Squid Acqua Pazza Food

AQUA PAZZA

Steps:

• Heat a large straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, garlic, fennel, onion, and pepper flakes to the skillet. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, with a wooden spoon until the vegetables are soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with the wine and stir, scraping up any bits form the bottom of the scraping. Add the tomatoes, water and capers. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, sprinkle the filets with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Slide the fish filets into the broth and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook until the fish is firm and opaque all the way through, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the lid and spoon some of the sauce over the fish. Sprinkle with parsley, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and serve with plenty of crusty bread to soak up the broth.

"ACQUA PAZZA" WITH SEA BASS AND CLAMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a saute pan, over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook the onions and garlic until soft and glossy, just beginning to brown. Add the tomatoes, cayenne and saffron, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the clams, mussels and white wine. Cover and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Uncover and remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Reserve.
• In another saute pan, over high heat, add 3 tablespoons olive oil. Saute eggplant slices until lightly browned. Add green and yellow zucchini. Cook another 1 minute, just until heated. Add 1 tablespoon of chiffonade of basil. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Reserve.
• Season sea bass fillets with salt and pepper. In another saute pan, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sear fillets, meat next to the bone side down first, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer pan to oven and continue to cook another 4 minutes. Transfer to burner, turn fillets. Add butter and baste.
• To serve: spoon 1/4 of the tomato sauce on plate. Place 1/4 of the Sauteed vegetable slices in the center and top with a piece of sea bass. Garnish with diced bell pepper and remaining chiffonade of basil. Drizzle Basil Oil around edge of tomato sauce.
• In boiling salted water, blanch basil leaves for 2 seconds. Refresh in bowl of iced water and drain well. Place on baking tray lined with paper towel and let dry for 1 hour. Pour oil in a blender. Turn machine on to puree and slowly add the blanched basil. Continue to process until pureed and well blended. Transfer to a squirt bottle and allow to steep for a few hours. Use as needed.

SEA BREAM IN CRAZY WATER (ORATA ALL'ACQUA PAZZA)

Steps:

• Heat half the oil in a large, lidded frying pan. Carefully slip the fish into the sizzling oil and cook for 4-5 mins until starting to brown. Flip over and scatter the garlic around the fish. Sizzle for 1 min more, then add the chilli and scatter over the tomatoes. Pour over the wine and let it bubble for 1 min, then pour over 100ml water and season generously with sea salt and pepper.
• Put on the lid, turn up the heat and simmer for 15 mins until the fish is cooked through - you can tell when the eyes turn bright white and the flesh feels softer.
• Lift each fish out the pan onto a serving plate and put the pan back on the heat. Add the capers and parsley, and boil hard for 1 min. You can now serve the fish and the sauce separately or slip them back into the pan, spoon some of the sauce over and bring the pan to the table. Drizzle with a little more oil just before serving.