L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020 LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES Continued form page 26 time will be quite a bit longer than indicated here. For this post, on the other hand, I u s e d s m a l l c a l a m a r i , a variety which in Italy might well go by calamaretti. After cooking they were almost bite-sized and very tender. And delicious. But they were quite fussy to fill, even with a pastry bag. Speaking of which, while a pastry bag is a great conve- nience for stuffing calamari, i f y o u d o n ' t h a v e o n e o n hand, a Zip-Lock bag, with one of its corners snipped off, works nearly as well. O t h e r w i s e , y o u c a n u s e a small spoon to shovel the mixture into the sac, but it is rather tedious work. Make sure not to over- stuff the calamari or they will tend to burst as they simmer. I'd fill them about 3/4 of the way perhaps, leaving enough r o o m a t t h e o p e n e n d t o skewer the calamari shut with toothpicks. But no wor- ries if the stuffing oozes out a bit while cooking—the taste will still be fine; your dish just won't be quite as pretty. Variations I've taken today's recipe from the estimable Jeanne Caròla Francesconi, doyenne of Neapolitan cookery, and made a few tweaks to suit my p e r s o n a l t a s t e s . F o r o n e , Francesconi calls for bread crumbs rather than bread in the stuffing. I hate to throw f o o d o u t , a n d I ' m a l w a y s looking for ways to recycle it. But leaving aside economy, I much prefer the smoother texture that reconstituted stale bread lends to the stuf- fing. You can play around quite a bit with the stuffing mixtu- re. As mentioned, the raisins and pine nuts are optional. Many recipes leave out the olives— and, truth be told, I think I'll leave them out next time I make this dish. Some recipes add a bit of Parmesan (belying the old adage about not mixing fish and cheese) for extra umami. Not all reci- pes call for egg. And today I had some leftover sautéed chard on hand, which I min- ced finely and folded in. It was perfectly delicious. As for the sauce, recipes vary a lot in terms of the tomato. Some omit it com- p l e t e l y , w h i l e o t h e r s l i k e F r a n c e s c o n i , c a l l f o r l o t s m o r e t o m a t o t h a n I h a v e a b o v e , w h i c h p r o d u c e s a more abundant and 'redder' sauce. And if you like, you can add some peas or potato to the braise along with the tomato, for a heftier dish. You can also bake your calamari ripieni if you pre- f e r r a t h e r t h a n b r a i s i n g them. Just pop them into a hot (200C/400F) oven right after you've added the toma- to in. Cooking times should be about the same as brai- sing. Some people like to top the dish with some bread- crumbs or even grated chee- se so it forms a crust as it bakes. M a k i n g c a l a m a r i ripieni ahead This is a dish that reheats nicely. If fact, like a lot of braised dishes, it may get b e t t e r a f t e r a r e s t . Francesconi says it's equally good served at room tempe- rature, but I think it's at its best warm but not piping hot. Stuffed Calamari should be served warm, although they are also good at room temperature (Copyright: Dreamstime)

• Cover