Tortino di alici

Strong taste and healthy omega 3 for a fish that is very good and cheap: anchovy!

This is an appetizer that is very easy to prepare if you find the fillet anchovies at the supermarket otherwise, as it was for me, you need to remove the bones from each fish! Anchovy is not so big so it takes time to fillet it since you cannot use a knife but just hands! 

500 gr anchovies (for 4/5 savoury pies)

250 gr buffalo mozzarella

Breadcrumbs

Lemon zest

Parsley

Oil

Mix the breadcrumbs with lemon zest and parsley than bread the fillets.

Cover the base of mold with the anchovy fillets than put in the middle some mozzarella pieces and close with others fillets!

Preaheat the oven to 180 C and cook for 5 min.

Serve with a good glass of cold white wine!

Insalata di puntarelle

Chicory Sprouts (Puntarelle) are a vegetable from the chicory family. It is traditional dish from Rome, served as antipasto, contorno or salad (mangiare in Italia).

Puntarelle are green and leafy and once pried apart the outer leaves, there is a crunchy center, full of pointy spears. Their taste is delightfully bitter.

First thing to do: clean the Puntarelle! It is a bit laborious and requires time, but in some supermarkets you can find the ready-to-eat version to make life easier!

Rinse under cold running water, pry apart the outer dark green leaves and then cut off each spear from the center that will be cut lengthwise into thin strips. Soak them into a bowl with ice and water for an hour until they curl up and lose part of  their natural bitterness.

250 gr puntarelle

8 anchovy fillets, packed in oil or anchovy paste

200 gr mozzarella di bufala

Evo oil

Balsamic vinegar

In a glass mix the oil with the some drops of balsamic vinegar, do not add salt since the fillets are salty (If you are using the anchovy  paste, just mix the oil with the paste). This is our dressing to pour on the puntarelle.

Once seasoned add the anchovy fillets, some diced mozzarella and enjoy with some warm bread.

Alici in carrozza

Small, shiny and silver: anchovies can change your dish from good to extraordinary delicious.

 

They are sold fresh, oil-canned or salt-preserved, as a paste, oil or extract (the so-called colatura). Full of Omega-3 fatty acids, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and calcium they can be used to enrich salads, pasta, stuffing or to marinate.

 

I fell in love with this dish when I tried it for lunch on the beach. Today I will give you the light version of the original recipe where the anchovies were fried.

300 gr anchovies (serves 2)
2 eggs
125 gr mozzarella
breadcrumbs
white wine
chili
lemon zest
ginger
parsley
oil
salt

Wash the anchovies under cold water. Open them horizontally from the head to the tail and Remove the head and the innards.

Mix in a bowl the eggs. Blend in the breadcrumbs with the ginger, the chili flakes and the salt on a wax paper. Cut the mozzarella into sticks, squeezing out the liquid on a paper toilet.

Lay 1-2 mozzarella sticks with some lemon zest between two anchovy fillets (like a sandwich). Dip it into the eggs and dredge in the breadcrumbs.

In a oven pan put the anchovies with 2 tbs of oil, a sprinkle of white wine and parsley and cook in a preheated oven to 200°C for 10-15min.