Anchovy

Pasta e Broccoli in ray (skate) broth

by:
January 23, 2011
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Pasta e Broccoli in ray (skate) broth
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

An old roman classic, the fish broth made it cheaper and you had a second course with the boiled fish. The original would be with the roman broccoli, wich is seldom in markets outside Rome (not to mention the States). Sicilian broccoli - known as broccoli in the Us - would do. —basilico

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ray
  • 1/2 pound broccoli
  • 1/4 pound spaghetti
  • 1/4 pound "pelati" tomatoes
  • 1 salted anchovy
  • 1 onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 celery stick
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/2 gallon glass of white wine
  • parsley
  • 1 chilli pepper
Directions
  1. Clean the ray brushing it under cold water and put it in a pot with 7 cups of water and the vegetables (celery, carrot, onion, parsley). Cover, bring to boil and simmer at very low heat for 20 minutes. When the fish is cooked, take it from the broth and clean it (you can make a lemon, olive oil and herbs dressing and serve it as a starter). Put back the fishbones and skin in the broth and keep it going for 20 minutes more.
  2. While the fish cooks, chop the garlic, parsley and chilli pepper and put it in a casserole with extra virgin olive oil on low heat. Add the salted anchovy that you will have cleaned and washed and let it melt, helping yours with a fork. Add the tomatoes and the wine and cook for twenty minutes.
  3. Separate the broccoli in small tops and add to the tomato sauce. Turn on the heat and cook for five minutes.
  4. Filter the broth, and add it to the sauce together with some of the fish. Gentle cook for ten minutes. Break the spaghetti and add it to the soup. When the pasta is cooked, serve hot. No cheese on top!
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2 Reviews

Helen's A.
Helen's A. February 10, 2011
It is well worth the effort to find skate for this (note: I used skinless skate). The dish smells divine and the broth is sweet, subtly flavored with the skate. On the whole the dish is much milder than I expected and I found that once added, the broccoli takes over the flavor even with the addition of the broth. With such a mild fish, I would eliminate the broccoli then proceed with the rest of the recipe. This would let the skate really shine through. Garnish each bowl of soup with a generous drizzle of your favorite fruity olive oil. Serve with a hunk of fresh crusty bread. I think this simple change would make it an EP. You could also substitute another vegetable for the broccoli. Use either 2 to 3 cups torn escarole or 2 diced cooked artichoke bottoms; proceed with the rest of the recipe. Any mild white fish would probably work in this; I made a version with flounder and found I didn’t like the broccoli in it either. I used 1 ½ lb flounder with skin and bones cut into large chunks in my version. I made no other changes to the recipe. Since some quantities were unclear, I used these quantities: ¼ cup parsley, 2 tbs olive oil, and 3 oz wine. Also “pelati” = peeled. This needs to be served at once, if left to sit, the pasta absorbs most of the broth. For some reason my flounder version was nothing but a pot of noodles once it had cooled! One could make this in advance up to the point where the noodles are added. When ready to serve, heat the soup to a simmer. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe.
 
Helen's A.
Helen's A. February 5, 2011
Found the skate! Will be making this side by side with flounder as well. Since skate isn't the easiest thing to find. Got mine at HMart in Burlington MA. My local fish markets are able to special order it...