Livornese is a style of cooking from Livorno (Leghorn) Italy in Tuscany. I grew up adoring the sauce of the region even as a small child in the Middle Western part of the United States. When my friends were eating candy I discovered Livornese at a small Italian cafe called Sammy and May’s outside of town near the airport.
My father would take us to eat their specialties of the house. These meals usually featured seafood, chicken or veal Livornese sauteed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, fresh tomato sauce and flat leaf parsley plus lemon juice and zest, sliced black or green olives, and capers. And this included a nice size tossed salad with Italian dressing on the side. What a feast it was. Yet we always raced through our meals, even though we savored to the fullest the unique flavors we were served. Our goal was to run outside and pick green apples from the trees in Sammy and May’s small orchard. This made dinner a 6840918122_06cdfa453f_zspecial event to remember.
Spaghetti Livornese with Scrod and Clams (Serves 3-4)
INGREDIENTS
3-4 fillets of scrod fillet or other flat white fish, eg flounder, cod 1/2 to 1 inch thick.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces butter without salt
1/2 cup white wine
4 crushed and diced garlic cloves
1/4 cup green olives, sliced without pits
1 tbsp small capers
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Juice of 1/2 lemon and zest
2 tablespoons Italian tomato paste or 6 diced plum tomatoes – with the seeds removed
1 bunch chopped parsley with stems removed
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
18 littleneck clams well scrubbed
4 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and chopped
PREPARATION
Saute fish in large skillet with oil and butter until brown— 3-4 minutes.
While fish is still in pan, gently make a space for the tomato paste, or diced tomatoes, sliced olives, capers, salt and pepper to taste, mixing to form a sauce.
Turn fish over and continue cooking at medium high heat on the burner – pouring sauce over fish at the same time. Cook until relatively crispy— 3–4 minutes. Remove the scrod and set aside.
Deglaze the pan at high temperature with 1 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp wine in the same skillet and pour over the fish and cover.
In the same skillet, add the remaining wine, and clams at medium- high temperature on the burner. Add the chopped garlic. Cover until the clams open – about 8-10 minutes- leaving them in their shells. Discard those that do not open.
Meanwhile, add box of dry spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water for 8-9 minutes. When al dente discard water and add clams and juice to the pasta in the same pot and gently turn over to mix . Add a splash of your best olive oil.
Plate each person with pasta, clams and sauce and carefully add 1-2 crispy fish on top of pasta with more chopped parsley.
Mangia!
Contact Chef Alan with questions or comments and new recipes at www.zoxkitchen.com or email him directly at [email protected]. Enjoy healthy eating so you can eat well while eating alone or with others.