Cook the seafood – Italian Cuisine

Clams, mussels, cockles, scallops and razor clams: how to clean and cook the tastiest shells of the sea to prepare appetizers, sauces or main courses

Whether you are at the beach or in the city, there is nothing better than a good dish with seafood to enjoy your vacation or to get a taste of what awaits you. Cannolicchi in sauce for a pasta, sauté of clams and mussels or scallops au gratin, the taste of seafood is always very intense and appreciated. But how can these delicious ingredients be cleaned and prepared? Here are some tips.

Scallop

It is also called Conchiglia di San Giacomo, is formed by a white body called walnut and a red part, called coral and has a whitish shell. It is usually sold already half open and partially cleaned from sand. If it is still closed, open it with the help of a small knife, remove all the fleshy parts and clean them from the darker filaments and sand. The scallop can be prepared raw, marinated in oil and lemon, fried or au gratin. It has soft flesh and a slightly sweet taste. It cooks in a short time because excessive heat makes it hard and stringy. The best time to consume it is from May to August but it is available throughout the year. You can prepare a filling with breadcrumbs, garlic, salt, oil and parsley, cover the scallop with this mixture and brown it for 10 minutes at 180 °.

Mussels

They are also called mussels, they have an elongated triangular shell of a bluish-black color, while the fruit inside can be of a bright orange or whitish. They live attached to rocks and are among the most used shellfish in the kitchen. Cleaning them is easy, you need to remove the beards, the byssus and all the mud that often remains attached to the shell, to prevent it from melting during preparation. They can be opened with a small knife or in contact with heat in a saucepan. They always release their liquid which must be filtered and then used to give more flavor to the dishes. All those that do not open during cooking must be eliminated because they are damaged. They are used for sauces, soups, are made au gratin or stuffed.

seafood

Clams

There are two types: normal and true, larger and tastier. They are bivalve molluscs that live in the sandy bottoms and for this they must be cleaned with care. They should be left to drain in water and salt and then rinse before cooking. The shells are light gray, the fruit is well attached to the shells. They have a delicate and tasty taste at the same time. The most popular dish is spaghetti with clams but can be tasted in sauté or in fish soups. It is necessary to make them open in a pot without seasonings and then filter their very tasty cooking liquid. Before salting them taste them, they are often savory at the right point and do not need any more salt.

razor

They have a shell in the form of an elongated tube, which can reach 15 cm. The razor clams live sunken in the sand and for this they must be cleaned very well. At one end they have a dark-colored bag that is often full of sand and must be removed. To check that they are alive, touch them and the shell should close immediately. In the kitchen they are eaten grilled, in soup, au gratin or in spaghetti sauce.

fasolari

The fasolari have a smooth shell of dark color, brick red, even 10 cm wide. They must be bought alive like all shellfish and left to drain in water and salt. They are cooked like clams or in soup, with tomato and garlic. They can also be eaten raw, seasoned only with oil and lemon.

How to make sangria – Italian Cuisine – Italian Cuisine

The most famous eat and drink in the world? The sangria. Here's how it's done

If you plan to organize an aperitif with friends, prepare a sangria, the perfect summer aperitif!
It has happened to you so often to sip this cocktail during festivals and parties or on holiday in the Iberian peninsula, the country where Sangria was born. Know that preparing it at home is very simple. All you need is excellent seasonal fruit, wine and spices.
There is no single recipe for sangria and everyone makes it their own way, but in general we can say the most important rule is that it must be served cold and prepared a little in advance because all the flavors need time to mix.

Cold refreshing berry drink

The right wine for sangria

Choose a young wine. It doesn't necessarily have to be a very high quality product. As long as it is good, not astringent, with a fruity and very fragrant aftertaste. You can find in the supermarkets specific wines for sangria, but wary of those that already have spices inside.
The classic sangria is red, prepared with a red wine, but there is also a clear variant, typical of the region of Catalonia, with a more delicate taste prepared with white wine.

Fruit

The original sangria is prepared with peaches, apples, orange and lemon. Then stretch it with orange juice. We advise you not to use the packaged one, but to squeeze fresh oranges, even if it is not exactly seasonal fruits.
There are many variations of sangria in which other types of fruit can also be used.
Excellent with strawberries and berries.

Spices

The perfume of spices should not be missing from the perfect sangria.
Add some cinnamon sticks, not the powder, and some cloves, but do not overdo it so as not to alter the taste.

Alcoholic part

In addition to wine, there are also other alcoholic ingredients in the sangria.
Some add to the end of the cointreau, others of the brandy. It depends a little on your taste and also on your proportions, you decide how strong you should be. Remember that the sangria, like all cocktails, should be drunk in moderation because it is not a simple fruit salad!

Water, fruit juice or gazzosa

Before serving, the sangria is usually diluted with a non-alcoholic part. Generally orange juice is used, but many prefer to lighten the taste of wine and fruit with simple cold water or gazzosa to give the sangria even a sparkling touch.

The step by step recipe

At this point we explain the step by step recipe.
First, cut two nectarines and an apple into cubes and slice an orange and a lemon quite thinly.
Pour half a liter of rose wine into a large glass container and mix it with 120 grams of sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks and 4 cloves. Then add some orange or lemon juice and 50 gr of cointreau or brandy and let it rest for one night, or for a few hours, in the refrigerator.
When ready to serve, add another 500 ml of wine and 300 ml of water or gazzosa or orange juice.

How to serve sangria

Choose large glasses and place the fruit first with a ladle and then the liquid part. Serve with a straw and a teaspoon and decorate with a sprinkling of cinnamon if you like it so much this spice feels.
Some like it very cold and so in this case you serve a few ice cubes separately.

The club of the shoe, 30 recipes that you can't eat without bread – Italian Cuisine

Kissing the elbows. Put the mascara without opening the mouth. Move your hands at different rates simultaneously. How many times have you tried to do these things without success? Eating the dishes of this collection without making the shoe is another lost bet. But with taste.

The connoisseurs of bread and tomatoes and of bread and oil know it: what for some is more, for others it is the king of the table. And if we get lost in its perfume by cutting it and giving it a taste just brought to the table, we love him even more when he collects something we like.
And what about when it mixes so intensely with the sauce to form an irresistible jelly? Yes, the tomato one. Our favorite …

WE COOKED FOR YOU

Tomato soup

For seafood recipes

Peppered, stewed, soups and sauté call the bread loudly. Impossible to leave so much grace in the holster! In fact, the taste of the sea, the intensity of the molluscs and the peppery notes glide through the sauce. Sometimes we even find the pleasure of that splash of white wine that started the dances on the stove. And to accompany such great goodness, the perfect bread must be slightly stale. Greedy for liquids, he will drink the sauce without getting too soft. And if you want to give your shoe an aromatic twist, choose that one Sicilian with wild fennel seeds.

To collect the sauce

It is said that the shoe was born in Naples. Where the bread trailed on the plate, collecting what was just like the shoe on the street. So why not dip the so-called “in the tomatoCAD bread"? The simple product of the Neapolitan tradition is easily found in the bakery and is characterized by a thin crust and a generous crumb It is consistent.

If there are legumes

Legume soups are often enriched with tomato, bacon and wine. The result is a rich and succulent residue, impossible to leave on the plate. And to better collect it, we suggest doing it with a slice of fresh Tuscan bread and fragrant. Cut thick and reduced into squares, it will be the perfect base to balance the flavor of the soup and fully enjoy its mix of flavors.