Calamari with White Beans and Arugula; Due Crostini

Posted by Sarah Kiino at 10/24/2006 10:09 AM
Categories: Main Dishes, Appetizers and Small Plates, Salads, Travel, Fish and Shellfish






A few notes upon my return to real life after two weeks in Italy:

1.) The law be damned—I should have smuggled some lardo back in my suitcase. No eager little beagles met me at JFK, ready to sniff out contraband pork products—just some bald guy who totally believed me when I said all I had was olive oil and dried porcini mushrooms.
2.) Those rolling Tuscan landscapes sure are pretty, but I should have packed some Dramamine. A bit of fuzziness in the head beats nausea any day (believe me).
3.) Good olive oil tastes like . . . olives! Go figure.





I stayed with my family in rural Tuscany—a few kilometers outside San Gimignano—and later, in a tiny town called Artimino—surrounded by olive trees heavy with clusters of fruit in varying degrees of ripeness. It wasn't uncommon for restaurants to serve oil made from the very olives on their property—to them, just the way it works; to an Americana like me, a big deal indeed. After mulling over the potential consequences of an olive oil explosion in my suitcase, I bought a bottle from our hotel in Artimino (pressed from their own olives, of course), nestled it between layers of clothing, and hoped for the best. Hallelujah! It made it. The oil has a pronounced olive flavor and bright fruity quality not present in mass-produced olive oils. Brian and I sampled it next to the Trader Joe's extra-virgin in our pantry and found the Artimino oil to have a much rounder character—in comparison, the TJ's stuff tasted harsh, almost chemical.

On Saturday, we hit the kitchen with one simple objective: to make food that would showcase (and not mask!) our special Italian olive oil.






We whipped up two types of crostini: one with Cypress Grove Purple Haze goat cheese (which has lavender in it), and another with ripe tomato and basil.





Next, we made a warm salad with calamari, white beans, and arugula, loosely inspired by dishes at Delfina and our new favorite restaurant in Queens, Danny Brown Wine Bar. Simple, flavorful, utterly delicious (especially when served on a hand-painted plate also lugged home from Italy.)





CROSTINI

Grill slices of bread in a panini press and, if you want, cut into circles or squares (or use baguette rounds toasted in the oven). Brush toast with olive oil and rub with the cut surface of a halved garlic clove.

Tomato Topping: Combine one chopped ripe tomato with a few leaves of torn or chopped basil. Pile on toast rounds, sprinkle with coarse salt, and drizzle with olive oil.

Goat Cheese Topping: Spread goat cheese on toast, garnish with sliced grape tomato, sprinkle tomato with a tiny bit of coarse salt, and drizzle crostini with olive oil.


CALAMARI WITH WHITE BEANS AND ARUGULA

Marinade:
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, smashed
Pinch of red pepper flakes

Salad:
1/2 pound cleaned squid
2 cups cooked cannellini beans
3 cups roughly chopped arugula
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Lemon juice
Olive oil

Prepare squid: leave tentacles intact, cut bodies into 1/2-inch-wide rings. Combine marinade ingredients; add squid and leave in fridge for 1/2 hour. Prepare beans: sauté garlic in olive oil until fragrant; add beans, broth, and rosemary sprigs; season with salt and pepper; simmer gently for 15 minutes. Drain calamari well. Saute quickly in a very hot pan, a minute or so (in batches if necessary). Toss cooked squid with parsley. Assemble salad: layer arugula, drained beans, and squid. Sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, and drizzle generously with lemon juice and olive oil.

Categories: Main Dishes, Appetizers and Small Plates, Fish and Shellfish, Salads, Travel

Copyright © 2007 Sarah Kiino, www.avenuefood.com. My RSS feed is for personal, noncommercial use only. If you are perusing this post on a site that is neither www.avenuefood.com, nor your news aggregator, the Web site you are reading has likely stolen my material, and I'd like to know about it. Please send me an e-mail at avenuefoodAThotmailDOTcom. Thanks for your assistance in this matter.

 

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