Red mullet, pappa al pomodoro, black garlic | Gaetano Trovato

Ingredients for 6 people

To make "pappa al pomodoro"

• 2 kg san marzano tomatoes
• 4 carrots
• 4 green celery ribs
• 4 red onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 50 g basil
• 600 g Tuscan bread

Procedure

Once we have cleaned the vegetables, we start by creating a mire poix that we will stew over low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Once cooked, we will add the tomatoes cut into 4 and let stew for about 4 hours on low heat.
We pass the tomato sauce through a fine mesh at this point. Separately, we would have prepared a chopped garlic and a little celery, where we will finish cooking our tomato sauce, only now adding the basil.
Adjusted with salt and it will be ready to join the Tuscan bread, previously deprived of crust and cut into small cubes.
Let's add them to the tomato sauce brought to a boil to the required density.
We can also help ourselves with 0.5 grams of agar agar per 100 grams of gruel to get a harder density. So as to cut a perfect rectangle.
It is important to cook the agar agar for at least two minutes. Then we will pour the mixture into a lightly oiled baking dish.
The next day, after proper rest in the refrigerator we cut out a rectangle of 2.5 cm x 6 cm. That will be caramelized with a little brown sugar.

For the red mullet

• 6 mullets of about 150 g each

Procedure

We start by gutting the mullet, scale it, and the scales we will keep set aside to purge in a container with cold running water.
We will join the head without eyes to the center bone and then create a stock.
The mullet will be opened into a portfolio, then filleted but leaving the tail attached. And stuffed with a white fish filling.

To make the stock

Procedure

Stew shallots, green celery, carrot, garlic, and 10 cherry tomatoes. Combine the mullet carcasses roasted in a ventilated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
Combine when cooked and deglaze with white wine and 50 grams of tomato paste.
Cool everything with ice and let it cook for about 2h.
Strain and reduce to required density.

To make the filling

• 100 g white fish flesh
• 50 g egg white
• 30 g cream
• 5gr thyme
• Salt

Procedure

Blend everything with a food processor, pass through a fine-mesh sieve, and store in sac-a-poche. So you can stuff the mullet more easily.

For the fried fish-scales

Procedure

Once purged in running water, place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper to dry in a desiccator, then fried at 190 degrees for a few seconds.

For the black garlic

Procedure

To preserve the taste of black garlic, simply blend it with a little vegetable broth until a clear, smooth cream is created.

To make datterini tomatoes sauce

• 12 datterini tomatoes
• 30 g ginger
• 15 g green celery
• 5 g apple cider vinegar
• 200 g seed oil

Procedure

Blend in a professional food processor, the cherry tomatoes, ginger, celery and apple cider vinegar.
Once obtained a very fine mixture, add the seed oil in a trickle so as to create an emulsion.
Season with salt and store in a baby bottle.

Dish composition 

In a hot skillet with a little extra virgin olive oil, brown the mullet on both sides, it will take about 2 to 3 minutes. Important to leave the mullet slightly raw at the heart. This will preserve its juices.
Decorate the mullet with crispy scales and lightly sauteed glasswort.
Combine the mullet stock, and the tomato mayonnaise in the dish and finish by caramelizing the pappa al pomodoro and topping it with a few salt flowers.