A Michelin-starred recipe celebrating the “paranza,” a dish made mostly with small fish that owes its name to the typical boat used to carry out this type of fishing, which is especially common in the Tyrrhenian Sea: Pescato di paranza with lemon leaf potato cream and pesto of breadcrumbs and parsley by Michelin-starred chef Gennaro Esposito of La Torre del Saracino restaurant in Vico Equense in the province of Naples.
The cooking of the different fish, which differ from each other, offer to the taste an interplay of different flavors and textures that make this dish interesting to even the most demanding palates.
Ingredients for four people
For the pesto
For the creamed potatoes
For the fish
Procedure
For the pesto
To begin the recipe, combine all the ingredients except the bread and oil in a mortar. Pound vigorously until the mixture takes on a homogeneous consistency, at which point add the bread previously stripped of excess vinegar, and continue to pound. Add the oil, stir and keep aside.
For the creamed potatoes
Bring the milk with the lemon leaves to a boil, remove from the heat, and let steep for about forty minutes. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Combine the potatoes and previously strained milk in the glass of a thermo mix. Blend at a temperature of 80 °C for about 22 minutes. Strain with the help of a chinois and keep in a bain-marie.
For the fish
For the paranza recipe, cook the different types of fish in the following ways. Cook the redfish and gurnard fillets at a temperature of 62 °C for about 10 minutes; season with salt. Place the strawberry fillets from the skin side on the lemon leaves, grill gently.
Cook bream fillets in steamer and season with salt and oil. Pan-fry red mullet, cuttlefish, and prawns separately with a drizzle of oil and season with salt. Saute spinach hearts with garlic and oil, season with salt and set aside.
Dish composition
Place two spoonfuls of creamed potatoes in the center of the paranza, followed by the spinach hearts, pesto the tomato confit and lay all types of fish alternately on top. Complete with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and whirl pepper.