GIRO D'ITALIA 2020 - Stage 1: My culinary ridealong with the 2020 Tour de France was so good, I'm doing the same thing with the 2020 Giro d’Italia! The race began with a quick time trial from Monreale to Palermo, home to Caponata (an eggplant relish) and Arancine di Riso (risotto balls). So, I decided to begin this journey with Caponata Arancini and a quick red sauce.
Have you had arancini at a restaurant lately? The last time I did, it actually made me very angry. It was at a supposed Italian restaurant. The inside was pure mush, more like the consistency of a hush puppy, and devoid of any flavor whatsoever, served with a sad sauce that looked like they poured it straight out of a can. These robust arancini will make your eyeballs pop out of your head and say “WOW!”...at least that’s how my fiancé reacted! The beauty of day one? You’re getting four separate recipes that are individually great on their own.
Caponata Arancini
Prepared Caponata risotto
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Eggs
Panko bread crumbs
Herbs
Oil for frying
Fill a dutch oven or other heavy pot with about 4 inches of oil. Heat to approximately 365 degrees over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Take the cooled prepared risotto and spread it out on a plate and cover it liberally with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Fill a bowl with panko crumbs and season them with dried herbs, if desired. In another bowl, lightly beat 2 eggs. Wet your hands and start forming meatball-sized balls of the cheesy risotto and place them on the parchment paper, you should have around 20 arancini. Then, coat the balls, (one-at-a-time) in the egg mixture, letting any excess drop off, followed by a roll around the breadcrumbs, pressing lightly to adhere and place back on the parchment paper.
When the oil reaches temperature, carefully submerge the prepared balls, 6 or 7 at-a-time, and fry until golden brown (3-4 mins), then rotate and brown the other side for about 2 mins. Carefully remove the fried balls with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel lined plate. Serve with red sauce.
Caponata Risotto
1 ¼ cups dry arborio rice
Onion, minced
Extra-Virgin olive oil
8 cups of your preferred stock
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 ¼ cups prepared caponata
Bring 8 cups of stock to a boil, cover and maintain medium heat. Preheat a pan over medium heat with 2 tbsp EVOO. Add the onion and some salt and sauté until starting to soften, but not browned. Add the rice and stir constantly for 2 mins coating and toasting the rice. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the wine and stir the rice until the pan just about runs dry. Add half of the stock to the rice, bring to a boil and stir occasionally. Once the stock has nearly been absorbed add the remaining heated stock, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Meanwhile, add 4 cups of water to your now-empty stock pot and bring to a boil, cover and maintain medium heat. As the risotto is starting to absorb most of the second batch of stock, reduce the heat to medium. When the pan nearly runs dry, add 2 ladles of hot water and stir gently until absorbed. Add another ladle of hot water and continue stirring gently. At this point, start testing your arborio rice: it should be soft, but supple; toothsome, but no hint of raw rice. Continue adding water by half-ladles, until just about reaching your desired texture.
Then, add the caponata, cheese, and 1 tbsp of butter or evoo and turn off the heat. Stir very gently. Season to taste, if necessary.
Caponata
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
2 eggplant (~1.5 lbs)
Passata or plain tomato sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Anchovy paste
¼ cup Red-wine vinegar
Parsely
½ lb. ripe tomatoes, seeded & diced
Extra-virgin olive oil
Red pepper, seeded and diced
Celery rib, minced
Onion, minced
2 tbsp capers
⅓ cup pine nuts
Place 2 layers of coffee filters on a plate and spray them with non-stick cooking spray. Dice your eggplant into ½ inch cubes and stir in a teaspoon of salt. Pour the diced eggplant onto the prepared plate, lined with filters, and microwave on full power for 12 minutes. Transfer the eggplant to paper towels to absorb any excess moisture. Meanwhile, whisk the passata/tomato sauce along with the brown sugar, vinegar, anchovy paste and a handful of parsley leaves (minced). Stir in the tomatoes.
Preheat a skillet, with a tablespoon of EVOO, over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown, slightly, about 7-9 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Return the pan to the heat and add another tablespoon of EVOO and stir in the diced pepper and celery for a few minutes, then add the onion, season with salt and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Once everything is softened, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the eggplant back to the cooking vegetables along with the whisked sauce and capers. Cook for about 8 minutes until the mixture has thickened and sauce has been absorbed and transfer to a serving bowl. Return the pan to the heat and toast the pine nuts and stir into the caponata.
Quick Red Sauce
28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
Extra-Virgin olive oil
Crushed red pepper
Preheat ¼ cup EVOO in a heavy pot over medium heat. Peel and smash the garlic and throw in the pan. Pour the tomatoes and their sauce into a bowl and crush the tomatoes by hand and add to the pot along with 2 tsp salt and a heavy pinch of red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Using a hand blender, puree the contents (or process in a blender) and simmer for about 30 mins. Taste and add a pinch of sugar, salt or black pepper to taste.
______________________________
Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
Comentários