| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 45 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 2 servings |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 45 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 2 servings |
Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large or 2 small onions, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- Kosher salt
- 1 fennel bulb, cut into 1/2-inch dice, fronds reserved
- Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 (28-ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes, pureed
- 1 large pinch saffron
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup water
- 4 extra-large (U-10) shrimp head-on unpeeled
- 1 dozen littleneck clams
- 1 cup cooked or canned cannellini beans, drained
- 2 cups escarole leaves, washed and torn into pieces
Instructions
- Coat a large saucepan with extra-virgin olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Add the diced onion, season with salt, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the fennel and crushed red pepper and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat for 1 to 2 more minutes. The veggies should look soft and wilted, be very aromatic, but not have any color. Add the white wine and cook until it has reduced by half. Stir in the tomatoes, saffron, lemon zest, bay leaf, and 1 cup of water. Taste for seasoning, and season with salt. It should not taste done but it should taste good. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Taste again; it should taste really good now. Add some more salt, if needed, (it probably will). Turn off the heat and reserve.
- Coat a large skillet with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Season the shrimp generously with salt. When the oil is sizzling, add the shrimp and cook them on both sides until they turn pink, about 1 minute on each side. Remove the shrimp from the pan to a plate and reserve.
- Remove the oil from the pan and put over medium-high heat. Add the clams and the cooked tomato mixture. Cover and cook until the clams begin to open, about 5 minutes. If the tomato mixture starts to become too thick add some water. Taste to make sure it tastes good and season with some salt, if needed. Add the beans, escarole, and the cooked shrimp. Cover and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Remove the clams and shrimp from the pan to a bowl. Spoon the tomatoes and beans into 2 large bowls. Arrange the shrimp and clams on top. Garnish with the reserved fennel fronds and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Call yourself a super star!
Reviews
As I said I enjoy the episodes and the funny side of Anne. I would prefer if more time were spent on the techniques used to make the dish and less time on the emotional/disastrous side of the new cooks. While I know this is the higlight of the show, I personnally would like to learn the techniques along side oof the other participants.
Thanks again for my viewing enjoyment.
One reader suggested “Why didn’t they teach them how to cook normal foods like a roast, meatloaf with roasted veggies, dry pasta with meatballs.” Well quite simply because anyone can look at a cookbook and understand how to put stuff on meat and put it in the oven, or boil water and put pasta in it. The show isn’t trying to teach people how to make passable bachelor food… it’s teaching them how to actually cook decently. They’re learning the techniques needed to make anything that wouldn’t accompany a 1950s TV dinner. Now I know the shrimp w/heads and saffron may look intimidating but the basic premise of the dish is simple.
As for the recipe.. it’s quite good.
I am going to try this recipe in the future, when I am more comfortable with cooking techniques.
Both Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan should lose their part of the competition, because they are lousy teachers and all they do complain about how bad their students are when the title of the show should give them a hint, teach them the right way!
I THINK THE CRITERIA FOR ELIMINATING CONTESTANTS SHOULD BE TO ELIMINATE EVERYONE WHO CRIES.
AS FAR AS THE CRITICISM BEING TOO ROUGH , HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED “CHOPPED” …..IT’S BRUTAL, SOMETIMES JUST FEELS MEAN-SPIRITED AND BOY! DON’T EVER DISAGREE OR TRY TO DEFEND YOUR DISH WITH THAT CREW. ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE MADE A GOOD POINT, THEY EITHER THROW YOU OFF RIGHT AWAY OR REALLY PUNISH YOU BY WAITING UNTIL THE VERY END.
I was curious as to how this show would evolve and I think I’ll tune in next time to see what happens. I was hoping that the really worst cooks would stay on and not get eliminated because the ones that are moving on, I can already see their potential. But what about the others who really ned help?
Hopefully any sanitation issues will immediately be addressed. And since when is licking a knife considered appropriate? ( have seen a judge on another FN show LICK HER KNIFE! )
Why didn’t they teach them how to cook normal foods like a roast, meatloaf with roasted veggies, dry pasta with meatballs, some homemade vegetable soup or macaroni and cheese. Something that normal beginning cooks would enjoy to make and serve to their friends and it could even be a little fancy. Maybe chefs can’t remember how it was when they started to cook like not being able to boil water or to only know how to open a can of soup or a bowl of cereal. I think that would have been more entertaining. I would have liked to see what that guy that boiled that whole chicken would have come up with next. Good luck to the newbies; don’t give up keep cooking and at the end of the show you can try normal foods on your own. I love Step-By-Step Cookbooks like Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.
also, the show picked out the worst, and now its a compition to see who will be able to improve, i thought it was entertaning and enjoyed it