Sardines Piemontese Style for Seven Fishes Feast

 This time of year there is always so much going on, but we're all always wondering what to make for those special occaions. Joe over at Italyville is hosting his 2nd annual Seven Fishes Feast event. Joe's family hails from Calabria, down in the southern part of Italy where this traditional Christmas Eve feast originated and he always has some great recipes on his blog. He'll be rounding up a variety of dishes to share with everyone to try for your own holiday feast. Be sure and stop by for the roundup which should be tomorrow the 19th at Italyville.
Up here in land locked Piedmont, the 7 fishes tradition is not really celebrated by native Piemontese, but it isn't to say that fish isn't a focus now or other times of the year, as most all Italians love fish. The Piemontese particularly love their anchovies, which find their way into their traditional bagna cauda and just about any other  winter vegetable you might imagine. Last year I shared a simple traditional anchovy antipasto, whose recipe you'll find here. This year it's another antipasto, but featuring fresh sardines.  If your only experience with sardines is thones in the can, I do reccomend trying them fresh. I can still remember the first tie I had them grilled at a tiny cafe at the end of the Algarve in Portugal and they were such a revelation. This simple dish has a few variations but I like the simplicity and mildness of this one. This recipe does need to sit a couple of days to absorb the flavors. There's still time to get these made before you plan to serve them. These lightly pickled fish will get the juices flowing for the rest  of the feast that is to come without overpowering or sitting too heavy.

Sardines Piemontese Style
 Serves 6

1/2# (250g) fresh sardines, cleaned and gutted
flour to dredge the fish in
Olive oil to pan fry

1 cup white wine
1/2 c white wine vinegar
1/4- 1/2 red onion sliced
S&P

After you have your cleaned sardines, make sure to pat dry if you havejust washed them.
Dredge the fish in some white plain flour and set aside. I shook them up in a bag with flour last time and found that to be too much flour, so go easy on the flour. A quick pass throught the plate with the four on both sides of the fish is plenty.  Sprinkle a bit of salt over all the fish.
 Heat your skillet up and add a small to medium amount of oil. You don't want them to stick nor to you want them supper oily.
Once hot, add your fish and allow to lightly brown on both sides.
emove from pan and allow to cool to room temerature.

In a small sauce pan combine the wine, vinegar and onion.
Bring to a boil and gently simmer for a few minutes till the onion is sft, but still has some body to it.
Remove from hear. Add a  genrous pinch of salt and pepper. Let col to room temperture before pouring over your single layer of fish tht is at room temperature as well.  I like to use a shallow tupperware type container
Cover in an airtight container and refrigerate 2 days. You might want to scoop up the liquid from one corner of the pan and drizzle it over the fish once or twice while they are rsting in the refridgerator
Serve 2-3 per person at room temperature, with or with out garnish.
At home it is usually served, as is.

A Tomini for you and me

Recently, we hosted guests that were celebrating a special birthday in a special way. They wanted to cook, drink and experience the culinary offerings of our slice of Piedmont. Fabrizio and I were only too happy to guide them on this journey as we navigated our way through the Pinerolo market, local vineyards with samplings of the fruits of their labor, and a hands on cheese making lesson culminating with a tasty antipasto to make again, once back home. It probably will be challenging to find a fresh, soft cheese like our Tomini when they try it back home, and they certainly won't find any quite as fresh, but they will have a good basis for appreciating the labor that goes into making cheese, I think.

We arrived at the fattoria just as the milk was ready to form curds and be ladled up, thereby missing out on the more strenuous milking and the waiting game for the milk to reach the appropriate temperature for making the magic happen. Once all these elements came together, we all had a go at gently gathering them up and depositing them into the draining forms that gives a Tomini it's name. Then after a brief rest, for the cheese, that is, we worked on mastering the more delicate process of flipping them over, before they come to rest againin order to continue draining out the remainder of the whey .

Mastering the art of the flip.

Our host and teacher made it look quite simple, but she does have the advantage of endless daily cheese making sessions of the various cheeses. The cows just keep on giving milk day in and day out, no holidays, and they just keep making the Toma, Tomini and ricotta, just to name the main ones that are produced in our part of the alps.

So when we made an antipasto with the fresh Tomino with a couple of varieties of tomatoes that we had purchased in the market, there was a small competition amongst the group as to whom had made the best plate presentation. I thought they were all good, but this is the one that seemed to translate best in a photograph. Let the taunting begin.

Simple Tomini Pomodori Antipasto

Take fresh Tomini towers and slice them into 1/2 inch/ 2 cm rounds. One Tomino will feed two people.
You could use ricotta or any other fresh soft cheese that you can find in place of this local specialty

Slice some of your favorite just barely ripe tomatoes into same size rounds. One to two tomatoes per person.
We used Cuore di Bue(Ox heart) and Camone from Sardenga, as our local tomatoes are not quite ripe yet.
These local favorites make a nice blend as the former is full flavored and mild and the small Camone are tart and juicy. Dicing a few for additional garnish is a nice touch as well.
Finely chop rucola (arugula/rocket) into a chiffonade or small bits to make a nice bed for your stacks.
Alternate tomato and cheese rounds with some finely torn fresh basil.
A sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Drizzle all with hot pepper olive oil or any other good quality oil or flavored oil.
Serve at room temperature.
A zippy start to any meal.