ANTIPASTO
ALLA VENEZIANA

VENETIAN-STYLE ANTIPASTO

This combination is inspired by a very delicious and typical antipasti dish enjoyed at the restaurant Antiche Carampane. Choose your own antipasti (from this chapter) based on the season and what’s at the market.

SERVES 6 PREPARATION TIME: 45 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES

300 g (10¹/₂ oz) baccalà mantecato

20 raw mantis prawns (shrimp) (see note below)

3 lemons

Olive oil

1 bunch of flat-leaf (Italian) parsley (¹/₂ chopped and ¹/₂ left whole)

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) octopus, cleaned

1 garlic clove, crushed

300 g (10¹/₂ oz) small raw school prawns (shrimp)

¹/₂ cup cooked soft polenta (cornmeal), or 6 slices of toast

300 g (10¹/₂ oz) monkfish cheeks, or use flathead or stargazer

3 tablespoons tomato passata (puréed tomatoes), or crushed tomato

All the ingredients are cooked separately, some steamed, others pan-fried. Wash the prawns, blanch them in boiling water and then simmer gently in water with salt, pepper and half a lemon for 3–5 minutes, depending on their size. Drain and let them cool slightly. Remove their shell by cutting along the sides (lengthways) with a pair of scissors. Extract the meat, then drizzle with olive oil, a little salt, pepper and lemon juice. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Steam the octopus for 15 minutes or more depending on its size (it’s cooked when it’s tender). Drain and drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, a little chopped parsley and garlic. Shell the school prawns (small ones can also be eaten with their shell). Pan-fry them for 2 minutes in a little olive oil on medium heat, season them with salt and place on some hot polenta. Pan-fry the monkfish cheeks in a little olive oil on medium heat for 3–4 minutes, add the passata, and sprinkle with a little chopped parsley at the end of the cooking time. Season with salt and pepper. Place them on some hot polenta.

Purée the leaves of the unchopped parsley with a little olive oil, the juice and zest of a lemon, salt and pepper. Arrange the different kinds of seafood on large plates. Serve with a small spoonful of parsley oil.

RECOMMENDATION

Ask the fishmonger if the octopus has been frozen. If not, freeze it and thaw it by steaming it, it will be even more tender!

NOTE

Mantis prawns, called canoce in Venetian, are also known as ‘squilles’ in French. You can substitute with another large prawn.