Pesce Spada Sotto Sale Con Marmellata Di Limone All Alfonso Longo Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare the fish and lay the slices in one or two large, shallow ceramic dishes. In a mortar with a pestle, pound the sea salt with the brown sugar, finely grinding the two together. Rub the poultice onto both sides of each slice of fish, baptizing the whole with grappa or vodka and strewing the lot with the fennel fronds.
• Cover the dish or dishes tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two days, turning the fish once or twice a day.
• To present the fish, remove some of the larger pieces of fennel fronds and lay the cured slices on a large, flat platter, drizzling them with any drops of liquid that might have accumulated during the cure. Strew the fish with the fried lemon zest, passing lemon marmalade and a basket of crostini (see below for zest, marmalade, and crostini).
• First weigh the lemons, or have them weighed at the fruit market, as you'll be using two-thirds their weight in sugar to make the puckery jam. Slice the lemons fairly thin and toss them into a heavy, shallow pan with the prescribed sugar and enough water to barely cover them.
• Over a lively flame, stirring constantly, cook the mixture for a few minutes, then lower the flame and, still stirring, cook for 20 minutes or so, until the water has evaporated and the fruit is softened and trapped in a glossy, thick syrup.
• Let the marmalade cool and then portion it out into 2 or 3 jars with tight-fitting lids to store in the refrigerator. The confection will stay nicely for a week to ten days.
• Finely shred the lemon zest. In a small saucepan, barely cover the zest with cold water and bring to a simmer. Quickly drain the zest and dry on absorbent paper towels.
• Over a lively flame in a small saucepan, warm the olive oil and sauté the zest, tossing it about, letting it crisp a bit and take on a good, deep color.
• In a large sauté pan over a medium flame, warm the olive oil and brown the bread well on both sides, cooking it until it is quite crisp.
• Let the crostini rest a bit on absorbent paper towels before placing them in a napkin-lined basket.