Marinated Shellfish with Bell Peppers and Tropea onion Chutney

Marinated Shellfish with Bell Peppers and Tropea onion Chutney

“Many years ago, when the food guide award dinners at the old Hilton in Rome (now Waldorf Astoria) were endless, at some point I had to abandon them due to professional commitments. But I was sorry to miss one memorable dish and so Heinz Beck admitted me into his kitchen. Seeing him work, I fell in love with the physical commitment involved, and the quality that this produced. Heinz arrived to Rome in 1994 after an almost exclusively German experience.

They entrusted him with the 'La Pergola', whose name was more of a Roman trattoria style than of a restaurant with starry aspirations. This immediately began an unthinkable revolution for the capital, which had remained far behind the evolution of the North. 'La Pergola' went crazy on “live” TV when on 'Porta a Porta' in 2001 we announced the achieving of their second Michelin star. And again when he hosted the BMW Guide dinners (which consecrated Heinz as chef of the year in 2004, one year ahead of his third star), he had the great generosity of hosting great emerging chefs who would go on to establish themselves in the following years.

The recipes he has dedicated to our wines are a proud plunge into the nostalgia of the past and a promise for the future.”

Bruno Vespa

The recipe

Ingredients for 4 persons

Pepper Salsa

3 Bell Peppers (Capiscum)
3 Celery Stalk

Rice Flour Chips

175 g Water
20 g Rice Flour
50 gr Extra virgin olive oil

Lemon Gel

50 gr Lemon juice
50 g Water
1 g Agar Agar
Salt
Sugar

Lemon and caper Sauce

1 Lemon
25 gr Capers
¼ Potato
Broth

Red Tropea Onion Chutney

50 gr Diced Tropea Onion
20 gr White vinegar
12 Sugar

Shellfish

4 Red Prawns
4 White Prawns
4 Scampi 
Extra virgin olive oil 
Salt
Lime
Espelette Chili Pepper

To decorate the Plate

4 Capers, desalted
Various aromatic herbs

Preparation

Pepper Salsa: Wash two peppers, oil them and cook at 180 ° C for 40 minutes; peel, cut 1 bell pepper into concassé and puree the second. Wash, peel and small dice the remaining pepper to brunoise. Repeat the same procedure with the celery and blend the compounds to obtain a homogeneous sauce.

Rice Flour Chips: Combine the ingredients into an even dough. Cook the mixture in boiling oil, forming the chips with the help of a 10cm diameter pastry cutter.

Lemon Gel: Mix the lemon juice, water and agar agar and bring to a boil. Allow to cool, blend and, if necessary, add salt and sugar. Store in a sac a poche.

Lemon and Caper Sauce: Peel and de-pith the lemons. Fry, seeds removed, together with the capers. Add the broth and the previously boiled potato and bring to a boil. Blend and strain.

Red Tropea Onion Chutney: Cook all the ingredients together until the vinegar is completely absorbed.

Shellfish: Clean the shellfish; reduce the pulp into tartare and season with extra virgin olive oil, salt, lime and espelette pepper.

Arrange the pepper sauce in the center of the plate, followed by the chutney, the lemon and caper sauce, the desalted capers and finally the shellfish. Place the rice flour chips on the crustaceans and finish with aromatic herbs and a few dabs of lemon gel on the surface of the chips.