Seafood

Mantecato means “churned,” and bacalà mantecato, essentially an Italian version of French brandade, is salt cod potato purée. We started making these crostini to use the salt cod we had left from the Bacalà al Forno (page 215) at the Pizzeria. It’s so popular that we now make extra salt cod for this dish.

Matt makes a point to return to Italy every year for inspiration. On a recent trip, he happily returned with the idea for this sea urchin pasta dish, the only cold pasta we serve. I love sea urchins, or ricci. They are a delicacy of many seaside regions in Italy, such as Puglia and Sicily, but many aficionados say that the best sea urchins come from the waters off Southern California. Cooked lump crab meat is readily available at seafood stores and in the seafood sections of high-end grocery stores.

Traditionally, lamb shanks such as those in this recipe would be braised and served in all their glory, and subsequently, making lamb ragù would be a way to turn a relatively small amount of leftover meat into tomorrow night’s pasta dinner. We braise the lamb just so that we can pull it apart and turn it into ragù. It’s a decadent thing to do, and results in a luxurious and delicious pasta. Enjoy.

Because this fish stock freezes well, you can double the recipe; use one batch, and freeze the second one for later use.

Set out a dish of peppery extra-virgin olive oil with a dash of aged balsamic vinegar, Vincotto (sweet Italian vinegar), or verjus for dipping.

Use this stock as a base for dishes such as seafood chowder, bisque, stew, and risotto.

This recipe can be doubled easily. Use a larger steamer, about ten inches in diameter, to cook all four portions at once in the same basket.

The baby artichokes are cooked in advance, so they only need to be grilled for a short time.

If you cannot find fenugreek seed, this curry is equally satisfying when ground fenugreek is substituted; add with the other ground spices.

If baby beets are not available, use large beets cut into 1-inch chunks.