Three easy but elegant ideas for dinner at home (with the advice of the chefs)

As far as you can program your own New Year’s Eve dinner, never as in this period, last minute changes are not uncommon. For example, instead of going out, stay at home and organize a last minute dinner. If this is your case, do not panic: not only are there many deliveries that bring home great menus, but even at the last you can serve a successful home-made dinner.

The important thing is to have a few tricks up your sleeve: hence the idea of ​​asking for lights from two capable chefs, Matteo Metullio and Davide De Pra, respectively 32 and 36 years. They brought the elegant Harry’s Piccolo of Trieste to win the second Michelin star in 2020. Metullio is a talent of Italian cuisine, suffice it to say that in 2013 he was the youngest Italian chef to win the first star. Triestino doc, has always had a strong vision in the kitchen: loves the pursuit of quality without geographical limits and nicely defines it as “true km cooking”. And indeed it is.

Tradition and a sense of belonging have made our chefs turn to a fish menu. In any case, nothing prevents you from preparing a nice cotechino with lentils at midnight … Anyway, let’s start with raw fish and shellfish.

1. «On the one hand, let’s think of a carpaccio: amberjack, sea bream, sea bass are fine but we are for the red snapper with a light marinade. Two-three minutes are enough in a mix of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pink pepper. It can be served with a squeeze of lime, a mango salad and a crumble made from crumbled fennel taralli, which gives the crunchy note “explain Metullio and De Pra. On the other hand, a chopped langoustine. «We enrich it with burrata stracciatella, a carpaccio avocado salad, lime peel and the usual mix of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pink pepper. A couple of drops of sesame oil also work fine. But the extra touch is to use the heads of the prawns, passing them in the blender with a classic mayonnaise: it gives the right intensity to the mixture.».
2. Pasta cannot be missing. Our chefs focus on a Benedetto Cavalieri spaghetti with sea urchins. «Pasteurized to avoid any risk or in jars where they have already been slaughtered, of Mediterranean and possibly Italian origin. To have 80 g of pulp, ideal for four people, it takes about one kg of product “they recommend. Three quarters of the way through cooking, drain the pasta and put it in a low and wide pan, where there are already 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil and two or three cloves of garlic, slowly browned. «Remove the wedges and put a drop of cooking water away from the fire, if you want a pinch of Carolina chilli. At that point, the cooking of the pasta is finished in the time indicated as if it were a risotto, adding a little vegetable broth. The final creaming involves a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano and a gremolada consisting of four fifths of parsley and one fifth of untreated lemon peel. A spoonful of sea urchin pulp is the delicious finish of the dish ».
3. A nice “big fish” is always nice. The ideal may be a 2 kg hen, cleaned well, without entrails and gills, «The belly should be filled with a bit of aromas such as sage, thyme, rosemary, then a pink grapefruit peel and the classic clove of garlic. It should be cooked in a static and non-ventilated oven, set at 50 ° and leaving it inside for at least an hour. After the first half hour, the cooking is checked by inserting a toothpick in the upper part of the fillet: the more liquid comes out, the more raw the fish is ». Does it make sense to serve it with vegetables? “New potatoes are perfect: they must be boiled first, with the peel, and when they are half cooked they are cut to create the ‘bed’ of the hen. Then put some piennolo tomatoes between the potatoes and the fish. Above are also olives, capers, fresh basil and a little oregano “underline the cooks.
4. The sweet closure? Fantasy in power. But you can do (great) recycled cooking and surprise your guests by cutting the slices of a panettone – leftover is perfect – and grilling them in a non-stick pan until they are as crunchy as a brioche. «We drop a not too seasoned Gorgonzola Dop on top of the slices and it is pure enjoyment, also because the cheese binds well to the candied fruit and raisins of the panettone. An extra touch, two drops of balsamic vinegar “explain the chefs already at work for the Harry’s Piccolo New Year’s Eve menu which starts from Oyster, caviar and Champagne (obviously, in a creative style) to Babà, ricotta ice cream and flowers orange, citrus, thyme meringues. To close the reassuring, inevitable cotechino with lentils. Greetings to all.