Remove and drain on kitchen paper, then put in the next batch and continue until all the tuna is cooked.

Season the rocket with salt and dress with the vinaigrette. Squeeze the red onion rings to remove any excess water and mix with the rocket. Finally, remove the beans from their cooking water with a slotted spoon and mix with the rocket and onions. Season to taste.

Spoon the bean purée on to 4 serving plates, then arrange the rocket, onion and bean mixture on top, with the tuna on top of that. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.