Cacciucco in rice tempura all around Italy

by Marco Pelizzari
Cappuccini Resort, Italy
 

MILK BAGNA CAODA
190g garlic
50ml extra virgin olive oil
110g whole milk
100g anchovies

NDUJA KETCHUP
350g tomato puree
50ml extra virgin olive oil 2 onions
2g hot paprika 50g sugar
50ml red wine vinegar Fine salt, to taste
0.5g cloves 10g cornflour ‘Nduja, to taste

PACCASASSI CHEESE
Paccasassi cheese, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Oil, to taste

RICE WAFER
500g rice

CACCIUCCO
2    onions
3    celery stalks
3 squids
10 crustacean shells
5 mullets
500g other fish for stock
250g tomato puree Water

RICE TEMPURA
100g rice flour
100ml very cold sparkling water
 

1 — BAGNA CAODA WITH MILK
Peel the garlic, keeping the cloves whole. Cut the cloves in half, remove the sprout and cut into slices. Put in a saucepan and pour in the fresh milk, bring to the boil, then simmer over a very low heat for 15/20 minutes until the garlic has softened.

2 — ANCHOVIES
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the anchovies. Continue cooking over low heat, taking care not to fry the oil, stirring to dissolve the anchovies. When the anchovies are reduced to a cream, add the garlic cooked in milk. Stir to mix and cook over a low heat for 20-30 minutes. The oil should never fry, and the sauce should have a creamy consistency. Once cooked, whisk.

3 — ‘NDUJA KETCHUP
Pour the oil into a pan, add the onions and let them wilt for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato puree, ‘nduja, paprika and finely chopped cloves.
Then add the cornflour, red wine vinegar, sugar and salt and mix everything  together.  Cook  for
1 hour and 20 minutes over a low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom. Blend the mixture to obtain a smooth and homogeneous consistency.
 
4 — RICE
Drain the rice and blend it. Once the mixture is smooth, spread it out on baking paper. The mixture must be rolled out very well and thinly. Dry in the oven at a temperature of 100°C (210°F) until the mixture is rubbery. Turn the mixture over and let it dry on the other side.

5 — CACCIUCCO
Brown the vegetables in a saucepan. Add the squid and crustacean shells, toast them well. Cure the small stock fish and the mullets, and toast them in the oven. Add the fish to the casserole dish and toast it, add the water and tomato puree. Let it boil for about 40 minutes then filter the mixture obtained, reduce until you get a very tasty liquid, Add salt and pepper if necessary.

6 — TEMPURA
Try to obtain a homogeneous mixture from the rice flour and the sparkling water. Soak the rice rolls in the mixture and fry at a high temperature. Put the cacciucco in small rectangular moulds with the cured red shrimp inside. Freeze the whole thing. When frozen, wrap it in the rice wafer as if it were a candy. Place it in the previously made rice tempura and fry.

SERVING INSTRUCTIONS
Season with salt and serve with the sauces.