Italian Cookery

Chicago IL

24 October, 2022

Description

Salmon Puttanesca This recipe is my most requested, and comes via a venerable Italian lady I once did business for, who was from Naples. She was a wonderful client as well, since when I told her I ate the most unusual salmon dish at my local Italian restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, she told me how to make it myself. Maria owned a restaurant in Little Italy, one that she received in her divorce settlement, as she was once married to the mob. She had a lot of character and spice, as does her recipe, which takes after its name: (I'm not a stickler for measuring things, I just do it by eye - so I advise anyone making this recipe to do so according to their tastes, and to experiment a little with it!) - in a skillet, take a good amount of olive oil (that's going to take in all the flavours you're about to add) and gently saute several whole anchovies (two or three, or four or five) until they're all 'incorporated' into the oil, as if in an emulsion; - add a few cloves of garlic, reasonably finely chopped, and mix these into your pan; - the next step is to add the tomatoes, and Maria would counsel you to buy Marzano. These she said were the secret... I am no such purist, so my puttanesca sauces are made with whatever I happen to have at hand (tomato-wise) but most often I'll use Roma tomatoes; chopped. I do prefer an organic Greek unfiltered olive oil (the best I've found is Mariano's) and I always 'reduce' the anchovies before adding anything else. Three or four Roma tomatoes will make a reasonable serving, if you're cooking for two, you might get close to doubling this amount; - add some Kalamata olives into your pan, chopped, and a few little capers; - salt and crushed black pepper to taste, and a little parsley to garnish (which you can reserve some for at the end); - into your slowly bubbling sauce you can lay your salmon filet, and cook this in the rich sauce for 10 to 15 minutes, et voila.. (if you'll excuse my French) Salmon Puttanesca! Serve with a bed of linguine, or if you prefer, with rice. Additional left-over puttanesca will go well in the fridge, and can be eaten on toasted baguette slices, and with additional fresh chopped tomatoes, will make an excellent bruschetta the next day. In memory of Maria, whose gift has kept on giving; molte grazie! x