«This salad is very healthy: just cannellini or borlotti beans, onion, tomato and sage. People always ask how something so simple can taste so good.»
«If I learnt anything from Italians about fish, it is definitely that less is more.»
The first quote is taken from the food magazine Delicious (may 2007), from a chap named Giacobazzi who runs a deli store in Hampstead, London; the second is taken from a more famous chef who made a fortune with Italian food, and known under the name of Jamie Oliver.
It's not difficult anyway understand the sense of both whether you like better the first or the second quote, in fact the sense is that about food you don't to complicate your life on the hobs too much in order to get the best results.
Instead cook simple should be a boost to actually cooking more and not to buy ready to use meal or tinned pasta (Oh my god only saying tinned pasta make me feel sick, but as a matter of fact I'm Italian...). Why buy tinned pasta when you can use pasta like you might do with salads for brush off what you have in the fridge? Two of my favourite pasta recipe take few steps and few pence to be done and involve an IQ of 12
PASTA AL BURRO (pasta with butter)
Ingredients: any type of pasta, good quality butter (no low fat), fresh ground black pepper, parmesan
Method: cook the pasta - drain the pasta - put pasta in the bowl - add a good knob of butter - let the butter melt - add pepper and parmesan - Love it!
SPAGHETTI AGLIO, OLIO E PEPERONCINO (spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli pepper)
Ingredients (makes 1): spaghetti, clove of garlic, olive oil, chilli pepper, pecorino romano
Method: chop the chilli finely - peel the garlic - put the pasta in boiling salted water - take a pan - add 4 tbsp of olive oil - add the garlic and the pepper - cook under medium heat paying attention not to burn the garlic and the pepper - drain tha pasta when ready add in the pan for 30 seconds tossing it - put in a warm dish a sprinkle with pecorino romano or parmesan
Cooking simple also involves that you can use most of your shopping budget for the main ingredient, so that you it can be first quality product, instead of share the money among hundreds ingredients of average or under average quality.
But simple doesn't necessary means boring or tasteless, in fact I just mean not to over complicate the dish with lots of flavours, so that even if you get an overall good final result, the star of your dish might get lost trying to put itself in the foreground.
Besides you can, of course, achieve great dish not being simple and actually being really elaborate. But I think this is more Michelin's starred chef duty and concern.
At the end this is obviously my personal point of view about cooking, and me myself don't dislike experiment; so keep preparing your food as you prefer as long as you give up microwave rubbish (especially, please please, tinned pasta) and unbearable flavour mixing. Respect your star...
Here some recipes I love and served as main "attraction" in some of the finest restaurant's along the Riviera degli Etruschi.
TRIGLIE ALLA LIVORNESE (red mullet livorno style)
Ingredients (makes 4):
12 red mullets of 100g each
500gr of ripe tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
Handful of parsley
1 dl extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
Take a pan add the oil and the garlic. Saute' the garlic until is golden brown. Add the tomatoes peeled, deseed and roughly chopped, 4 tbsp of water, salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce. Lay down the fishes, scaled and cleaned, and cook for further 10 minutes. Because the red mullet gets really fragile when cooked, do not turn them, just shake gently the pan to move them. Before serving sprinkle over the fishes chopped parsley.
ACCIUGHE ALLA POVERA (anchovies marinated)
Ingredients:
500gr of fresh anchovies
30cl white wine vinegar
1 red onion
Salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil
Method:
Take off the head of the anchovies, cut them lenghtway and eliminate spine and bones. This is a really easy operation but if you don't feel confident you can ask your fishmonger to do that (perhaps you can keep one and trying yourself). Cut in half the fillets an lay down in a terrine. Dissolve a little salt in the vinegar and pour over the anchovies. Marinated for 4 hours. Once marinated, drain the anchovies, lay down on a tray and toss with olive oil and red onion rings. Enjoy as a starter with bread and white wine. (Literally transalte it'd be anchovies poor style)
«If I learnt anything from Italians about fish, it is definitely that less is more.»
The first quote is taken from the food magazine Delicious (may 2007), from a chap named Giacobazzi who runs a deli store in Hampstead, London; the second is taken from a more famous chef who made a fortune with Italian food, and known under the name of Jamie Oliver.
It's not difficult anyway understand the sense of both whether you like better the first or the second quote, in fact the sense is that about food you don't to complicate your life on the hobs too much in order to get the best results.
Instead cook simple should be a boost to actually cooking more and not to buy ready to use meal or tinned pasta (Oh my god only saying tinned pasta make me feel sick, but as a matter of fact I'm Italian...). Why buy tinned pasta when you can use pasta like you might do with salads for brush off what you have in the fridge? Two of my favourite pasta recipe take few steps and few pence to be done and involve an IQ of 12
PASTA AL BURRO (pasta with butter)
Ingredients: any type of pasta, good quality butter (no low fat), fresh ground black pepper, parmesan
Method: cook the pasta - drain the pasta - put pasta in the bowl - add a good knob of butter - let the butter melt - add pepper and parmesan - Love it!
SPAGHETTI AGLIO, OLIO E PEPERONCINO (spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli pepper)
Ingredients (makes 1): spaghetti, clove of garlic, olive oil, chilli pepper, pecorino romano
Method: chop the chilli finely - peel the garlic - put the pasta in boiling salted water - take a pan - add 4 tbsp of olive oil - add the garlic and the pepper - cook under medium heat paying attention not to burn the garlic and the pepper - drain tha pasta when ready add in the pan for 30 seconds tossing it - put in a warm dish a sprinkle with pecorino romano or parmesan
Cooking simple also involves that you can use most of your shopping budget for the main ingredient, so that you it can be first quality product, instead of share the money among hundreds ingredients of average or under average quality.
But simple doesn't necessary means boring or tasteless, in fact I just mean not to over complicate the dish with lots of flavours, so that even if you get an overall good final result, the star of your dish might get lost trying to put itself in the foreground.
Besides you can, of course, achieve great dish not being simple and actually being really elaborate. But I think this is more Michelin's starred chef duty and concern.
At the end this is obviously my personal point of view about cooking, and me myself don't dislike experiment; so keep preparing your food as you prefer as long as you give up microwave rubbish (especially, please please, tinned pasta) and unbearable flavour mixing. Respect your star...
Here some recipes I love and served as main "attraction" in some of the finest restaurant's along the Riviera degli Etruschi.
TRIGLIE ALLA LIVORNESE (red mullet livorno style)
Ingredients (makes 4):
12 red mullets of 100g each
500gr of ripe tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
Handful of parsley
1 dl extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
Take a pan add the oil and the garlic. Saute' the garlic until is golden brown. Add the tomatoes peeled, deseed and roughly chopped, 4 tbsp of water, salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce. Lay down the fishes, scaled and cleaned, and cook for further 10 minutes. Because the red mullet gets really fragile when cooked, do not turn them, just shake gently the pan to move them. Before serving sprinkle over the fishes chopped parsley.
ACCIUGHE ALLA POVERA (anchovies marinated)
Ingredients:
500gr of fresh anchovies
30cl white wine vinegar
1 red onion
Salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil
Method:
Take off the head of the anchovies, cut them lenghtway and eliminate spine and bones. This is a really easy operation but if you don't feel confident you can ask your fishmonger to do that (perhaps you can keep one and trying yourself). Cut in half the fillets an lay down in a terrine. Dissolve a little salt in the vinegar and pour over the anchovies. Marinated for 4 hours. Once marinated, drain the anchovies, lay down on a tray and toss with olive oil and red onion rings. Enjoy as a starter with bread and white wine. (Literally transalte it'd be anchovies poor style)
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