It’s Nigiri! It’s Maki! No, it’s…Antipasti?!?

It’s almost New Year’s Eve! If you’re hosting a party, this means you’ve got to upgrade your appetizers—your taco dip may be delicious, but it doesn’t quite go with the gallons of champagne you’re bound to pour. Special holidays call for dishes that are unique and presented with some flair!

Try my twist on the traditional antipasti platter, where rich cheese, prosciutto, and roasted red peppers and eggplant are shaped and formed into Roasted Eggplant and Prosciutto "Maki" rolls and Roasted Red Pepper "Nigiri." Perfect for a festive occasion, these delightful nibbles will certainly surprise your guests!

To save time on party day, prepare the cheese blend and roast the peppers and the eggplants in advance.


Cheese Blend for Antipasti “Sushi”

15 oz. / 425 g. whole milk ricotta, drained
8 oz. / 225 g. mozzarella, finely diced (pieces should be about the size of rice grains)
1 small clove garlic, pressed
1 t. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch dried oregano

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well so that the garlic is evenly blended throughout. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate until ready to use.


Roasted Eggplant

1 t. salt
1 t. dried oregano
½ t. freshly ground black pepper, fine grind
1 small eggplant, sliced lengthwise into ½” slices

Combine the salt, dried oregano, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside. Lay the eggplant on a wire rack, and sprinkle with the seasoning. Rub the seasoning into the eggplant slices.

Preheat the oven’s broiler. In the meantime, line a baking sheet with foil and place the wire rack with the eggplant on top of the foil. When the oven is ready, place the eggplant under the broiler and broil for 5-7 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool until ready to use.


Roasted Red Peppers

2 red bell peppers*, cored and sliced lengthwise at natural rib

Preheat the broiler on high. Arrange the peppers on a baking sheet covered in foil (this makes clean-up much easier). Put the peppers under the broiler for 5-10 minutes, or until the peppers' skins have turned black and charred.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Using tongs, place the roasted peppers in a bowl. Cover the bowl and let the peppers cool.

Once peppers have cooled, gently peel off the charred skin and discard skin. The peppers are now ready to use.

* For this recipe, use the boxiest, most evenly square-shaped peppers you can find


Roasted Eggplant and Prosciutto “Maki”

Roasted eggplant, as prepared above
4 oz. / 115 g. prosciutto, very thinly sliced
Cheese blend, as prepared above

Prepare the eggplant by slicing lengthwise into thin batons, then slicing in half crosswise so that the batons are about as long as the prosciutto’s width. Set aside.

Lay a slice of prosciutto on your work surface. Heap a spoonful or two of the cheese blend onto about half of the prosciutto and spread until it is about ¼” thick. Place 2-3 eggplant batons about an inch in (see photo below), and roll up.

Using a sharp knife, slice each roll in half (see photo below), then trim the ends so that they will lay flat on a serving tray.

Repeat with the remaining eggplant, prosciutto, and cheese.

* Nutritional info per piece: 58 calories, 4 g fat, 2.7 g carbohydrates, 4.7 g protein.


Roasted Red Pepper “Nigiri”

Roasted red peppers, as prepared above
Cheese blend, as prepared above

Slice the roasted red peppers into rectangles, approximately 1 x 2.5 inches.

Place 2 heaping spoonfuls of the cheese blend into your hands and shape into pieces that are about an inch thick, and inch wide, and 2 inches long. Handle the cheese as little as possible, as the warmth of your hands will cause the cheese to soften.

Place a red pepper slice on the shaped cheese piece. Repeat with the remaining peppers and cheese.

* Nutritional info per piece: 97 calories, 7 g fat, 1.7 g carbohydrates, 6 g protein.

Ingredient Spotlight - Shad Roe

No, I didn't get sucked up into the heavens during the rapture, I fell ill and I've been busy playing catch-up at work. My apologies for neglecting the site.  Anyway, let me back up - a little over a week ago, I excitedly posted on Facebook and Twitter that I would be picking up my order of shad roe from Mercato del Mare. Foodies everywhere know how exciting it is to be able to get their mitts on fresh shad roe - after all, it is highly perishable and has a limited season - so you can imagine my excitement when I got my "Today's Catch" newsletter and saw shad roe on the list. Not surprisingly, the ladies at Mercato recommended that orders be placed in advance.

What is shad roe? For those of you who aren't food nerds like me and didn't spend your adolescence leafing through your mom's 1970's printing of James Beard's New Fish Cookery, I'll give you the biologist's answer - shad roe is the egg sac of the female shad, an ocean fish related to herring. A cook, however, would tell you that shad roe is a prized delicacy. Knowing this, I called Mercato to place my order immediately, for I feared that all the other gastro-geeks would beat me to it. I picked up my order after work and rushed home so I could get started on making a mess of my kitchen. I developed a great original recipe, but before I got around to posting it I contracted Ebola or Rift Valley Fever or something else equally horrific (OK, it was just a sinus infection, but it still sucked).



Lobe of uncooked shad roe.

Uncooked shad roe resembles a chicken liver in the way that it comes in a pair, attached by a thin membrane. The sight of the roe caused my brain to drift back to my childhood. My dad loved going fishing, and I vividly remember him bringing his catch down to his work station in our basement where I'd watch him clean the fish (most often trout). He always threw the egg sacs to Snoopy, the most curious of our three cats. (Side note: If Snoopy had lived through the 90's, I most definitely would have nicknamed him "Snoop Catt.") Looking back, the chef in me can't believe that we threw away such a delicious part of the fish. However, the alarmist in me can't believe we thought it was OK to eat anything that came out of Lake Erie, which was once declared dead. It still shocks me that my Pops never reeled in anything resembling the radioactive man-worm featured in the all-time creepiest episode of "The X Files." But radioactivity/heavy metal toxicity aside, I can't help but wonder what sort of culinary magic could have been conjured up if we'd held on to that roe.



So what does shad roe taste like? It tastes like a combination of very mild liver laced with mild whitefish. It has a delicate texture that could easily be overpowered if you overseason it, so don't go crazy with the accoutrements, just let its flavor shine. While it's traditional to cook it simply in bacon fat or butter, try my twist - Shad Roe Saltimbocca!

　

Shad Roe Saltimbocca

1 T. bacon fat

2 T. butter, divided in half

several fresh sage leaves, minced

2 pairs shad roe

4 slices prosciutto

splash dry white wine

lemon wedges, to serve



Prepare the shad roe by dividing the pairs into individual lobes, being careful not to tear the membrane. Using a pin or the tip of a very sharp knife, poke several microscopic holes in each lobe of roe - this will prevent them from bursting.

Preheat your broiler. In the meantime, melt the bacon fat and 1 T. of the butter. Pour this into a casserole dish to coat the bottom. (Hint: You'll want to use a casserole dish that just barely fits the roe - you don't want much space between each lobe of roe or between the roe and the sides of the dish.)



Sprinkle the minced sage into the greased casserole dish, then add the shad roe. Divide the remaining butter into 4 pats and place one on top of each lobe of shad roe, then top each lobe with a slide of prosciutto. Pour a quick splash of dry white wine into the dish, shake the dish to distribute the wine, then throw the dish under the broiler for 5-7 minutes or until the proscuitto is crisp and the roe has firmed up and lost its pink color.

Serve with lemon wedges - a quick squirt of lemon juice really perks up the flavor!



When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like A Big Pizza Pie, That's A Dinner...

Pizza Night!  I perfected last weekend's dismal yet edible ranch pizza, and I also decided to make a 2nd pie topped with figs, shredded prosciutto, and smoked mozzarella.  Yes, I made two trips to the store, and yes, both were worth it! 

I do have my mom's recipe for pizza dough, but when you're in a hurry and haven't planned in advance, Whole Foods sells pre-made dough.  Each 1lb. package will make two 12-inch pies.  You can buy it fresh or frozen, but honestly, if you're going to wait for frozen you might as well make your own.  You can cook the pizzas on a cookie sheet, or you can buy a pizza pan with holes in the bottom, which will help you achieve a more evenly cooked crust. 

Ranch Pizza
1/2lb. pizza dough
cornmeal
2-4T. ranch dressing
1-2c. shredded mozzarella
4-6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
6 thin slices fresh tomato

Preheat oven to 465.  Stretch the dough out so that it forms a thin circle.  Sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of the baking dish, then place the dough on the cornmeal, stretching it thin to create an approximately 12" diameter crust.  Brush the uncooked crust with the ranch dressing, then top with the shredded mozzarella, bacon crumbles, and tomato slices.

Bake the pizza for 14-16 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden.  When it is done, remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes, then slice into six slices so that each slice contains one tomato.  Enjoy! 

Fig, Prosciutto, and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza
1/2lb. pizza dough
cornmeal
olive oil
1c. smoked mozzarella
4 slices prosciutto, shredded or sliced into 1/4" strips
3 fresh figs, each cut lengthwise into four slices, as shown

Prepare the pizza dough as directed in the Ranch Pizza recipe.  Brush the uncooked crust with a thin coat of olive oil, then top with the smoked mozzarella and shredded prosciutto.  Next, arrange the fig slices in a decorative pattern, either as shown in picture, or create your own.  It should look like an edible kaleidoscope.




Bake the pizza as directed above, and once it is cooked, slice into 6 pieces so that each slice contains two figs. 

When making pizzas, the possibilities are endless.  If you have leftover roasted garlic, combine it with some olive oil to form a paste and top with a mixture of Italian cheeses.  Roasted red peppers would go well with  mozzarella, mild Italian sausage crumbles and chopped parsley.  Try olive oil, gorgonzola crumbles, thinly sliced ham, and fresh sage leaves. 

What do you put on your pizzas?  Contact me at baconbutterbooze@gmail.com and share some of your favorite toppings and combinations!