Cappon Magro, tradition on the table.
A Genoese dish that can be considered an appetizer but also a second course.
I prepare Cappon Magro the way my grandmother did, and after her, my mom, without gelatin, because my family doesn’t like it.
So this recipe is a slightly different version from the original.
After all, at Christmas, every family has its own traditional recipe passed down through generations, which I am also trying to teach my daughter so that she can pass it on to her children.
If you have never tasted Cappon Magro, you don’t know what you’ve missed, and this could be the right opportunity to catch up. 🙂
It is a dish made of fish, vegetables, green sauce, and sailor’s biscuit. I use a few ingredients, but I still think the result is beautiful.
To prepare this dish, sailor’s biscuit or a hardtack is used. These are products that can fundamentally be considered equivalent, but in essence, they are not.
The sailor’s biscuit is a small dry focaccia used by sailors, hence the name sailor’s biscuit, because being so dry and hard, it kept well on ships for a long time.
The hardtack, which is not a sweet biscuit, is made from a long, narrow loaf of bread (like a baguette) that is sliced and then baked again to make it very dry.
We Genoese buy the sailor’s biscuit in many bakeries, and I have seen that it is easily found online, but as I have explained, you can easily use a slice of toasted bread or even a frisella.
So let’s cut to the chase and prepare our Cappon Magro, tradition on the table.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Hours
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
For the preparation of Cappon Magro, tradition on the table, you will need:
- 1 bunch parsley (about 3.5 oz)
- 1 clove garlic (optional)
- 1 oz pine nuts
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 5 fillets anchovies in oil
- 1 slice bread soaked in vinegar (only the well-squeezed crumb)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- 1 carrot
- 1 oz green beans
- 1 potato
- to taste extra virgin olive oil (for seasoning)
- to taste vinegar (for seasoning)
- to taste salt (if necessary)
- 1 sea bream (seabass)
- 1 octopus (small)
- 10 shrimps
- to taste extra virgin olive oil (for seasoning the fish)
- to taste salt
- to taste lemon juice
- 18 sailor's biscuits (2 biscuits for each serving)
Steps
Blend all the ingredients in a mixer until you obtain a creamy sauce, to which you will add some oil to keep it smooth.
Clean and boil the potato, green beans, and carrots separately.
Cut the vegetables into pieces and season them with oil, vinegar, and salt.
I steamed the sea bream, but you can also boil it.
I boiled the octopus, let it cool in its water, and cut it into pieces.
I boiled the shrimps for a couple of minutes in boiling water.
Then I seasoned everything with a drizzle of oil, lemon juice, and adjusted the salt.
To assemble my Cappon Magro, I started using previously greased jars because this way, when you flip them, the Cappon Magro comes out perfectly.
You will need to alternate layers starting with the green sauce, then the carrots and adding a shrimp, so when you flip the jar, you will have a beautiful effect, the green of the sauce, the orange of the carrots, and the pink of the shrimp.
Insert the sailor’s biscuit dunked in water and vinegar, then the fish, octopus, and shrimp, brushing each layer with the green sauce, the vegetables, green beans, and potatoes, and finally the sailor’s biscuit.
I preferred to put few vegetables, a lot of fish, and you will see that compared to the many recipes you find around, my version is also very quick.
Storage.
It keeps for two days in the fridge.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What fish can be used instead of sea bream?
Sea bream is fine, but also seabass or meagre.
Which shrimps did you use?
I used pink shrimps.
