July18
Celia asks: In one of your recipes you said that if I’m going to use canned tomatoes, I should buy Italian San Marzano tomatoes. What’s so special about them?
In my recipe for Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce, I suggested that you buy canned Italian San Marzano tomatoes because they deliver a tangy, bright flavor… far superior to many other canned tomatoes. But what are San Marzano tomatoes?
San Marzano tomatoes are basically plum tomatoes with a lush, elegant flesh; they are grown in Italy’s southern Sarno River Valley. The tomatoes stay on the vine longer than many other varieties, which gives them a sweeter, less acidic taste.
They also have thinner skins with fewer seeds, so you have a firm, but supple bite, even after cooking them for a long time, like in my Homemade Tomato Sauce.
If you want to make sure the canned tomatoes you are buying are REAL San Marzanos, look for the Italian D.O.P. (or Denominazione di Origine Protetta) designation on the can. This means that the Italian tomato famers followed specific government agricultural rules. You can (sort of) equate these rules to the USDA regulations regarding products that can and cannot use the USDA Organic Seal.
Italian San Marzano tomatoes do have their detractors, so you’ll need to conduct your own taste test. If you can’t find real Italian San Marzano tomatoes, try whole Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes.
April3
Something delicious for this weekend: a rich Seafood Cioppino.
This recipe is Italian Chef Fabio Viviani’s take on cioppino, a tomato based stew made with whatever seafood is fresh that day. I pulled this recipe out of his fabulous new cookbook, Fabio’s Italian Kitchen. He finishes the stew with heavy cream, which beautifully balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
The recipes in his cookbook really work. In Chef’s own words: “My food is not complicated. My food is meant to be made and eaten. I just want to make sure that when you’re done cooking, every person you know will say, ‘That’s a great freaking dish.’”
And, really, isn’t that the exact reaction we all want?
Fabio’s Italian Kitchen Cookbook
Fabio Viviani’s Seafood Cioppino
prep: 30 minutes
cook: 40 minutes
you’ll need…
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
4 leeks, rinsed well and sliced into thin rounds
salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
20 mussels, scrubbed
20 clams, scrubbed
¼ cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock, hot
1 cup squid, whole or cut in half
1 cup large shrimp (about 8), shelled and deveined, tails on, heads on or off
1 15-oz. can whole tomatoes, diced
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup parsley, minced
let’s get to it…
Heat the butter in a large stockpot and sauté the onions and leeks with a pinch of salt until translucent. Add the red pepper flakes, bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
Place the mussels and clams in the pot, give them a stir, then add the wine. Cook until the wine has disappeared, then add the stock.
Bring to a gentle simmer, cover with a lid, and cook for about 10-minutes until all the shells have opened (discard any that have not). Add the squid, shrimp, tomatoes and cream and let the soup simmer for 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove from heat, adjust seasoning, and ladle soup into one large bowl to serve family style, or individual bowls. Serve with minced parsley.
