Seared Scallops with Garlic Butter Sauce
The best dishes are often the simplest. It’s a chicken and egg argument, at times; are you inspired to create a simple-yet-utterly-divine dish because you’ve found some amazingly fresh, beautiful ingredients? Or has your love of simple, clean, delicious flavors inspired you to seek out the best and freshest ingredients available? Either way, the end more than justifies the means.
I would walk to the ends of the earth for a plate of perfectly prepared seared scallops. Lightly caramelized garlic-butter sauce over the top just sends these over the edge in ways that cannot properly be expressed with mere words. If you don’t want to lick the screen right now, I can only conclude that you don’t like, are allergic to, or haven’t ever had good scallops. If the latter is the case, please try some at your earliest convenience—you’ll wonder how you’d never tried these delightful morsels before. 
Day Seventeen: (Mi finga la) Tiella Gaetana
Up until now, I hadn’t made a stuffed bread for this project. Granted, we’re only a couple of weeks in, and I’ve got the better part of a year left. But since I’m me, I decided that it needed to be done now. This may or may not have been influenced by the fact that once I saw this entry on Tiella Gaetana, I knew I had to try it.
Of course, what Alberto says about the idea of there being so much olive oil in the filling that it drips down the eater’s arms didn’t sound terribly appetizing to me, either. I love olive oil, but if I want to bathe in it, well, that’s not really a topic for a food blog, is it? 
Since none of my tried and trusted army of cookbooks on my shelves had a recipe or even a mention of this dish, I turned to the vast wonder of the internet in search of guidance. The description Alberto gives is good, but I wanted to be sure of what I was getting myself into. In the course of that search, I found this recipe, which sounded good…but it didn’t account for the tomatoes Alberto mentions. Of course he mentions too that there are many different variations on this recipe, and at its heart, it’s about a simple combination of good ingredients…but I really liked the idea of the tomatoes with the octopus.
So what I ended up doing was inspired by the two above, but I wouldn’t call it wholly authentic. Here’s what I did.
(Mi finga la) Tiella Gaetana
INGREDIENTS
For the bread
- 1 c. lukewarm water
- 2.25 tsp instant yeast
- 1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 c. tipo 00 flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
For the filling
- 1/2 lb cleaned baby octopus
- 14 oz fresh roma tomatoes, roughly chopped (if the tomatoes in your store are looking skeevy, canned will work…or hold off on this recipe until your local tomatoes are gorgeous)
- 1/2 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 c. black olives
- 1 tbsp capers
- 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil (plus more for brushing the top of the bread)
- 1/2 c. parmesan, freshly grated
- Splash of balsamic vinegar (optional)
- Sea salt + freshly ground black pepper, TT
PREPARATION
Pour lukewarm water into a bowl; add yeast and stir to dissolve. Add flours and salt and stir to combine. Knead into a smooth, elastic (yet slightly sticky) ball; cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft for at least an hour (longer won’t hurt at all).
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add octopus and cook for a couple of minutes, until octopus are firm and fully cooked. Do not overcook or the octopus will be rubbery. Drain immediately, then chop into bite-sized pieces. Mix with remaining ingredients until everything is fully combined. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Refrigerate while you wait for the dough to rise; allowing the filling mixture time to rest will enhance its flavor.
When the dough has finished its first rise, punch down and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead for a couple of minutes with lightly floured hands, then split into two equal balls. Flatten balls into discs, lightly dust with flour, and cover with a clean towel. Allow to rest and rise for 30 minutes before proceeding. Preheat oven to375F.
When 30 minutes have elapsed, roll each disc out to a circle of about 9″ in diameter. (The actual diameter is less important than the idea that the discs should be equal in size and shape.) Spread your filling onto the bottom disc, then place top disc on and gently fold edges together to seal. At this point, you can form the edges into wavy bits with your fingers as Alberto specifies in his article.
Brush bread all over with plenty of extra virgin olive oil and place on baking sheet (with parchment paper or without; it’s up to you). Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bread is lightly browned and crispy. Cut into quarters and serve immediately.
Serves 4 moderately hungry people, or 2 very hungry people.
This is obviously something that’s best eaten as soon as it’s out of the oven. We did have some leftovers, so I’ll make sure to update this entry later to let you know how well it reheats. I can say for certain I wouldn’t dream of putting this in the microwave; that way only lies tentacular terror and disappointment.
Look for an update to this entry after lunch, which is when I’ll be popping the leftovers into the oven.
[ETA: Reheated for about 15 minutes in my oven. Started from a cold oven, set it to 350 and then set the timer. The result is quite good; in fact, I believe it may actually be better than last night, because the flavors have more thoroughly married within the filling. To me, it has a more cohesive taste, and the crust still has that lovely feel and taste you can only get from brushing it with olive oil. Yum. I probably wouldn't keep it more than an extra day or so, though.]
Janaki
