Dear Friends,
we hope you enjoyed our last newsletter with the recipes of Chicken Breast with almond and lemon.
Because of the challenges with worldwide travel at this particular moment, we have decided to start a new way for you all to partake in our classes via a membership platform that will be also available through https://gigliocooking.academy/.
I personally will take care to let you know more about it in the next future.
But now I just want to tell you my personal story on “blanching tomatoes”.
It is a story without a story. I am telling you: I started to teach 20 years ago; I started my own restaurant in 1985, 35 years ago; before my restaurant I cooked in family’s restaurants and after I was hired as chef in a renowned restaurant.
Do you believe that I had never blanched tomatoes before I started to teach?
When I started to teach, blanching tomatoes was something almost new for me just because before that I had never needed to blanch tomatoes.
Thus, the “teaching” taught me how to blanch tomatoes.
In Italy we rarely blanch tomatoes. It happens in restaurants that have to make a red “dadolata di pomodori” (cubed tomatoes) as a garnish. Even for making a “coulis di pomodoro” (tomato passed through a thin strainer) blanching tomatoes is not necessary.
Blanching tomatoes is something that you do to peel them easily. This is how:
Bring to boil a pot of water, make a crosscut on the bottom of the tomatoes, toss them in the water. For how long? This depends on ripeness of them. Anyways, never too long as you won’t cook them. Take them out and put in iced cold water (already two things to wash…) to stop the cooking and cool down to handle them. At this point the peel comes off easily. Then tomatoes are cut in quarters, the seeds are removed just with your thumb. The bad thing is that, together the seeds, also the nice gelatin around them comes off and it is discarded. But…. but, at this point the tomatoes are ready to be cubed or pureed with a mixer. Have you calculated how many things you got dirty?
And now, do you want to know why didn’t I use to blanch tomatoes?
This is the answer:
The “passaverdura”.
Spinning it by hands, seeds and skin remain inside; pulp and gelatin pass through to give a nice clean puree. Not any electric machine does this.
I hope to meet you in the LIVE “Blanching Tomatoes” on Facebook at this link:
CLICK HERE on March 24th at 12:00 pm EST / 9:00 am PST Following you find another of the simple Italian recipes I love
Looking forward of meeting you
Marcella
LINGUINE ALLA PUTTANESCA
Difficulty: Easy (some patience required for all the “mise en place”, that is ingredients to prepare
Preparation time: ⏳ 15 minutes
Cooking time: ⏱️ 12 minutes (with two pans going: while the water is warming to the boil, prepare the sauce in the large skillet)
Cost: inexpensive
Ingredients for 4:
360 gr (12 oz) linguine or spaghetti
60 gr (2o z) extra virgin olive oil
2 spoons capers
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4-6 anchovy fillets in oil (optional)
about 16 pitted black olives
8 medium ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled. de-seeded roughly chopped or 1 Lb cubed canned tomatoes
a few basil leaves
large bunch of parsley, finely chopped
½ teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper
1 hot chili pepper
First soak the capers to remove the salty brine or vinegar.
If you have fresh tomatoes, blanch them in boiling water for 30 seconds, take them out and put them in a bowl with cold water. Peel, cut in quarters, take off the seeds and dice.
Mince the parsley.
Mince the garlic.
To make the sauce, in a large skillet gently fry the garlic in olive oil until the aroma rises. Add the hot chili pepper and the anchovies, if used, and crush them with a wooden spoon; then add drained capers, olives, tomatoes, a very little salt – capers and anchovies are both salty – and pepper.
Cook gently for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and the anchovies have blended into the sauce; then add the basil tearing it by hands, the minced parsley and the oregano.
Cook for one more minute.
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente then drain and toss it into the sauce.
Sauce done while waiting for the water to boil: no waste of time
Mediterranean, vitaminic, flavorful