There comes a time during the winter when the weather is such that the local fishermen cannot get out and bring in a catch. Too dangerous. And when that happens, Annalena makes her way to one of the fish markets in the area, searches around for what's good, what's sustainable, and what she and the Guyman haven't had in a while. In a trip this week, she brought home black cod, and cockles.
You've seen cockles, haven't you?
You can think of them as small clams if you like. There are various forms of them, but this greenish one is the one that Annalena sees most often. They are very tender, and very sweet. If you decide to make this dish with cockles, know that you will need about half a pound of them per person, if this is your DISH. As a side dish, perhaps 1/4-1/3 of a pound is called for. that's a lot of these buggers, but there isn't much in them.
From the big ole island of Sardinia comes a pasta which Annalena loves: fregola. One commentator referred to it as "toasted couscous," which it really isn't; however, it is toasted, and it has the sort of shape of a couscous grain on steroids:
This is partially cooked fregola, and we'll get to that below. One of the dishes that is typical, of Sardinian cuisine, is fregola con vongole, or fregola with clams. Before you say "well, OF COURSE," here's a little bit of trivia for you, which points out the need for cooks to know EVERYTHING, including geography. Sardinia, while an island, and a big one, does not have a very developed seafood cuisine. And why is that? Well, it is because much of the island's coast is surrounded with malarial marshes. Hence, it is not often safe to fish , especially if you are a loaner. Clams can be dug, and so you will see things like that, and you will see Sardinian fish dishes, but by and large, this cuisine is meat and pasta, including another favorite pasta of Annalena's, maloreddus (look it up, and get some). We won't be using that here though, as we now delve into the recipe.
Ok, for three smaller portions or two larger ones (or, four really small ones), get yourself a cup and a half of dry fregola, a pound of cockles (or, 24 clams, small ones please), a half cup of white wine, two cloves of garlic, sliced, and one hot pepper. You might also want some parsley. That is up to you.
Get a big pot of salted water ready, and cook the fregola, for only about four minutes. Cook it as if you were cooking pasta, not couscous, where what you're looking for is total absorption of the liquid. You don't want this here. Yet...
Drain the fregola, and put it aside (that's the picture you have up there). Now, get a big broad pan, and slick it with olive oil - say two tablespoons - and add the sliced garlic mentioned above, together with one hot pepper . You can add more of these if you like a spicier dish, and you can add more hot pepper at the end as well. After about 30 seconds, add your cockles, or clams and close the pan tightly.
Cockles will begin to open after only about three minutes. Scoop them out, with a slotted spoon, and move them to a bowl. Clams will take longer, but you do the same thing. When you've got them all out, take that partially cooked fregola, and dump it into the liquid. Lower your heat, and let it bubble away, for about five minutes. The pasta is going to absorb all of that juice, or most of it. Then, add the cockles, or clams, toss them a bit, and:
Pretty dish, isn't it? You can serve this tableside, or of course, dish it up in the kitchen. Bowls are really what you need. You won't need salt, because of the salinity of the juices from those bivalves, and whomever likes heat the most, gets the pepper. You can also, of course, put hot pepper on now, or the chopped parsley if you are so inclined. You could also work some leftover cooked greens into this if you are trying to get some veggies into your diet.
Fregola with cockles. You'll be eating well, ragazzi. Indeed, you will.
No comments:
Post a Comment