Caprese Salad →

Often served as an antipasto, anywhere in the world where Italian food is served you will find the delicious, refreshingly light Caprese Salad. According to popular culinary folklore, the Caprese Salad was invented by a stone mason on the island of Capri in Campania to honor the red, green, and white tri-color Italian flag after the first World War. Red tomatoes, green basil, and white buffalo mozzarella drizzled with local olive oil, flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper; simple and delicious. Another version of where the Caprese originated comes from the folks at La Cucina Italiana, according to them the Caprese salad was first served at the Hotel Quisisana on Capri at a dinner for the Futurists, an avant-gard artistic and social movement that was critical of historical traditions and focused on the dynamism of the modern world for inspiration. In a brilliant piece of public relations, the founder of the Futurist movement, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, published the Futurist Cookbook which criticized the traditional food culture of Italy, especially pasta! (That got some attention!) Legend has it the chef at the Quisisana created the Caprese Salad as a pasta-less dish to honor the Futurists. Regardless of which story you prefer, the Caprese Salad incorporates four foundational ingredients of traditional Italian food (tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and buffalo mozzarella) into one of the most internationally recognized and enjoyed Italian dishes. Buon Appetito!

CAPRESE SALAD
Serves 4

Ingredients
The basics:

• 5 ripe and firm fresh tomatoes (or an assortment of different tomatoes)

• 2 balls of buffalo mozzarella (if you can’t find true buffalo mozzarella, use fresh mozzarella made from cow milk; I used fresh Mozzarella Ciliegini)

• fresh basil

• extra-virgin olive oil

• salt

• pepper

Optional:
A few drops of good quality Balsamic vinegar (Colavita Balsamic Vinegar from Modena is highly rated and available in many supermarkets), or balsamic reduction; a few rinsed, chopped capers.

PREPARATION
The most common presentation of the Caprese is simply an arrangement of alternating slices of tomato and sliced mozzarella, sprinkled with flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper, topped with fresh basil, and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.

If you want to change up the presentation, be a Futurist and use your imagination. Use different kinds of tomatoes (beef steak, orange cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, etc.) Instead of slicing the tomatoes crosswise into ¼ – ½ inch slices, cut off the stem-end of the tomato and slice the large beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes lengthwise into narrow wedges; cut cherry tomatoes in half; tear, don’t chop the basil leaves; drizzle with olive oil; add a few drops of dark Balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction; add a few chopped briny capers. Make it your own family tradition.

Seared Scallops with Romesco Sauce →

Rich colorful Romesco sauce features almonds, olive oil, peppers, and tomatoes….ingredients widely used in Spanish cuisine. It’s not surprising almonds and olive oil are popular ingredients in many Spanish dishes: Spain is the number one producer of olive oil in Europe and second to the United States in producing almonds. Serve the sauce with fish or shellfish and/or grilled vegetables, or on crostini. It is also an excellent dip for crudités (assorted raw vegetables).

Romesco Sauce

Yield: about 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 medium red pepper, and

• 1 orange or red Cubanelle pepper roasted, peeled, seeds and membranes removed

• 3 medium tomatoes or 4 Roma tomatoes (about 3/4 pound)

• 2 thick slices (about 2 ounces) baguette or country-style bread, crusts removed, lightly toasted

• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled

• ½ cup toasted almonds, or a combination of almonds and skinned roasted hazelnuts (I use ¼ c. of each)

• 1 to 2 teaspoons pure ground smoky ancho chile powder, or regular chili powder to taste (*Note: 1 tsp. is mild; 2 tsp. has a bit of heat)

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika or Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón) (*Note: use regular paprika if you use smoky ancho chili powder; use the smoked pimentón with regular chili powder.)

• Salt, preferably kosher salt, to taste

• Freshly ground pepper to taste

• 2 tablespoon sherry vinegar

• ¼ to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, as needed

  (*Note: Romesco will keep for a few days in a tightly sealed glass container in the fridge.)

Preparation:

Preheat the broiler and cover a baking sheet with foil.

1. Lightly toast the bread and nuts and set aside.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half, core and seed them; do the same with the peppers and quarter them.

3. Place the tomatoes and fresh peppers skin side up on the baking sheet and place under the broiler at the highest setting. Broil for two to four minutes, until skin is charred. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. The skins on the tomatoes should peel off easily; you may have to scrape off the pepper skins after a few minutes. (see *Note about peppers)

4. Add the garlic cloves to a food processor and process until the garlic is chopped and adheres to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the sides. Add the toasted almonds (or almonds and hazelnuts), bread and chile powder to the bowl and process to a dry paste.

5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the peppers, tomatoes, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper and process until smooth.

6. With the machine running on slow, add the vinegar and olive oil in a slow stream, beginning with the smaller amount of olive oil and adding more until you achieve the consistency you want. Increase the speed and process until well mixed and scrape into a bowl.

7. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt or chile as desired.

8. Allow the sauce to stand for an hour or more at room temperature to meld the flavors before using.

9. Left-over sauce will keep in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container for several days.

*Note: if you don’t want to bother roasting, peeling, and seeding the peppers, an acceptable substitute is a 12 ounce jar of Roasted Peppers, drained and patted dry. Proceed as above.

Seared Scallops:

Serves 4

1. Use 12 large sea scallops, preferably flash frozen, to avoid the bitter taste of chemically treated scallops.

2. Pat the scallops dry and salt and pepper them.

3. Heat a heavy frying pan like a cast iron skillet until it is very hot. (Your seasoned cast iron pan will begin to smoke.)

4. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, swirl the oil in the pan and add 6 scallops, cooking without moving the scallops for 2 minutes per side. Flip the scallops and cook for an additional 2 minutes. This should ensure a nice seared crust on the scallops without over-cooking them.

5. Remove the scallops to a platter and tent; repeat the process above with the remaining 6 scallops.

Prepare the plates:

Spoon 3-4 tablespoons of Romesco onto a small plate, top with 3 scallops on each plate.
Garnish with a few strands of green Japanese Salad for added color and texture. (optional)
Serve with a crusty bread to dip in the delicious sauce.

A Spanish Albariño or Verdejo, or a light Italian Vermentino, a soft Sauvignon Blanc, or even a slightly effervescent Portuguese Vinho Verde pair well with this dish. Salud!

Adapted from: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016089-martha-rose-shulmans-romesco-sauce