An ingredient dear to the Apulian chef, four times Michelin star in his career, who interprets it in a thousand ways. This is the most recent: colorful, tasty, light. Like his kitchen.
A Southern chef who loves the North but without forgetting his roots: Felice Lo Basso, born in 1973, an Apulian from Molfetta made his bones in Romagna, where he lived for over 20 years, and became famous in Val Gardena at the Grand Hotel Alpenroyal: in just eight months after the opening of the gourmet restaurant, the first Michelin star arrives. It is 2011, three years after landing in Milan in the Portello skyscraper, to manage Unique confirming the star. From the outskirts, the jump into the center is almost obvious: a four-year period – closed in February – inside the prestigious TownHouse Duomo, overlooking the cathedral and a terrific terrace. But even in a location like this, at Felix Lo Basso Restaurant, it did not come out of the concept of "a journey from North to South that allows me to tell my story and express the best of our kitchens, made more of products than of technique". The trip includes a return to his homeland: in 2018 he opened Memorie in Trani, where he is supported by the sous-chef Giuseppe Boccassini. Local cuisine, expertly revisited in a modern key: immediately Michelin star.
To be combined (also) with a cocktail
To the readers of La Cucina Italiana, the Apulian chef offers a dish that has the fundamental ingredient in pumpkin flowers. A Lo Basso, the theme has always been liked with the aim of making it a sunny and delicious dish. In Unico's menu they were proposed stuffed with a shrimp tartare and combined with courgettes with mascarpone, while in the restaurant in the Duomo they were stuffed with mashed potatoes and anchovies with a side dish of oven-baked tomatoes, sauteed eggplant mignon, anchovy fillets and sweet olives. Our recipe is really spring, almost bucolic if you want, with the (original) touch of a broth in natural mineral water which makes it lighter than usual. A dish to be enjoyed with a glass of Trebbiano or a fresh Rosé or – as recommended Carlo Simbula, young head bartender of The Spirit in Milan – with an American made with 30 ml of red vermouth, 30 ml of bitters, 50 ml of sparkling Valverde water, ice at will and 10 ml of spiced beer reduction. The latter is obtained by pouring a can of golden beer into a saucepan, along with a few grains of black pepper and a bay leaf broken in two. It is cooked over a low flame, until the preparation is reduced by about 40% so if you start from 500 ml it will reach 300 ml: once cooled slightly, add the sugar equivalent. It will surprise you in combination with the riceta studied for us by Lo Basso.
Ingredients for 4 people
4 courgette flowers
120 gr of sheep's ricotta
4 courgettes
600 gr of Valverde Naturale water
2 shallots
10 gr of gelatine
Salt and Pepper To Taste.
2 celery stalk
4 gr of ginger
Edible flowers to taste
Method
Wash the courgettes and use only the green part, which will be cut into cubes and set aside; the remainder will be used to prepare a Valverde broth in natural water, to which celery stalk, shallot and ginger will also be added. Boil everything for about 10 minutes, then leave to infuse for about 20 minutes. Then strain the broth and add the gelatin. Take savarin molds and place the diced courgettes and edible flowers inside. Then pour the broth into the molds and leave to cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Finally, after filling the courgette flowers with the sheep's ricotta using a piping bag, steam cook also using the apex of the zucchini.
This recipe has already been read 254 times!