Zuppa di Pesce

Zuppa di Pesce alla Romana

This incredible Italian fish soup is cooked in many different ways throughout Italy.
It is incredibly easy to make and also quite quick. The main ingedient is of course fish, of many different kinds, scorfano, San Pietro, gallinella, calamari, clams and mussels, prawns and scampi. Basically the kind of fish that can hold its flesh when cooked in a quick stew. It is recomendable though that you choose your fish according to what is offered by your local fishmarkets, or better your closest seas.

The recipe is a very easy and simple one, like mosto of the Italian dishes it requires few ingredients, but of the best quality!

Ingredients:

fish, as above
olive oil
garlic and chilli for the addicts
fresh tomatoes or peeled conserved tomatoes (attention look for the ones with no added sugars)
parsley
fennel leaves or flowers
salt
toasted bread brushed with garlic for serving and a good home made mayonnaise for the greedy ones

Procedure:

Crush your garlic in a pan or low sided pot big enough and with a lid to fit, add olive oil and chilli.
Put the pan on a medium flame and qithout waiting too long for it to cook, add the chopped tomatoes. Let that go on a low flame with the lid on for a few minutes or until the tomatoes let out their juices.
Now add the fish, previously cut in big pieces. Cover with the lid and maintain on a low flame.
When done on one side turn the fish around to cook the otherside.
When done add salt, fennel and parsley and serve with the toasted bread with a drizzle of fresh olive oil over it.

Autumn in Italy

Not many people, any more, take notice of the seasons changing if not only for the leaves or petals from blossomed flowers falling on our path. We don't seem to look beyond our noses any more, take time to look at the ground, what the earth really tells us and what our senses can pick up, a new smell a new light and different sounds.

Supermarkets keep us on a 365 day rolling selection of everything possible, some people have no idea what to make with a leek or some cabbage, maybe something can be done with a potato....
I find myself at 31 and I don't know what to do with a ready made sauce.... a can of beans... I can just about get through ( its not true because I like them very much) cans of sardines and mackerel! But worst of all it makes us forget what seasons are all about!

Well now that we are at the beguinning of November its a bit late to say Autumn, the leaves have just started falling but the chestnuts have been mostly picked, the walnuts and hazelnuts have been gathered at the end of September or beguinning October at the most, the persimonns are already maturing on a dish, carefully taken care of immediately upon maturity... in this house we are very greedy for those soft and slippery orange fruits.
My favourite vegetables are coming back into season, the broccoli, and all the kind of cabbages with them... the quinces also have come off the tree and if the worms have spared us any this year we can also do something with them.
Pumpkins are coming to their best time, especially after halloween we have probably a great deal of pumkin insides to deal with, fennel and spinach and leeks are just in time to make great wintery soups. And finally its the beguinning of the artichoke season, to replenish us with iron for the cold months, as well as oranges, mandarins and kiwis , high in vitamin C to activate the iron in the greens and protect us from colds. But we are also still enjoying crunchy apples, sweet pears and juicy grapes.

I was almost forgetting one of the most important things that grow from late summer on, and sprouts just after rains... mushrooms!!!




"Minestra di cavolo e baccalà", an extreme country style soup, with roughly chopped tuscan cabbage leaves and baccalà, "salted cod" stewed in a supertasty broth. Just perfect for a cold november Sunday at my latest favourite place, the Osteria del Contadino, Giulianello.


"Bruschetta con pajata di abbacchio alla cacciatora", toasted country bread with intestines from the milking baby lambs cooked "cacciatora" style, with rosmary, garlic, chilli and a dash of vinegar. Something I've never eaten before or even found in any other restaurant, so delicious yet so very cruel ... and luckily too heavy to digest to be eaten more than occationally.