Most people fry zucchine by slicing them in long "leaves", coating them with pastella and than frying them I do not like them this way. Pastella tends to fall off the zucchina... This is an alterative way to fry zucchine, and a somewhat "lighter" one (if the word light may be associated to anything that comes off a frying pan). You will need one or more very large zucchina filled with seeds. "Andata in semenza", as we say. Actually this way of cooking zicchine uesd to be a way to eating zucchine that were too old for being prepared in other ways ^_^. Cut the zucchina in quarters lenghtwise, cut off the seeds, than cut each long quarter of zucchina into pieces about 1 cm long. Place these zucchine cubes into a "scolapasta" (the pasta draining implelement) or another kind of cotainer with holes in the bottom that can accomodate all the zucchine and stand upright on the sink. Mix the zucchine with a couple spoonfuls of salt and let them seat for 2-3 hours, so that the salt extracts excessive water form the zucchine. Wash the excessive salt off the zucchine and squeeze them. Now the flour. Toss the zucchine cubes (now nicely squashed into flatter and irregular shapes ^_^) with lots of flour, until the flour coats all of them. The leftover water on the zucchine surface will make the water stick, but it will not become as heavy as a "pastella". Fry them in deep olive oil. Sprinkle a bit more salt if needed. The flour layer should turn into a crunchy and puffy casing, while the inner piece of zucchina almost disappears leaving only its taste.
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
quote:Originally posted by Kim: My zucchine plants are flowering now and within a few weeks, I'll be able to try your recipe!
I am not much of a "ortolana" (this means both the owner of a vegetalbe shop and someone who owns a... Dictionary break... Vegetable garden), but I think that you will have to wait for several weeks. The zucchine must get really overripe, with lots of seeds. In supermarket I buy the oldest and biggest zucchine I can find, when I can lay my hands on homegrown stuff, I ask for them to be left on the plant until they become "siluri" as big as my forearm. ^____^
And I forgot to mention that is is a good way of getting children used to eat something that is not fried potatoes. You let them get used to the taste of (sgonfietti di) zucchine, and before long you can see them eating zucchine in many more (and healthier) ways ;-P
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
quote:Originally posted by Kim: Do you always salt your zucchine?
Not always for every dish, but I do for this recipe because the water of the zucchine ("acqua di vegetazione" we call it in Italian, don't know the English term) may make them pop loudly spraying hot oil around ^_^: Besides, the little water that is lef on the surface is needed to stick the flour to the zucchine cubes.
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
Alice, I'm curious about pastella. I think it is called 'batter' in English. There are several different styles of batter used for frying. What ingredients are in a pastella used for deep frying vegetables?
I do not do a lot of deep frying. There is only one dish, Chile Rellenos which is a Mexican disk of a deep fried cheese stuffed chile pepper. I use a batter of flour and egg yolks which I fold-in beaten egg whites. I am curious to know how a pastella compares.
marta
Posts: 7480 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 25 October 2001
quote:Originally posted by Brigolante: I thought that you're not supposed to fry in olive oil as it smokes at too low of a temp.
May I not agree? According to very food-wise friend of mine (a chef who works and worked in may restaurants) the only fat that can rival with extravirgin olive oil is "strutto" or "sugna" (as it is called in Naples): rendered pork fat. All other oils can only reach lower temperatures and therefore start smoking sooner.
Olio di girasole: meno di 130 °C Olio di soia: 130 °C Olio di mais: 160 °C Olio di arachide: 180 °C Olio extravergine di oliva: 210 °C Strutto più di: 260 °C (RoDante da Fano table, posted on it.hobby.cucina newsgroup, from my hard-disk, so I don't know when it was posted)
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
quote:Originally posted by Marta: Alice, I'm curious about pastella. I think it is called 'batter' in English.
You are probably righ, I was going to look for it in my dictionary, but I forgot ^___^;;;
quote:What ingredients are in a pastella used for deep frying vegetables?
I don't like it much, so I almost never do it. In Italy there are several types of batter used for different foods, vegetables might be fried in a egg yolk, flour and ice-cold sparkiling water batter, for instance. other ones could be made with beer, wine, etc. Probably Diva knows the recipe for fried sage leaves, that uses, I think, yet another type of batter.
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
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