Passport & Plate - cozze gratinate (Grilled Crumbed mussels)

sicilia — Fri, 6 Mar 2015 05:34:50 GMT

Ingredients
Ingredients:

Cozze Gratinate:

1kg Fresh Mussels
100gBread crumbs
2 Ripe vine tomatoes ( Diced into small cubes)
Parsley (very finely chopped)
Basil (very finely chopped)
30g Pecorino Romano cheese (Grated)
20g Parmesan cheese (Grated)
60g Asiago cheese or similar soft mild cheese (Diced into small cubes)
3 tbls Olive oil
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Pepper

(Bear in mind that you may have to alter this slightly depending on the size of the mussels)

SicilianaSauce:

2 tins crushed tomatoes
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic
5 leaves of basil
1cup of water

(the sauce can be used for a pasta in the 1st course then place a dollop on each mussel at the end)

Serves 2-3

How to prepare this recipe
Preparing the Siciliana Sauce:

Put the crushed tomatoes in a medium saucepan

add the sugar and the salt and the water and let it cook until a nice consistency

in a small saucepan add the oil and the whole garlic and cook till golden

add the basil to the sauce and pour the garlic oil on top of it

mix it all in

Preparing the mussels:

Place mussels in a big pot or pan and cover with a lid and boil until they are open. This is only a matter of minutes you do not want to cook the mussels.

Once the mussels are open take them out of the water and take of one side of the shell off and place on a flat grill tray.

Bread Crumb mix:

In a mixing bowl take the breadcrumbs, cheeses, tomatoes, basil, Parsley, salt and pepper. Mix them around well. Add oil and continue to mix. Add little more oil if mix is too loose. You want the consistency to stick a bit

Grilling the mussels:

Preheat the grill to a medium-high heat.

Take breadcrumb mixture and fill all the mussels. Pat the mix down so it holds in the shell. You might have some mix left if you cant fit it all in don’t worry, as long as all mussels are sufficiently full.

Place under grilled until golden and serve.

Put a small dollop of Siciliana Sauce on each mussel with a bit of fresh basil for extra flavor

This is a great dish as a light second course with a nice light salad.

The story behind this recipe
To explain what this recipe means to me I must first give you a brief back story.
I am half Italian half kiwi, spending most of my younger years in New Zealand but being lucky enough to get to spend some time where the other side of my family comes from… SICILIA. Not only am I fortunate to come from this extremely beautiful part of the world I am also fortunate enough to come from a family of amazing cooks. My Nonna by far being one of the best.

To me this dish reminds me of everything I love about Sicily and my family.
On my last trip to Sicily, June 2014. I spent a week with my Nonna in her apartment by the sea. We would spend the morning going to the local shops to buy the freshest produce or even just getting them from her friend with an amazing vegetable garden. Then we would come home and she would show me how to make this simple produce into the tastiest dishes you can imagine. The featured dish being one of them. My Nonna makes the most amazing dishes seem effortless. A skill which has come from decades of providing her forever hungry children and grandchildren with nothing but the best of Sicilian cooking.

Every time I eat this dish I am brought back to the time I spent with her - cooking truly exceptional food and enjoying the exceptionally beautiful area my family comes from. It gives me a feeling of desire to not only return and spend more time there, but to travel to new places and try the diverse produce that the locals turn it into the dishes that would remind them of their homes

Sicilian Summer

sicilia — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 11:59:47 GMT

Hi there my name is Jack Sciacca, I am 22 years old and am half Italian, half Kiwi. I grew up in New zealand and currently reside in London. I fell in love with traveling the first time I went to Italy when I was 13. I left Home at 18 to travel more and start taking photography more seriously, since then I have lived in Sydney, Hong Kong and London. After seeing different areas of the photography industry over the past couple of years I feel travel photography best suits me. Joining two of my passions into a career that allows me to follow my dreams. I want to be able to show people what is really out there, past all the sight seeing and monuments. Show people what the heart of a culture really is! make the viewer want to explore. This opportunity would be so amazing for me as I would get to see the real side of travel photography and learn how to get started in this area of the industry from a true master. I would also be a great asset to Jason as I have experience assisting, am physically fit, work well under pressure and really want to learn as I feel this could give me a foot in the door to the start of a new period in my life and a dream career. Kind regards, Jack