Fabulicious!: On the Grill Read online

  * * *Pizza Bianca* * *

  Pizza is one of the world’s oldest prepared foods—flatbread with toppings has been around since biblical times. But originally all pizza was “white” (without tomato sauce) because for centuries people, especially in Europe, thought that tomatoes were poisonous. Turns out the lead in everyone’s pewter plates and flatware would leach into foods high in acids, like tomatoes, and people would die of lead poisoning. It was years before they would figure out that their plates—not the ripe, red fruits—were the problem.

  Fig, Prosciutto, and Gorgonzola Pizza

  Makes one 12-inch pizza

  I’m a huge fig fan, especially when paired with salty prosciutto and crumbled Gorgonzola. You can serve this incredible pizza an as appetizer, a main course, or even as a savory dessert.

  1 ball of Pronto Presto Pizza Dough (page 55)

  Flour, for rolling out the dough

  8 very thin slices of prosciutto

  8 ripe figs, stemmed and quartered

  1 cup (5 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

  Extra-virgin olive oil

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

  2. Roll, pull, and stretch the dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a lightly floured baker’s peel (or a rimless baking sheet) and reshape as needed.

  3. Lightly oil the cooking grate. Slide the dough from the peel onto the grate and close the grill lid. Cook until the underside is browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Lightly brush the top of the dough with oil. Flip the dough over and brush off any flour. Arrange the prosciutto and figs evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with the Gorgonzola. Close the lid and continue cooking until the underside is browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pizza from the grill, and let it stand 1 to 2 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil, cut into wedges, and serve.

  CHAPTER 4

  Insalate e Minestre

  (Salads and Soups)

  The way we say “take it or leave it” in Italy—usually with a shrug—is

  a mangiar questa minestra o saltar questa fincestra,

  which means “either eat this soup or jump out this window.”

  I know there are people who say you can grill anything, even watermelon, but I think that’s a little insane. (I’ve actually tasted grilled watermelon, but it’s too watery to do anything but get hot. You know what’s not so refreshing on a hot day? Hot watermelon.) Not all food is meant for the grill, and if you plan on grilling all of your courses you’ll end up spending all day cooking and not interacting with your guests.

  For first courses and lighter entrées, I prefer quickly grilling key ingredients and then adding them to the rest of the nongrilled dish to make something more like magic. For instance, arugula salad with figs is delicious. Grill the figs first, though, and it becomes divine. Macaroni salad is yummy, until you add grill-roasted red peppers, and then it becomes art.

  I’m also going to give you some soups and cold salads that don’t need to go anywhere near your grill so you can enjoy your own party. And you can easily make any of these recipes ahead of time, so when people start arriving, you can just pull them out of the refrigerator and dig in.

  GARDEN GIRL

  Of course, all my recipes celebrate the fruits of the summer season. There is nothing like fresh strawberries, just-picked basil, or locally grown tomatoes. In fact, those three favorites are some of the easiest plants to grow at home, yourself. If you’ve never done it, it’s well worth the time and will save you lots of money! I have fresh basil year round: in my garden in the summer and in pots inside in the winter. My girls love to grow strawberries (although most only manage to make it from the vine directly into their mouths!). And tomatoes . . . the taste difference alone between those grown at home or on a small farm and those that are commercially grown should be enough to convince anyone to start staking out a small garden plot.

  * * *Re-seasoning Salads* * *

  Starchy salads—like potato and macaroni—soak up their dressings as they sit in the refrigerator, and the flavors change. Something that may have been perfectly seasoned a few hours before may taste bland now. So always re-season these salads as needed with a splash of vinegar or oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. If you are taking them to a picnic or cookout, make some extra dressing and bring it along for re-seasoning.

  WHICH VINEGAR?

  Like peanut butter to jelly, olive oil needs its friend vinegar to make Italian summer dressings and marinades perfect. Which vinegar—balsamic, white wine, or red wine—should you always have on hand? The answer is all of them, since they all have different tastes and colors and uses.

  Balsamic is amazingly delicious, especially on salad, but its slightly sweet flavor and dark color isn’t right for everything. White wine vinegar is a little on the expensive side, but a little goes a long way; it’s great for poultry and fish dishes, or even drizzled on a sandwich. And red wine vinegar is a staple for anything to do with red meat. I use it a lot in my marinades for red meat because the acid helps the marinade penetrate into the meat better.

  JUST ADD CHICKEN

  Salads and soups in Italy are starter courses, but you can add protein, such as grilled chicken, to any of the following recipes and have a wonderfully filling main entrée.

  * * *Hydroponic Blah* * *

  It’s not your imagination: supermarket tomatoes, even in season, don’t taste as good as they did thirty years ago. My mom insisted it was true, so I looked it up and as always, she was right. To get the best crop possible, today’s mass-produced tomatoes have been bred specifically for looks and long transportation times. Taste? Well, that didn’t seem to crossover very well. Add to that the fact that they are picked a month before they’re ripe, and then stored, shipped, and sometimes even squirted with ethylene gas to artificially make them look “natural,” and it’s no wonder that they don’t taste as good as they do right off the farm. Do what you can to find a farmers’ market, or go get a big pot and start planting now!

  Grilled Fig and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese

  Makes 6 servings

  Grilling figs brings out their honey-like juices and makes them even sweeter. They are a wonderful complement to the pungent arugula and the sharp and creamy goat cheese. The heat from the grilled figs wilts the arugula and lightly melts the cheese—all the better to bring out their flavor. To give the salad more color, use red grapes if you have green figs, or green grapes if you have the reddish-brown ones.

  9 large ripe brown or green figs, stemmed and cut in half lengthwise

  ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the figs

  4 ounces (about 6 cups) baby or regular arugula leaves

  1 cup halved red or green seedless grapes

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

  1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges

  1. Preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat (400°F).

  2. Lightly brush the figs with olive oil. Place them on the cooking grate and close the grill lid. Cook, flipping once, until seared with grill marks and the juices are bubbling, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the figs from the grill.

  3. Toss the baby arugula and grapes with the cup oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among six dinner plates. Top each with 3 fig halves and the crumbled goat cheese. Add a lemon wedge to each plate and serve immediately. Pass a peppermill at the table to add pepper to the figs and goat cheese, if desired.

  * * *Arugula* * *

  I told you that Italians like it hot, and that even goes for our lettuce! We can’t get enough of peppery arugula. I love it in my salads, and some people cook with it, too. Standard arugula is sold at just about every Jersey farm stand during the summer.

  Be sure to remove the tough stems and wash the leaves very well in cold water to remove the grit. The best way to dry the leaves without crushing them is with a salad spinner, or you can blot them dry with paper towels.


  Baby arugula, which is a little less spicy, can be found in almost every supermarket produce section. Even though baby arugula can be pricey, it takes much less prep time since you don’t have to remove the stems—just rinse, spin, and serve.

  Iceberg Lettuce Wedge with Gorgonzola and Pancetta Crumbles

  Makes 4 to 6 servings

  This isn’t the steakhouse wedge salad with the super-thick blue cheese dressing, but a somewhat lighter version with an Italian groove. The vinaigrette that has a little kick thanks to garlic and paprika and crumbled Gorgonzola. You can use any kind of blue cheese, really, just as long as it is firm and crumbles well (avoid using creamy kinds of blue cheese). If you are serving to people with big appetites, then serve the lettuce in quarters, but you can also cut the lettuce into six wedges for smaller portions.

  Pancetta Crumbles:

  4 ounces (⅛-inch thick) sliced pancetta

  1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

  Dressing:

  2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar

  1 garlic clove, crushed through a press

  ½ teaspoon sweet paprika

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

  1¼ cups (5 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola

  1 firm head iceberg lettuce, cored, cut into quarters or sixths

  1 ripe tomato, seeded and diced

  1. To make the pancetta crumbles: In a large skillet, cook the pancetta with the oil over medium heat, turning as needed until crisp and brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. (Don’t cook any longer because overcooked pancetta can be tough.) Transfer the pancetta to paper towels to drain. Let cool completely. Coarsely chop the pancetta. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 days.

  2. To make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegar, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper together. Gradually whisk in the oil. Whisk in the Gorgonzola.

  3. Place a lettuce wedge, curved-side down, on each of four dinner plates. Spoon equal amounts of the dressing over the lettuce wedges, and sprinkle the tomatoes and pancetta on top. Serve immediately.

  Macaroni Salad with Pepperoncini

  Makes 8 servings

  Every family needs a fantastic macaroni salad that will put the stuff in the deli case to shame. My recipe starts with the basics of elbow macaroni and mayo, but it takes a turn with the veggies. The secret is pepperoncini, sweet Tuscan pickled peppers. Just like many American cooks trick out their pasta salads with dill pickle “juice,” I use some of the pepper brine from the jar as an out-of-this-world seasoning.

  1 pound (16 ounces) elbow macaroni

  2 large red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, and diced (see page 178)

  1 cup thawed frozen peas

  6 to 8 pepperoncini, coarsely chopped

  ½ cup finely chopped red onion

  ½ cup pitted and coarsely chopped olives

  2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

  2 tablespoons pepperoncini brine from the jar

  ⅔ cup mayonnaise

  1 teaspoon sweet paprika, plus more for garnish

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook according to the package directions until tender, about 9 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.

  2. Add the roasted bell pepper, peas, peperoncini, onion, and olives, and mix well. Sprinkle with the vinegar and peperoncini brine, and mix again. Stir in the mayonnaise and paprika. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

  3. Just before serving, taste the salad and reseason with vinegar, peperoncini brine, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle paprika on top and serve chilled.

  Patata Rossa (Red Potato) Salad

  Makes 8 servings

  Red-skinned potatoes make great potato salad because you get to skip the peeling step. Just scrub the skins well under cold running water before cooking. White-skinned potatoes or Yukon Golds, with their thin peels, also work well here. In this Italian version of potato salad, we skip the mayo and use extra-virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar instead.

  3 pounds medium red-skinned potatoes, well scrubbed but unpeeled

  ¼ cup white wine vinegar

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

  ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil

  ½ cup finely chopped red onion

  4 celery ribs, thinly sliced

  3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, basil, or oregano

  1. Put the potatoes in a large pot and add enough lightly salted water to cover by 1 inch. Cover tightly and bring to a boil over high heat. Uncover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook at a low boil until the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse the potatoes under cold running water. Let stand for about 10 minutes, or until easy to handle.

  2. Cut up the warm potatoes into bite-size pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Whisk the vinegar, salt, and pepper together in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil to make a dressing. Gently stir the dressing into the potatoes, trying not to break up the potatoes. Stir in the red onion, celery, and parsley. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

  3. When ready to serve, taste the salad and reseason with vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

  Mama’s Frutti di Mare Seafood Salad

  Makes 12 servings

  This is traditionally one of the fish dishes that we serve on Christmas Eve, but it’s such a great summer recipe that my mom has started to make it at our Shore house. Every time she does, everyone goes nuts and asks for the recipe. So here it is! It makes a lot, but it keeps well. I love octopus, but you can substitute with scallops or more shrimp if you like. Leave plenty of time to cook the octopus and scungilli because you can never really tell how long it will take (allow at least 1½ hours for each, but don’t be surprised it they take an hour more), and it’s best to make them at the same time in separate pots. Because of the time factor, take my advice and make this the day before serving so you aren’t rushed and the salad can marinate. My mom doesn’t, but feel free to add freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes for an extra kick.

  Special Equipment: Corks from 2 wine bottles

  1 (3-pound) fresh or thawed frozen octopus

  2 pounds fresh or thawed frozen scungilli, cleaned

  Salt

  2 pounds (31 to 36 count) medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

  ½ cup fresh lemon juice, plus more for serving

  3 garlic cloves, minced

  1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

  2 large carrots, shredded

  4 large celery ribs, thinly sliced

  3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  1. Clean the octopus by finding the beak in the center of its body and cutting it off with a sharp knife. Put the octopus in a large pot and add enough salted water to cover by 1 inch. Add a wine cork, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and uncover. Cook at a steady simmer until the octopus is tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife and the suction cups are easily removed, 1½ to 2½ hours. Remove from the heat and let stand in the cooking liquid until completely cooled, about 3 hours. Drain and rinse under cold running water, rubbing off the skin and suction cups. Cut into bite-size pieces.

  2. Meanwhile, put the scungilli in a large saucepan and add enough salted water to cover by 1 inch. Add a wine cork, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook at a steady simmer until the scungilli is tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 1½ to 2½ hours. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Let cool. Cut each piece of scungilli on a slight diagonal into thin slices, then into ¼-inch-wide strips.

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p; 3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the shrimp and cook just until they turn opaque and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water.

  4. Whisk the lemon juice and garlic together in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil. Add the octopus, scungilli, shrimp, carrots, celery, and parsley. Mix well and season with salt. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or up to 3 days. Stir well and reseason with salt and lemon juice before serving chilled.

  * * *Scungilli* * *

  Scungilli, also called whelk, is a sea snail in a beautiful shell. It’s a very Italian ingredient, closely related to the conch that’s popular in the Caribbean and West Indies, where they eat it deep-fried, steamed, and curried. If you’ve never tried it, now’s the time. Like octopus, it’s usually only found fresh or frozen at specialty or Italian grocery stores, although you can get it canned—just don’t tell my mother!

  You can buy it cleaned or with its black “foot”—the part that acts as a door to shut its shell—still attached. My recommendation: go for fresh, already cleaned. Almost any way though, and it’s delicious!

  Another reason to give it a try? Scungilli is supposedly an amazing aphrodisiac. You’ve been warned.

  * * *The Great Wine Cork Debate* * *

  Italians, especially Italian mothers and grandmothers, always add a wine cork to the water to tenderize octopus. It’s supposed to have something to do with the enzymes in the cork. It’s never been scientifically proven or disproven, but my mother swears by it and so does Mario Batali. If anything, it gives you an excuse to open a bottle of wine.