by Daniel Costa
Christmas is my favourite time of year. I love getting together with my family and cooking special dishes, having disagreements and drinking a lot of wine.
I bring a ton of ingredients for the dishes I want to make; baccala is an absolute must every year. My dad and I bicker back and forth about how to cook the dishes, what the real tradition is.
We drink a lot of white wine from all over Italy and everyone helps cook the meal. My brother-in-law is also a great cook so he tends to be my right hand man. The idea is to have a sit down Christmas Eve dinner but we generally eat the majority of the antipasti around the island in my parent’s kitchen while we cook the rest of the food. I always bring fresh fish for the secondo but we are generally so full that we skip the final fish course.
My dad and I are the last ones awake. Around 2am we eat some panettone or sneak some of the stollen my mom made for Christmas Day and have vin santo or amaro while watching a Christmas movie or an old Italian movie on TLN.
It’s a beautiful time of year.
Anchovies in Salsa Verde
This is a snack to eat while drinking white wine and cooking the rest of your feast. Only use good quality anchovies; they will have the perfect balance of umami. Put these in a sandwich, salad or pasta the following day.
| 1 tin | 310 g, olive-oil packed anchovies (I like Agostino Recca, at Italian Centre shop) |
| 310 g | olive-oil packed anchovies (I like Agostino Recca, at Italian Centre shop) |
| 1 bunch | Italian parsley (tough stems removed, tender stems closer to the leaves are very good) |
| 1 clove | garlic, minced |
| 1 T | capers |
| 1 | lemon zested and juiced |
| 1 | small fresh red chili pepper suchas birds eye, thinly sliced |
| ¾ c | high-quality extra virgin olive oil |
Place the parsley and capers on a large cutting board and finely chop. Place the chopped parsley and capers in a bowl with the garlic, lemon zest, juice, chili and olive oil. Mix with a spoon. Set aside.
Arrange the anchovies close together on a small platter. Pour the salsa verde over the anchovies, leave at room temp for 30 minutes before serving. Serve with charred bread.
Rosemary and Orange Prawns
I have been making these Sicilian-inspired prawns for years and people always love them. Don’t forget to ‘scarpetta’ the bottom of the platter with a piece of bread after!
| 1 kg | raw peeled prawns |
| 1 | large orange, zested |
| 1 sprig | rosemary, leaves removed from the stem and finely chopped |
| 1 clove | garlic, minced |
| ½ c | extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 T | chili flakes |
| kosher salt |
The day before
Dry the prawns with a paper towel. Place the prawns, orange zest, rosemary, garlic, olive oil and chili flakes in a bowl. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for 12 hours.
Day of
Preheat oven or grill to 450ºF.
If using the oven: place the prawns and marinade on a sheet pan, sprinkle evenly with kosher salt. Put in the oven and cook for approx 12 minutes (depending on your oven) or until just pink. You will need to stir the prawns around the 7-minute mark. Remove from the oven. Place on a platter, pour any cooking juices over the prawns. Squeeze the juice of your orange over the prawns and serve immediately.
If using a grill: place prawns all over the grill, turn once and cook until just pink. Place on a platter, squeeze the juice of an orange over the prawns and serve immediately.
Baccala Carpaccio with shaved Fennel Salad
This salad is so fresh and full of great textures. It is important to find very good olive oil for this; stop by the Italian Centre Shop for a large selection of olive oils from all over Italy.
| 1 400 g piece | dried baccala (salt cod) fillet |
| 2 bulbs | fresh fennel (medium-size), washed and peeled |
| 6 sprigs | Italian flat leaf parsley |
| 1 | lemon |
| ¼ c | high-quality extra virgin olive oil (Sicilian if possible) |
| kosher salt and black pepper |
Soak the baccala for 48 hours in cold water, change the water twice a day.
Place the lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Mix with a whisk to emulsify. Season to taste with salt.
Using a very sharp knife, slice the baccala against the grain as thin as possible. Lay the thin slices around a cold platter.
Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, thinly slice the fennel and place in a bowl with the parsley. Toss enough vinaigrette in the fennel to just coat. Season the salad to taste with salt and vinaigrette. Evenly place the fennel salad over the baccala. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a light crack of black pepper. Serve with a few lemon wedges if desired.
Christopher’s Moscardino
Christopher Hyde is the chef at Bar Bricco and will be the chef at our new restaurant Uccellino, opening in a couple of months. Christopher moved to Canada six years ago from Melbourne, and started at Corso when we first opened. We have worked together almost everyday since then. He comes to many family dinners during the holidays. Here is his famous Moscardini that he made on Christmas Eve last year; it is truly incredible.
| 2 | small Spanish onions finely diced |
| 3 cloves | garlic thinly sliced |
| 2 | bay leaves |
| 1 t | dried pepperoncini |
| 1 | lemon, juiced and zested |
| salt and black pepper | |
| 2 bottles | dry red wine |
| 8 c | water |
| 3 kg | baby octopus strained and no excess liquid |
| 3 T | extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 knob | unsalted butter |
| 1 handful | roughly chopped flat leaf parsley |
Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onion until translucent. Add garlic, chili, bay leaves and octopus, cook for approximately 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the lemon zest, red wine and water. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, simmer for 3 hours or until the octopus is tender and the liquid is reduced to a thicker consistency. You will need to skim off any impurities that rise to the top during the simmering process. Remove from the heat.
Finish by adding the butter, chopped parsley, salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Serve with grilled bread.
Spaghetti con Vongole (Spaghetti with Clams)
One of my favourite pastas of all time is spaghetti con vongole. The briny flavours of the clams with the wine, fresh parsley and the heat of pepperoncini are just perfect. I like my spaghetti to be quite al dente in this dish. You will have to work quickly when making this sauce; be sure not to burn your garlic or you will have to redo everything. Whatever you do, please do not put cheese on this, it will mask all of the beautiful flavours you developed.
| 1 pkg (450 g) | spaghetti (I suggest Rustichella d’Abruzzo found at the Italian Centre Shop) |
| 3 cloves | garlic, thinly sliced |
| 1 T | chili flakes |
| ½ bottle | dry white wine |
| 1 handful | Italian parsley, roughly chopped |
| 30 | fresh manilla clams |
| 3 T | kosher salt |
| ¼ c | high-quality extra virgin olive oil |
Bring 8L of water to a boil in a large pot with the salt. Add the spaghetti and cook 2 minutes short of cooking instructions or until quite al dente.
While the pasta is cooking: In a large, deep frying pan (big enough to generously hold the cooked pasta) heat the olive oil over high heat. Once the oil is hot (not smoking) add the garlic, quickly stir, once garlic is almost golden add the clams, chili flakes and white wine, put the lid on nice and tight, cook until clams are just opened, approx 5 – 6 min. Using a slotted spoon remove the clams, place in a bowl and set aside for a couple of short minutes. Using tongs or prongs drag the spaghetti directly out of the cooking water into the pan with the sauce. Add ½c of the pasta cooking water to the pasta, cook over high heat stirring constantly until the sauce is loosely coating the pasta, toss in the clams and parsley. Serve immediately.
Daniel Costa is owner/executive chef of Corso 32, Bar Bricco and the soon to be opened Uccellino.