At a recent cooking presentation at Taste of Roma the chef Francesco Apreda shared a recipe that reflects both his Italian heritage and mingles it with influences from his recent travel in Asia.CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOPPING LIST

Difficulty: medium
Preparation time:  1 hour (not counting preparation of the amberjack sauce)
Cooking time:  4 hours for the sauce and 20 minutes for the tartar, mussels and parsley root sauce
Cost: 25 euros

PROCEDURE

Amberjack sauce
1.4 kg amberjack fish (California yellowtail)
500 gr tomato pulp
garlic, red paper flakes, parsley
Filet the fish and place the filets, covered with moist paper towels and plastic wrap, in the refrigerator.  Carefully wash the fish bones and head (removing eyes and any blood before hand).  Make a bed of garlic, parsley and red pepper flakes in a pan adding the tomato pulp, a pinch of salt and the fish bones and head. Cook and then cover with about half a liter of water and let slowly simmer for 4 hours.  Afterward sift the sauce through a fine sieve and then again through a linen cloth.  Place it back on the stove and let reduce by half.

Amberjack tartar
40 gr salted capers
1 lemon grated for zest
extra virgin olive oil (evo)
coarse salt
Eliminate all skin and bones from the fish filets and cut the fish into small cubes. Cut the capers. Garnish the fish with capers, lemon zest and drizzle with evo just before serving.

Parsley root cream 
300 gr of parsley root
400 ml milk
extra virgin olive oil (evo)
salt
Peel and mince the roots then cover with milk in a pot and cook adding salt to taste.  Once fully cooked, drain the mixture and blend to a cream adding a bit of evo.

Shelled mussels
700 gr mussels
100 ml white wine
garlic, red pepper flakes, parsley
Wash the mussels very carefully and place them in a pan with the garlic, red pepper flakes, parsley and white wine. Cover and bring to a boil then stir to help coax the mussels to open.  Shell the mussels and filter the water they were cooked in with a fine sieve.

Soy noodles with amberjack sauce 
800 gr soy noodles
extra virgin olive oil (evo)
Bring the fish sauce to a boil, add the noodles and let cook stirring continuously.  When the noodles are ready add the cooking water from the mussels if necessary and then the mussels themselves. Drizzle with evo.

GARNISH

100 gr salmon eggs
fennel leaves
cauliflower in tiny pieces

PLATING

Warm up the parsley root cream and spoon it onto the plate as a base for the noodles.  Add the noodles with the sauce and garnish with the tartar, salmon eggs, cauliflower and fennel leaves.

WATCH VIDEO OF CHEF FRANCESCO APREDA PREPARING THIS DISH

Photo credit:  Andrea di Lorenzo
Video credit:  Rai.tv