Oreste's Recipes

Tench Risotto

MAIN PRODUCTS

Tench of Lake Garda – Pescherie Viviani
The tench lives close to the coast near the lake bed. Its meat is very tender and suitable for the preparation of sauces for risotto. The muddy taste that sometimes it has in summer can be eliminated by keeping the fish alive for some time in the clean water of a fountain as it is tied to a particular alga eaten by the tench.
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Riso Vialone Nano – Riseria Campanini
The Rice Vialone Nano Campanini is produced in the best territories of Verona and Mantua. It has a high yield when cooked, it absorbs well the condiments and is suitable for all types of risotto. It is excellent also for soups.
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Garda DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Frantoi Redoro
Redoro is the first to be awarded in 2013 with the title of Excellence for Garda DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil, known for its low acidity and fruity notes.
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PREPARATION:
1. First of all fillet the tench. Cut off the head just behind the gills and cut the dorsal from the head to the tail. Do it on both sides and the filet are ready. You can buy ready-made fish filet in a fish-shop.
2. Place a fillet on an oven plate. Brush with some Garda DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil, add the diced vegetables (celery, onion and carrots), add some white wine, add laurel leaves, season with salt and pepper and a hint of garlic. Bake for 40 minutes at 160 °. Then keep the coking juice in a glass. At this point, remove the bones from the fillet.
3. For the preparation of the sauce: in a saucepan saute carrots, celery, onion and a hint of garlic with Garda DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add the herbs, previously pureed, and the chopped parsley. When the liquid is evaporated, add the tench meat, the cooking juice, one teaspoon of tomato concentrate, salt and pepper at taste. Cook for about an hour, till the tench meat will be well mixed with vegetables.
4. For the preparation of the risotto: pour the rice in the sauce, toast it, pour in some white wine. When the alcohol is evaporated start cooking with vegetable broth. After about 16/18 minutes the rice is ready for creaming: add some butter, olive oil and mix well.
5. Preparation of the dish: pour a couple of ladles of rice in a dish, garnish with a few fillets of tench, season with pepper and the dish is ready.

DISH PRESENTATION:
The tench, as all other lake fishes, has a very delicate flavor. The herbs add flavor without covering the taste of the fish.
The fragrance of the dish is enhanced by Vialone Nano, type of rice that absorbs well the condiments.
The Garda DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil, known for its low acidity and its fruity aromas, used in the preparation and especially poured raw, enhances the flavors and aromas of this risotto.
For this dish Oreste suggests its house wine Custoza.

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PERSONS:
celery at taste
onion at taste
carrots at taste
garlic at taste
500 gr herbs
200 gr parsley
laurel at taste
tomato concentrate at taste
salt and pepper at taste
1 tench about 2 kg
320 gr Vialone Nano rice
butter at taste
cooking juice
half glass of white wine

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Pike in Sauce Gardesana Style

First cut of the pike’s head and tail, then cut it into three equal parts. Place the head and the tail into a pot with cold water and add the carrot, the onion, the celery stalk, two garlic clove halves, 1 bay leaf, a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt. Bring all to boil and let it simmer for at least 20 minutes, until there is a flavoursome and tasty fish stock.

Sieve the  soup and bring to the boil once more. Now add the three pike parts and leave it to cook for roughly 20 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce by frying the garlic in the saucepan with oil until golden brown. Then add the minced fillets of fish, the bay leaves, the capers and the vinegar and leave it to cook for a few minutes. Pour the sauce over the minced pike, wrap the dish in cling foil and store it in the fridge for a few days, until it fully unfolds its flavour.

* 1g = 0.035 ounces

Ingredients:

  • 1 pike, at least 2 kg*
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 6 herring (Alosa agone) or anchovies filets in olive oil
  • a handful of capers
  • bay leaves
  • chopped parsley
  • 1 cup of vinegar
  • 1 cup of olive oil