Baked Grouper with Wild Mushrooms:Forno con Funghi Trifolati

Oh, Mario. You with the clogs and the enthusiasm and passion for what you do. You have changed my life.

For the better. I can always count on you for a recipe to take food to that special place but using simple ingredients to do it. And you do that with this recipe, Forno con Funghi Trifolati which simply put is Baked Grouper with Wild Mushrooms.

This is a fast, easy recipe that will impress even the most snobby fish eater. Mushrooms and garlic are sautéed together with sun dried tomato paste and thyme and put over grouper filets that you have browned til golden. Then you run it in the oven with white wine and topped with the mushrooms. Couldn’t be easier. Or better. This works with a variety of fish, but the grouper rocks!

So do you, Mario.

Baked Grouper with Wild Mushrooms: Grouper al Forno con Funghi Trifoliati
Adapted from Mario Batali

2 good swirls extra virgin olive oil plus 2 more good swirls later in the recipe
½ pound baby bella mushrooms, cut in ¼ inch slices
3 fat cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1-2 tbsp sun dried tomato paste
2 large pieces grouper filet (about 12 ounces )
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup dry white wine
¼ chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a 12 inch ovenproof saute pan, heat 2 good swirls of olive oil til just smoking. Add the mushrooms, garlic and saute for three minutes. Add the sun dried tomato paste and thyme, and continue to cook about five minutes. Remove the mixture to a bowl and set aside.

Season grouper well with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat remaining swirls of extra virgin olive oil in the same pan and add the fish. Saute until deep golden brown on the first side. Carefully turn the fish, add the wine and put the mushroom mixture in the pan. Put in oven and cook for about five minutes until fish is cooked through. Remove from oven, sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

Serves 3

Baked Grouper with Wild Mushrooms:Forno con Funghi Trifolati

Farro Soup in the Style of Lucca (Minestra di Faro Lucchese)

When you read a lot of food blogs, like I do, many times you’ll come across an ingredient, something you hadn’t heard of , and the next thing you know everyone is cooking with it. It becomes the new best friend of food blogs. Farro is one of those new best friends.

Researching farro, also known as emmer, (the things you learn on the web), revealed a whole world of recipes that use it. Breads, pastry crusts, salads, risottos and soups. Enter the Italians . They’re the ones that have known about farro forever. As well they should, it’s the original grain. The daddy of all the grains we know now. Dates back thousands of years.

They also know soup. It’s a passion in their country. Must be because in the Italian language, there are three words that translate to the English word soup. Zuppa is a basic soup, minestrone, the kitchen sink of Italian soups using both fresh and leftover cooked vegetables. And then there is minestra. Fits somewhere in between. A filling, substantial meal that includes grains (farro) or pasta and is usually made with vegetables that are in season. Magnifico!!

Farro Soup in the Style of Lucca: Minestra di Faro Lucchese
Adapted from a recipe by Mario Batali

A couple of swirls extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, cut in half, then sliced

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 small leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced

1 cup farro

1 (12-ounce) can borlotti beans, rinsed and drained (pinto beans can be substituted)

1 tablespoon sundried tomato paste

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
A small piece of rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (about 2 inches wide)

Water

1- 1/2 cups fresh or frozen green peas

2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves and Italian parsley, chopped

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Your very best extra virgin olive oil for garnish

In a Dutch oven , heat the olive oil over a medium-high flame until hot but not smoking. Add the onion, fennel, carrot and leek and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly caramelized, about 15 -20 minutes. Add the farro, beans, and tomato paste. Stir to combine ingredients well. Salt and pepper, to taste. Add water until the mixture is completely covered. Add the rind of cheese Let the liquid come to a boil then lower the heat and let the soup simmer gently for 45 minutes.

Add the peas , stirring to combine, and continue to cook for another 30 minutes, adding more water when necessary.Remove the rind before serving.

Chop Italian parsley and fresh basil for garnish. Serve with more Parmesan Reggiano cheese and a swirl of your best olive oil.

Serves 4-6.

Farro Soup in the Style of Lucca (Minestra di Faro Lucchese)