pasta con calamari e mascolini beccafico

Justina and I had plans to head over to the Linguaglossa street market this morning, and there we ran into Bastiano and Irene. Thanks for the picture!
I bought artichokes, flowers, and my favorite toasted almonds... On our way home, we stopped in Linguaglossa's fish market, and it was a treat. I decided on calamari and mascolini for lunch. It is, after all, Friday... (Mascolini in Sicilian, Anchovies in English, and Alici or Acciughe in Italian.)

The man at the fish market insisted on cleaning the calamari for me, so I don't have a before picture. He cleaned out the inside, scraped off the thin outer skin, and cut into pieces.

Here, I sauteed the calamari in olive oil, garlic, and red pepper. Parsley and cherry tomatoes were then added to the pan. White wine would also be a nice addition, but I didn't have any today.

Then, the not quite al dente pasta was added to the pans liquid, where it would finish cooking.

A little sweet a little spicy... Yum.

With the mascolini I thought about making a "type" of beccafico. A very simple combination of bread crumbs, Parmigiano Reggiano, and parsley. After removing the spine, I layered the fish with the breading, and cooked on low heat. You can see other ideas with mascolini here.

Cucuzza Mieli con Riso e Mascolini

Let's hope the rain is over! This winter we were saturated with rain. Almost every day there were clouds, something very unusual for this place. We have been fortunate to have some beautiful days this past week. I say that, however, today it happens to be a bit of a dreary day. In any case, I took a picture to remember the sunshine shinning through my kitchen window when I was cooking.

Cucuzza Mieli con Riso (Pumpkin risotto) was on the menu for this day. My mother in law gave us half of a very large sweet pumpkin, from our garden. Nothing is better than the vegetables grown in the rich Sicilian soil.


For second, I bought Mascolini at the fish market. They are very inexpensive and they are not cultivated! Therefore, when they are available, I buy them. These little fishes are rich in omega 3, excellent blue fish, and oh so good.

Mascolini and Pesce Spada

Place in a pan:
• Mascolini and Pesce Spada
• Add garlic, parsley, salt, lemon, and little extra virgin olive oil
Put the oven and when the fish is white your are done

la Festa della Liberazione

April 25th is an annual public holiday in Italy on the anniversary of the 1945 liberation. We decided to gather together, with our friends, for a grilled fish feast at a Villa in our town. Early Saturday morning, Antonello, Luca, and I drove down to the fish market in Riposto and prepared for the meal. We bought over a kilo of octopus, mascolini, two kilos of Orate, and then a few calamari were throw in at the end. On our drive back, we stopped at a street side vendor and picked up some oranges, nespole (loquats), and lemons. Thirty minutes later, and after learning everything about the old man selling fruits and vegetables, we drove up to our town on the mountain. Once home, Antonello and I prepare the octopus salad and the fish for the grill.


This Villa is owned by our friend, and will open in June as a four star Bed & Breakfast. It will be amazing!




The weather was perfect, the meal was abundant, and the company put it all together.

Mascolini

I have to admit, I was a little grossed out with this one. But, after I regained my courage I was fine. To begin, you need to clean the little fish, which consists of removing the head and spine. Honestly, easier said than done!

Once clean, layer the fish in a pan.
Add parsley and parmesan cheese. I know what you thinking, “cheese with fish”? But, with this recipe, it’s ok.
Make another layer of fish and add a small amount of EVOOil.
Cook on the stove until the fish is white and tender. This doesn’t take long.

Mascolini Piccolini & Orate Baked

In a pan heat garlic, parsley, and a little olive oil.
Add the fish and squeeze half a lemon over them.
Sprinkle a little salt and you’re done.
Heat until fish are tender.

To serve:
Place servings on a dish and drizzle extra virgin olive oil.
These are Piccolini, so you can eat the entire fish, except the little tough tail.













Orate Baked

Clean the fish under water.
Open the belly and fill with whole garlic, parsley and mint.
Wrap in tin foil and place in oven. Depending on the heat the fish usually takes 20-25 minutes.
Serve with extra virgin olive oil.
• The mint makes the fish so fresh, you won’t want to add any lemon to this dish!