Gino's Seafood and Pesto Pasta on the Ligurian Docks | Gino's Italian Escape E23 | Our Taste

I'm continuing my personal tour of the seven regions that for me defined hidden Italy I'm still to visit the picturesque region of pimonte to the north and next week I'll be taking in the iconic landscape of Tuscany to the east but tonight I'm in liguria which is also known as the Italian Riviera the home to the UNESCO world heritage site of the five colorful fishing villages known as the Cinque Terre I've been to liguria before and I remember to be beautiful but not this beautiful and it's the location of this region which defines its produce its temperate climate means that basil grows a plenty make it a renowned for incredible pesto and with a sea full of fish you can find some of the best anchovies in Italy this is an area that absolutely showcases a picture-perfect Italian Coastal way of living but there is more to liguria that meets the eye as it produces the very lifeblood of Italian cuisine some of the world's finest extra virgin olive oil if the British Empire was built on capsule tea then the Roman Empire was fueled but his Liquid Gold [Music] Italy is the world's second largest olive oil producer and liguria is the most historic producer in Italy as its home to some of the country's oldest olive trees high up in the eels of Montero solmare one of the Cinque Terre towns is the olivaton El Parco a Farmstead where Tomaso and his family are taking full advantage of their location and climates do you mainly grow olive trees here yes mostly olive trees Sand Grapes some vegetable mostly holy trees the olive trees could be more than 200 years old is this a type of Olives that you you have around liguri this is a typical ligurian Olive there are 21 varieties of Olive Tree in Italy the tajaska is the native ligurian Olive and is smaller than the one that you see in the UK these olives are typically harvested in October do you think I can try and Olive yes of course is it going to be bitter a little bit a little bit okay I'm trying I'm always straight from the tree sounds good not too bitter good it's nice so it's ready to be present so how do you pick them what's the process of picking olives you know how does it come from an olive to Extra Virgin Olive Oil what do you do here we put nuts under the tree then by end we shake a little bit of the branch then you collect the olives for Tomaso it's been a difficult season he currently doesn't have enough olives to press so he's taking me to a local co-op where I can see how the extraction process works cooperatives like this exist across my country and serve as a key part of the community and as I'm learning olives grows everywhere around here even in people back garden and the thing is that anyone can come in these places and have their olives squeezed and then it becomes extra virgin olive oil how cool is that yes there are around 800 000 Farms growing olives across Italy and liguria alone produces half a million liters of oil annually the process of making oil has essentially remained unchanged over centuries first the olives are washed then ground before the liquid gold is finally extracted extra virgin olive oil is made by Cold pressing and normal olive oil by heat extraction in just one hour this little oil is Olive becomes extra virgin olive oil how wonderful and I love the fact that the locals can walk away with their very own homegrown olive oil olives are one of my favorite ingredients so I want to showcase them in a very special ligurian dish overlooking at the ligurian sea inspired me to cook this recipe which showcases the best of ligurian ingredients anchovies extra virgin olive oil olives and the recipes called Pollo conachugge a pepperoncino which is chicken with anchovies garlic chili very very simple one pot dish and everybody can do it and where do we start is right here with the chicken I go chicken legs chicken thighs which I think they work very good for this dish because they're going to keep the moisture and they're going to be very very tasty so what I'm gonna do I'm gonna put them in some plain flour okay so that's what you have to do get your oil into a hot pan make sure that the oil is nice and hot and then massage the chicken into the flour just like that make sure that all the pieces are beautiful and coated into the flour so just check any excess flour off and straight into the oil that's cook the chicken on each side for three to four minutes until golden brown at this point what you want to do you want to cook them for about three or four minutes on each side make sure that the skin is nice and crispy and turn them at least twice oh look at that it's exactly what I wanted nice and crispy outside and don't forget to wash your hands after handling the chicken same pot we're going to add two cloves of garlic and what I want you to do just crush it so pick them up straight into the oil and that after the garlic I'm going to add the anchovies this is one of the best of really good in ingredients okay and I'm using anchovies in oil I'm gonna pour six straight into the pan okay in there then I'm gonna put olives and a bay leaf okay bay leaf like that now let me give you a very quick tip about bay leaf this is a hard leaf okay so to get the flavor out from this Leaf it's going to be quite difficult the way to do it you're gonna have to bruise it crush it like that the more you bruise it the more flavors you're gonna come out my lips goes in there olives [Music] a couple of pinches of chili flakes and fresh Rosemary just put in there stalk leaves whatever you want just put in there like that and start to mix everything together what I want you to do with the wooden spoon is make sure that you break the anchovies into the oil so what's gonna happen there the saltiness and the flavor of the anchovies is going to stay into the sauce but you're not gonna get those fishy bits in your mouth okay job done straight away we're going to add balsamic vinegar and it's very important when you add balsami vinegar you let it bubble it for about one minute so the acidity goes away the flavor stays into the sauce [Music] 100 millimeter will definitely do the job mix everything together look at that all those bubbles the balsamic starts to caramelize with the garlic the anchovies add 100 milliliters of water followed by 200 milliliters of passata or saved Tomatoes I mix everything together once the sauce is all mixed together add in the chicken pieces make sure when you put them in you cover them slightly with the sauce just a little touch of salt not too much remember you got the anchovies in there that they're quite salty cover it with a lid and cook it for 40 minutes but don't forget every 10 minutes go there and move the chicken around foreign [Music] the color is incredible it kind of looks like when you do barbecue chicken everything gets nice and sticky that's the balsamic vinegar because it's sweet with the passata let's put this together this is gonna be beautiful and tender I would deserve my dish with beautiful rose potatoes to something different something that's nobody's ever tried before oh look at that the best of the ligurian coast right here in one place [Music] [Applause] what I've learned is that you may think you know somewhere but it is always something new to experience and I'm constantly being surprised on this food Odyssey I'm traveling through the heart of wood for me is Italy's most iconic Coastline spanning over 200 miles the ligurian coast is filled with a hidden gastronomic gems I'm now traveling from the hills of Montero salmare to another Coastal Village of the Cinque Terre to experience not just food but an Italian way of life [Music] this is vernazza another classic Cinque Terre town but as no cars are allowed here it's an unspoiled gem glittering on the coastline Cinque Terre translates as the five Earth Villages that span the 21 miles of the likurian coast and vernazza is the fourth heading north an unspoiled fishing Village this place is famous for seafood as well as fresh fruit and vegetables Ma I'm not here to experience the traditional food markets as I've heard about a master gelato whose flavor combinations are out of this world and I can't wait to meet him making news of all the local fresh produce is John Luca who's following his family's tradition in pushing the boundaries of Italian gelato with their unique flavor combinations and this frozen dessert is a national way of life no Italian would refuse The Lure of gelato so I want to find out how to make the perfect one now how long have you been doing this since 1999 my dad opened this shop okay he taught me everything he showed you all the secrets yeah he taught me to me and to my brother all his secret he was his dream to let know how to make gelato to his children yeah he's special we are making a seasonal gelato using typical ingredients local to liguria the interesting thing about your Lucas gelato is it consists of three key ingredients peaches basil and surprisingly salt yeah to give a bit of uh because Pizza special remember I trust you John Luke and I visit all together before pouring the mixture in the gelato machine to cool down but what I really want to find out is the difference between ice cream and gelato gelato is made with fresh fruit fresh milk and serve it in a temperature minus 12. -12 yeah okay an ice cream ice cream is seven minus 22 23 is strong as it's colder yeah so let me get this straight gelato fresh milk fresh fruits yeah served a minus 12 so creamier easy to scoop ice cream long life milk minus 22 harder harder yeah I prefer gelato and 10 minutes later we have just that Perfecto gelato look like a cream yeah I mean it's incredible after 10 minutes it becomes gelato yeah it's done and now we have to put the gelato in the fridge okay for 15 minutes let's do it I want some gelato so hurry up okay come on after what feels like the longest 15 minutes ever my gelato is ready to taste there you go now let me see definitely you feel the basil yeah that kind of honesty flavor of the basil the peach peach smooth not too sweet which is really nice this to me is perfection this is to me is what Italy is all about your father would be very proud of you well done thank you very much thank you thank you I'm very happy after trying the basil gelato it's inspired me to take a unique Twist on a traditional ligurian dish in liguria pesto is one of the most famous dressing of all and I don't know if you realize I used the word dressing and not a sauce because the sauce is something that you would heat up in a pan and serve it hot with chicken with pasta whatever you want to use it dressing is something that you serve always at room temperature and the paste I'm going to prepare is a parsley pesto with garlic and capers yes I know in liguria the traditional pastry is made with basil parmesan cheese a pine nuts but because I'm gonna do a linguine with scallops the parsley and Caper space so it's going to really really work and complement the flavor of the scallops so where do we start here make sure your pan is very very hot so I'm going to add a nice Noble butter straight in and on top of the butter I'm going to drizzle a little olive oil and the reason why I'm doing that so that the butter doesn't burn oh yes nice and sizzling scallops I'm using Italian scallops which they usually smaller they go straight into the hot pan now scallops guys the secret is very simple don't overcook them this little one will take probably 15 second on each side if you got a big one cook them for about 30 to 40 seconds on each side [Music] just going to add a little touch of salt [Music] and a little black pepper it's not raving so get a plate and just put the scallop in a plate and don't forget the batter in the oil it's going to have full of flavors there yeah so now what I'm gonna do I'm going to rest in the scallops and meanwhile I'm gonna start to boil the water for the pasta and as the water is boiling I'm going to show you how to make the pesto for my parsley pesto I'm using a pestily mortar for the pesto take a large handful of flat leaf parsley add two cloves of garlic a tablespoon full of pine kernels and a tablespoon of Capers I'm using Capers that they are in brine you can find them in those little jars if you want to use the one in salt yes you can just rinse them under cold water once you got that we're going to pour a little bit of salt and pepper and then I'm going to start to add a little extra virgin olive oil this not the only thing you got to do Mash everything together this is exactly the way I want it to look nice and coarse [Music] and at this point what I want you to do get the scallops that you rested straight in with all the butter the oil remember this is all flavors going in fold everything together I'm just going to add a little more extra virgin olive oil just to loosen up the dressing ah and then to refresh it lemon zest [Music] okay one more mix fantastic now you can imagine the flavors here right you got the Capers the freshness of the lemon The Parsley the scallops the pine kernels this is Sexy And if you make it a little bit more you can leave it in the fridge up to 24 hours and then use it the day after okay paste already let's cook the pasta let's see perfectly boiling water the only thing to add now a little bit of salt and I'm using linguine yes you can use spaghetti but I think linguine with scallops and pesto looks really really cool in there straight away cooked linguine for roughly 8 to 10 minutes pasta should be nice and Al Dente perfect now what I want you to do you can drain it or you can use a pair of tongs like this and go straight into a large bowl yeah and don't worry if there is a little bit of water from the cooking pasta because that will help the dress that's done now okay The Parsley dressing straight into the pasta [Music] okay at this point the only thing you have to do is coat the pasta in the dressing [Music] use your tongs to twist the linguine as you serve the last thing that I want you to do to this dish now is to put any kind of cheese grated on top you will ruin the flavor of this pasta linguine with scallops and parsley pesto what can I tell you minimum efforts maximum satisfaction it's hard to resist the charms of the beautiful Cinque Terre but I'm tearing myself away to show you one last secret Hideaway as I'm here to uncover hidden places come with me I'm venturing a few miles away to the seaside town of levanto where these pedestrian tunnels link these little pieces of Earthly Paradise here you can find some of Europe's best beaches and if you're lucky you can have them all to yourself I've been to liguria before but this time I've definitely learned new things incredible gelato amazing extra virgin olive oil so if I can give you a tip get yourself down here stay off for the beaten truck and enjoy definitely worth it [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Our Taste

Views: 42,287

Keywords: Our Taste, Documentary, Food Documentary, Full Episode, Full Length Episodes, Food, Drink, Cuisine, Recipe, Cooking, Cooking Show, Meal, Chef, Restaurant, Vegetarian, Vegan, Cooking Hacks, Food Hacks, Cooking Videos, Cooking Competition, Cooking Ideas, Food Ideas, Easy Recipes, International, Travel, Food Around The World, Tasty, Meals, Desserts, Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch, Food From Around The World, British Food, American Food, French Food, Foodie, How To Cook, Cooking For Beginners

Id: 7AaY0EPMV3s

Length: 21min 1sec (1261 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 06 2023