They are the protagonists of the New Year's Eve dinner but also of all the lunches and dinners of the Christmas holidays. Very ancient food, one of the first legumes cultivated by man, much appreciated by the Greeks first and by the Romans, lentils have carried with them over the centuries the popular belief that whoever eats them on New Year's Eve will face a year of riches . The reason for this belief dates back to the propitiatory custom in vogue among the Romans of giving, at the beginning of the year, a scarsella (a leather handbag) to be worn tied around the waist filled with lentils. The reason? First of all, due to their disc shape they recalled coins, then due to the fact that they swelled during cooking, they gave the sense of accumulation of wealth, but more likely above all because they were rich in proteins, iron, mineral salts, starch and vitamins, for which they were called "the meat of the poor" they gave the gift the symbolic value of food aid and support in difficult times.
Their recurring marriage at Christmas, as per tradition, is with cotechino and zampone.
However, First&Food has also thought of those who do not eat meat and need a lighter and more digestible diet. And here is Chef Stefano De Gregorio's recipe, to whom First&Food dedicated a portrait in the "Stories of Chefs" gallery last June, who proposes an auspicious stew of lentils with seafood for the holidays, a dish that brings the flavors of the sea and of the earth on the table and above all respects beliefs and superstitions.
Even if he is originally from Busto Arsizio, with grandparents from Molise, Stefano De Gregorio, battle name on social networks Chef Deg, like a machine gun shot, the sea is in his blood. Chef without borders, in the sense that he always loves to go beyond customs and above all a free spirit in the sense that he has chosen not to have a restaurant of his own but to dialogue on social networks in which he is very popular with his fan-customers because for him he confines himself among the four walls of a restaurant kitchen is like retiring to a hermitage. His passion for the sea has given him great satisfaction: winner of the Cous Cous Festival and then of the Girotonno in Sardinia, De Gregorio feels immersed in the full Mediterranean culture.
Resident chef of Saporie Lab in Milan where food events are organized, video recipe recordings, photo shoots, he is Director of the Company of Chefs, a team of Italian cooks who work to promote Italian agri-food excellence. Interpreted with creativity and attention to the territory, and carries out consultancy for the whole peninsula.
Even if a free spirit is not born out of nowhere, his schooling (life and professional) has been enriched by important experiences at Savini Tartufi's Tartufotto in Milan, the Tano pass me the oil restaurant by Tano Simonato chef a Michelin star and in particular by the great Igles Corelli, one of the great protagonists of the history of Italian cuisine, one who traced history, together with his great friend, first master then competitor Gualtiero Marchesi, patron of the legendary restaurant Il Trigabolo in Argenta two Michelin stars where several chefs are trained who have then won Michelin stars.
Stefano Di Gregorio's recipe: Stewed lentils with seafood
Ingredients
Ingredients for four people:
400 g of lentils
250 g of mussels
250 g of clams
8 langoustines
4 cuttlefish
12 date tomatoes
basil
1 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
50 g of parsley
2 chillies
sale
for cooking the lentils:
celery
carrot
onion
rosemary
Method
Preparation
To prepare the stew of lentils with seafood, wash the lentils and cut the celery into pieces. Remove the ends from the carrot, peel it and cut it into small pieces. Do the same with the onion. Put the vegetables in a pot full of water, add the salt and the lentils. Cook for 30 minutes.
Heat a pan with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, parsley and chilli pepper and add the clams. Close with a lid and remove the clams as they open. Do the same procedure for the mussels. Filter and set aside the water that forms in the pan during this phase. Clean the scampi by removing the head and carapace. Heat a pan and add a clove of garlic, crushing it directly inside, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Put a pinch of salt only on the garlic.
Clean the cuttlefish by depriving them of the head, open them like a book and cut them into strips.
Add a little chilli to the pan with the garlic. When the pan is flavored, remove the garlic and chilli pepper and cook the cuttlefish over high heat. After a few moments, remove the cuttlefish from the pan and cook the scampi inside.
Also remove the scampi from the pan, add a little more chilli and deglaze with the shellfish cooking water kept aside. Then cook the lentils.
Cut a few datterino tomatoes in half lengthwise. Perfume the pan-fried lentils with a few chopped basil leaves and add a few clams and some shelled mussels and a few clams and some mussels in their shells.
Add the scampi, cuttlefish and datterini tomatoes to the pan and season with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Introduction
Serve in a deep dish, creating a base with the fish broth, adding the ingredients cooked in a pan, garnishing with a few fresh basil leaves and dressing with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and grated lemon peel.
