Seared mackerel, onions in saor, spelt bread, and puntarelle, the recipe from Menabó Vino e Cucina
Burnt mackerel, onions in saor, spelt bread, and chicory, a recipe from Menabó Vino e Cucina. From the kitchen and wine shop in Centocelle, never boring and always comforting (we talked about it in this article), comes a recipe to make at home that's actually twofold: it includes both a recipe for mackerel with onions in saor (a traditional Venetian recipe made with sardines) and a recipe for an a
For marinating the mackerel:
– 4 mackerel – 200 g sugar – 150 g lemon juice – 50 g salt – 400 g water – star anise to taste – licorice roots to taste
Prepare a fish marinade by heating 200g sugar, 150g lemon juice, 50g salt, 400g water, 4 pieces of star anise, and two licorice roots in a small saucepan. Fillet and debone four 300g mackerel. Place the fish fillets, skin-side up, in a bowl and pour in the marinade after letting it cool. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
For the onions in saor:
– 5 onions, preferably coppery – Extra virgin olive oil to taste – White wine to taste – Vinegar – Salt – Raisins to taste – Pine nuts to taste
Finely slice 5 copper onions and sauté them gently in extra virgin olive oil, half a glass of white wine, and half a glass of vinegar. Once braised, season with salt and add the raisins and toasted pine nuts. Store in the refrigerator.
For the spelt bread:
– 50 g broken spelt
– sale qb
– 250 g water
– 50 gr flour 2
– 5 g brewer's yeast
– 150 gr latte
– 100 g water
– 15 g ground
– 200 gr flour 2
– 350 gr flour 0
– 60 g butter
– 10 gr sale
For the bread, cook 50g of spelt (cracked spelt) in salted water. Prepare a loaf of bread by starting with a starter dough of 250g water and 50g type 2 flour. The next day, dissolve 5g fresh brewer's yeast in 150g milk, 100g water, and 15g malt. Add the starter dough, 200g type 2 flour and 350g type 0 flour, 60g butter, the spelt, and finally 10g salt. Let rest for an hour.
Pour the dough into the pan and let it rise. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for ten minutes in a conventional oven, then lower the temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 20 minutes.
To finish the dish: – puntarelle to taste – extra virgin olive oil to taste – salt to taste – pepper to taste – bay leaves to taste – smoked paprika to taste – horseradish (add it only if you like it)
Clean the puntarelle and rinse them under running water. Cut a 2-cm thick slice of bread and trim the crust. Toast it in the oven and top with the onions in saor. Remove the mackerel from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Cut three slices from a fillet and roast the skin, preferably with a pastry torch, along with two bay leaves, then arrange the slices on top of the onions. Season the puntarelle with oil, salt, and pepper and arrange them alongside the bread. Finish the dish with a sprinkling of smoked paprika, grated fresh horseradish, and extra virgin olive oil.
Menabó Vino e Cucina, Via delle Palme 44 d, Rome. Tel. 06 86937299. Facebook page.
