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X Italian Pasta Dishes
Vermicelli with fish (baked and layered with tomato sauce, olives, and breadcrumbs)
Originated from: Italy
Occasion: Any time
Contributed by: Taken from "Simple Italian Cookery," by Antonia Isola (Harper and Brothers, 1912)

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Ingredients

One-half pound of vermicelli
Salted water for boiling vermicelli

For tossing sauce
Two tablespoons of olive-oil
A little chopped-up parsley
Five smelts
Butter
Breadcrumbs
Thick tomato sauce
Some anchovy
A few capers
Three or four ripe olives, chopped up
One mushroom
Salt and pepper




Directions

"Boil one-half pound of vermicelli in salted water, drain, and mix with two tablespoons of olive-oil and a little chopped-up parsley. Then set to one side to get cool. Take five smelts, split them, take out the bones, and fry them slightly in one teaspoon of olive-oil. Butter a pan and sprinkle it with bread crumbs. Then put into it one-half of the cold vermicelli. Pour over this some thick tomato sauce (one tablespoon of tomato paste cooked in two tablespoons of olive-oil). Then put in the smelts cut in two, some anchovy, a few capers, and three or four ripe olives chopped up with one mushroom. Then add the rest of the tomato sauce, then the other half of the vermicelli, and on

top a layer of bread crumbs. Season all well with salt and pepper. Put the pan into a moderate oven, and cook about an hour and a quarter, adding a little olive-oil when necessary, so that it will not dry up too much. Any fish may be used instead of the smelts, cutting it into thin strips."




Notes

This recipe was taken from "Simple Italian Cookery" written by Antonia Isola (pen name for Mabel Earl McGinnis). It was published in the United States by Harper and Brothers in 1912. It is believed to be the first American cookbook that contains Italian recipes. For the complete copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org. A variety of recipes from this cookbook can also be found on this website.... Photo: Mary Melfi

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