Fabulicious!: On the Grill Read online

  Tuna Steaks with Pepper-Olive Relish

  Makes 6 servings

  Especially when cooked perfectly rare, juicy tuna steaks are just as delicious as a tender beef steak—and much healthier! For the best outcome, get sushi-grade tuna from a first-class fish store. You can cook it beyond medium-rare, but if you do, just don’t expect it to be very moist. This pepper-olive relish is not only amazing with the tuna, but you’ll also find it works well with pork chops or salmon, on burgers, or even on bruschetta.

  Pepper-Olive Relish:

  2 red bell peppers, roasted and skinned (see Grilling Peppers, page 178), cut into ½-inch dice

  ⅓ cup coarsely chopped pitted Kalamata olives

  1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano or basil

  1 garlic clove, minced

  Salt and red pepper flakes

  Tuna Steaks:

  6 tuna steaks (each 6 ounces and cut 1 inch thick)

  Extra-virgin olive oil

  1 teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  1. To make the relish: Mix the roasted peppers, olives, lemon juice, oregano, and garlic together in a small bowl. Season with salt and red pepper flakes. Cover and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so that the flavors can blend. (The relish can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

  2. Preheat the grill for direct cooking over high heat (500°F).

  3. To make the tuna steaks: Lightly brush the tuna on both sides with oil and season with the salt and pepper. Place the tuna on the cooking grate and cook until the undersides are seared with grill marks, about 2 ½ minutes. Flip the tuna and continue cooking, with the lid closed, until the other sides are seared and the tuna is opaque on the outside with a rosy pink center when cut with a small sharp knife, about 2½ minutes more.

  4. Place a tuna steak on each of six dinner plates, and top with equal amounts of the relish. Serve hot.

  Swordfish with Cherry Tomato–Caper Salsa

  Makes 6 servings

  This tomato-caper salsa goes great with any “strong” fish—such as tuna and swordfish—or “meaty” white fish—such as halibut or this swordfish. You can use grape tomatoes instead, but summer farm stand cherry tomatoes (especially the pretty, multicolored ones) give the dish extra color.

  Cherry Tomato–Caper Salsa:

  1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in halves

  3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

  2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar

  2 tablespoons drained and rinsed capers, coarsely chopped if large

  1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil

  1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  1 garlic clove, minced

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  Swordfish:

  6 swordfish steaks (each about 6 ounces and cut about 1 inch thick)

  Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  1. To make the salsa: Mix the the cherry tomatoes, red onion, olive oil, vinegar, capers, basil, parsley, and garlic in a small bowl together in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours to allow the flavors to blend.

  2. Preheat the grill for direct cooking over high heat (500°F).

  3. To make the swordfish: Lightly brush the swordfish on both sides with oil and season with the salt and pepper. Place the swordfish on the cooking grate and close the grill lid. Cook until the undersides are seared with grill marks, about 3 minutes. Flip the swordfish and continue cooking, with the lid closed, until the other sides are seared and the swordfish is just opaque to the center when cut with a small sharp knife, 3 to 4 minutes more. Remove from the grill.

  4. Place a swordfish steak on each of six dinner plates, and top with equal amounts of the salsa. Serve hot.

  * * *With Love From Capri* * *

  Although they’re most famously used in veal or chicken piccata dishes, capers also go well with seafood because their saltiness is a great complement to the fish. Capers are actually the pickled and preserved flower buds of a caper bush, which grows along the coast of Italy and was named for the island of Capri (along with those cute, cropped summer pants). The plant is very delicate, and the buds can only be picked by hand, which is why the little jars of capers you see in the supermarket are so expensive—but so worth it!

  When the flower buds are allowed to grow, bloom, and turn into a fruit, those can also be harvested and pickled, and are later served as caperberries (great for an antipasti platter!).

  Capers have been flavoring dishes for thousands of years and are believed by some to be an aphrodisiac. King Solomon even talks about them in the Bible as a cause of sexual desire. No joke. Ecclesiastes 12:5. Look it up!

  Clams with Lemon-Caper Butter

  Make 4 servings

  If you’ve ever been to an Italian cookout, you’ve probably seen a few large, disposable aluminum pans on the grill. We use those for cooking wet things that we want to mix and mingle, like clams and this yummy lemon-caper butter sauce. You can use littleneck or cherrystone clams—just know the larger cherrystones take a little longer to cook.

  48 littleneck clams

  ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

  4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

  6 garlic cloves, minced

  ¾ cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio

  ¼ cup fresh lemon juice

  2 tablespoons drained and rinsed capers, coarsely chopped if large

  2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  Lemon wedges, for serving

  Hot red pepper sauce, for serving

  1. Scrub the clams well under cold running water. Transfer to a big bowl or pot and add enough cold salted ice water to cover. (How much salt? The water should taste salty, but not as strong as sea water.) Let stand for 1 to 2 hours. Drain well.

  2. Preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (400°F).

  3. Place a large disposable aluminum foil roasting pan on the cooking grate. Add the oil, butter, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the butter is melted and the garlic is fragrant and softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the wine, lemon juice, capers, and parsley. Add the clams and close the grill lid.

  4. Cook, occasionally shaking the pan, until the clams have opened, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard any unopened clams. Remove the pan from the grill. Using tongs, divide the clams among four deep bowls, and top with equal amounts of the cooking liquid. Serve hot with the lemon wedges and hot pepper sauce.

  * * *The No-Cheese-on-Fish “Rule”* * *

  Some Italians and Italian-Americans act like putting any kind of cheese on any kind of fish is completely taboo. It’s really not. I get that you don’t want to drown out the subtle flavors of seafood with sharp-tasting cheese, but a tiny sprinkling isn’t going to overpower anything. In fact, I think it can enhance the flavors of some seafood.

  So where did this “rule” come from? No one really knows. It doesn’t seem to be for religious reasons, since even though the Catholic Church used to rule no meat or dairy on Fridays, we had no problem putting cheese on nonseafood meat the other days of the week. And while some Italian grandmas used to say any milk product with fish would “make you sick,” that’s not true. Maybe back before refrigeration, there was a concern that the strong taste of cheese could “hide” the taste of spoiled fish, and you could get sick from that, but that’s hardly the case any more.

  More likely, it has to do with simple geography. For the most part, people in the regions of Italy that fish didn’t have cows for milk, and the cattle farms that were landlocked didn’t have fresh fish. I’m not sure it was really a rule as much as the people who fished a lot just didn’t have
cheese.

  Even today, there isn’t the same availability of ingredients in Italy as there is in America. One of my friends was in Tuscany recently, and his hosts were making a big deal out of how their family in Sicily was FedEx-ing some fresh mozzarella to them. Here, we would just walk into Whole Foods and buy it.

  So feel free to put cheese on your fish. (In a respectful way of course. Don’t go all “Olive Garden” on me!) You’re not really breaking any rules, you won’t get your “honorary Italian” status revoked, and if anyone gives you any grief, you can send ‘em my way!

  Parmesan-Crusted Scallop Spiedini

  Makes 4 servings

  I know, I know—I’ve heard all the Italian-American chefs say the same thing: never, ever put cheese on seafood. Here’s the deal: I’m not a chef. I am a true Italian though, and I promise you, this is worth breaking the rules for! The sharp Parmesan is amazing paired with the mellow scallops. Try to get the big “dry” scallops, which weigh about 1-ounce each. Also, to keep the bread-crumb coating from burning, the grill temperature should be medium (around 400°F)—not as high as we use for other seafood recipes. The scallops are skewered to help to turn them, but these are not “kebabs” in the traditional sense, with vegetables included with the seafood.

  Special Equipment: 4 metal grilling skewers

  16 large scallops, preferably dry, about 1 ounce each

  2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling on the scallops and greasing the grate

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  ⅓ cup plain dry bread crumbs

  2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

  2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  2 garlic cloves, minced

  Lemon wedges, for serving

  1. Lightly brush the scallops all over with oil and season with the salt and pepper.

  2. Mix ix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium bowl. In batches, add the scallops and turn to coat completely in the breadcrumb mixture. Thread 4 scallops on each of 4 metal grilling skewers. Place the skewers on a plate and refrigerate to set the coating for 30 minutes.

  3. Preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (400°F).

  4. Lightly oil the cooking grate. Drizzle a little more oil over the scallops. Place the scallops directly on the grill and close the lid. Cook, turning occasionally, with the lid closed as much as possible, until the coating is golden brown and the scallops are opaque and feel firm when pressed with a fingertip, about 8 minutes. Remove the scallops from the grill. Slide the scallops off the skewers and serve hot with the lemon wedges.

  Shrimp Skewers with Salsa Verde

  Makes 6 servings

  Salsa verde is a green sauce similar to pesto: it’s uncooked, made from herbs (in this case, parsley instead of basil), and can be served with about a zillion different foods. For example, add chunks of bell peppers to the skewers, if you wish. For this recipe, the thin, inexpensive skewers sold at most supermarkets work better than the flat-bladed metal “kebab” variety.

  Special equipment: 8 thin metal grilling skewers

  Salsa Verde:

  1½ cups packed fresh flat-leaf parsley

  1 scallion, white and green parts, coarsely chopped

  Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

  ¼ cup fresh lemon juice

  ¼ cup drained and rinsed capers

  1½ teaspoons anchovy paste

  2 garlic cloves, crushed under the flat side of a knife and peeled

  ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  Shrimp Skewers:

  36 jumbo (21 to 26 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined

  2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  1. To make the salsa: Process the parsley, scallion, lemon zest and juice, capers, anchovy paste, and garlic in a food processor or blender until coarsely chopped. With the machine running, gradually pour in the oil to make a rough-textured sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a medium bowl and cover. Let stand at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours to allow the flavors to blend. (The salsa verde can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before using.)

  2. Preheat the grill for direct cooking over high heat (500°F).

  3. To make the shrimp skewers: Have ready 8 thin metal skewers ready. Toss the shrimp, oil, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl to coat. Hold 2 metal skewers parallel to each other. Curving the shrimp into its natural “C” shape, thread the shrimp onto the skewers, leaving a little room between the shrimp. (The exact number of shrimp per skewer isn’t important.)

  4. Place the skewered shrimp on the cooking grate and close the grill lid. Grill until the edges of the shrimp look opaque, about 2 minutes. Turn the skewers and continue cooking, with the lid closed, until they are completely opaque and feel firm when pressed with a fingertip, about 2 minutes more. Remove the skewers from the grill and slide the shrimp off the skewers.

  5. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the salsa verde onto each of six dinner plates. Top each with 6 shrimp. Serve hot.

  Teresa’s Tip

  It’s easier to grill shrimp if they are skewered. To keep them from spinning on the skewer, thread them side-by-side onto two skewers, and they’ll stay put.

  * * *Spicy Salsa* * *

  When most people hear the world salsa, they think of the spicy dip made from chopped veggies and eaten with tortilla chips. But salsa actually means the same thing in both Spanish and Italian: “sauce.” Unlike the American definition of “sauce” as a thin liquid, Italian and Spanish salsa is deliciously chunky and raw. It’s an easy accompaniment for almost any dish, and while the Italian version isn’t necessarily spicy, you can always heat it up by adding a couple of minced pepperoncini.

  CHAPTER 8

  Pasta

  Esse nufesso qui dice male di macaroni.

  “One has to be an idiot to speak badly of pasta.”

  No matter how we cook our food, pasta is still an essential part of the Italian meal. While Americans eat about twenty pounds of pasta per person a year, Italians beat that three times over, eating more than sixty pounds. And yet, the Italian people are not three times fatter. In fact, it’s the opposite. Worldwide obesity rates from 2010 show that America has the second highest obesity rate in the world with twenty-eight percent of all adults being medically classified as obese, while Italy has one of the smallest percentages, at just ten percent. Clearly pasta is not the problem. (What a relief, right? Since pasta is so, so good!)

  Here’s why I think pasta can be such a huge part of the Mediterranean diet and the Italian people can still stay skinny: because instead of eating deep-fried, white-flour, sugar-covered foods, we fill up on pasta. And while people in American often put pasta and bread in the same “bad carbs” category, they actually aren’t the same. Pasta isn’t made from the same white flour you make bread or cupcakes with. Even the regular “white” pasta is made from durum wheat—a hard, coarse wheat naturally high in protein. (Use the whole grain pasta, and that’s even healthier!)

  We also don’t traditionally cover our pasta in crazy, buttery, melty, cheesy sauces; we toss it in extra virgin oil and sprinkle just a bit of a sharp-tasting fresh cheese over the top for flavor. Instead of a staple, super creamy sauces are considered a big treat. And we don’t just eat a giant plate of pasta with sauce and call it a day. We use pasta as a sort of vehicle for carrying other foods—mostly vegetables—into the body. Meat can accompany pasta, but it isn’t the majority of our plate.

  So just because we’re grilling up seasonal vegetables and a lot of lean meats, we don’t abandon our precious pasta. It takes just a few minutes to cook up noodles al dente in a pot of salted water. On my grill, because I have extra side burners and an outdoor sink for draining the pasta water, I do it outside n
ext to the grill, so I don’t even have to keep going back and forth between the grill and my kitchen.

  * * *I Heart Side Burners* * *

  I know I said you don’t need a million extras on your grill, and you don’t, but there is one that I have and can’t live without: stove-like burners on the side. Here’s why: when cooking a lot of food for a lot of people, timing is everything. I don’t want people waiting thirty minutes between courses. I don’t want the main course to get cold while I’m still cooking the sides. In an ideal world, everything gets done at the same time. The extra burners right there on the grill can help make that happen.

  I bring a pan from kitchen and sauté the garlic and onions on a side burner while I’m preheating the grill. I use a small pot to boil water and cook the pasta right next to the sizzling ingredients that I’ll toss into it. It’s not a necessity, but if you can afford it, side burners are well worth the extra price.

  POTS AND PANS ON THE GRILL

  Don’t feel restricted to using your grill’s side burners. There’s really no reason you can’t stick a big pot or pan right on your grill and use the burner heat the same you would on an inside stove. In fact, I hope by now you’re starting to see your grill not just as a place to sizzle hamburgers and hotdogs, but also as your outdoor stove and oven. I truly love being in the kitchen, and I love being outdoors, so when I grill, I get the best of both worlds: an outdoor kitchen!

  Make sure, however, that if you do use a pot or a pan that it’s safe for very high heat. Not all pans are, especially some of the ones with nonstick or Teflon coating. You don’t want that coating to melt off! (The same goes for plastic handles.) If your cookware is rated for oven use, you’re OK. Or get stuff specifically made for camping. Just one roasting pan and one Dutch oven would be great, and you can even store them outside with your grill if it has any of those extra doors or drawers.