Recipe of the week: Cappon magro

Cappon magro is a rich seafood and vegetable salad served on a hardtack. It is typical of Genoa and of Ligurian cuisine.

It is not just a delicious dish, but also a treat for the eyes, since the ingredients are arranged into a colourful pyramid and dressed with a green sauce.

Traditionally, since there is no meat in it, cappon magro was a dish prepared for fast days. From this comes its denomination “magro”, which means “light” or “lean”.

The origins of the name “cappon” are not certain. The main hypothesis is that this name derives from the fact that cappon magro was fishermen’s alternative of capon, although some claim the name refers to the hardtack, called “chapon” in French.

Today, cappon magro is still considered a dish for special occasions.

Here is our suggested recipe for cappon magro.

Ingredients

4 hardtacks

800 g of scorpionfish

1 lobster

12 shrimps

6 oysters

200 g of seafood

300 g of beans

1 small cauliflower

3 salsify roots

1 beetroot

4 artichokes

1 white celery

2 carrots

2 potatoes

1 tbsp marinated mushrooms

10 olives

1 lemon

1 garlic clove

vinegar

oil and salt

Ingredients for the green sauce

a bunch of parsley

crumb of a small loaf of bread

2 garlic cloves

20 g of pine nuts

30 g of capers

4 green olives

2 salted anchovies

2 boiled eggs

1 glass of oil

½ glass of vinegar

salt

Method

Boil all vegetables separately, chop them and season with oil, vinegar and salt.

Boil the scorpionfish in water and herbs. Peel it, bone it, cut it in little pieces and season with oil, salt and lemon.

Boil the lobster and the shrimps.

Gently open the oysters.

For the green sauce: blend parsley, garlic, pine nuts, capers, the yolks of the boiled eggs, the crumb previously soaked in vinegar and squeezed, the olives without the stone, and a small pinch of salt. Blend until obtaining a creamy sauce, which you will then sift and dilute with oil and vinegar.

Rub the garlic onto the hardtacks, add some oil and then dampen them with water and vinegar.

Alternate layers of fish and vegetables on the hardtacks, adding the green sauce each time.

Once a colourful tower has been created according to tastes, cappon magro is ready to enjoy.