A recipe based on fagiolinas and Trasimeno lake fish, the flavours of Umbria’s great culinary tradition.
Ingredients to serve 8-10: 500g of carpa regina roe, 1.5kg turnips, 400g fagiolina, 1 large onion, a shallot, 4 cloves of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, a half to whole glass of tart white wine, the juice of one lemon, of desired, a teaspoon of tomato sauce, plenty of pepper, a pinch of chilli powder, salt to taste.
Rinse the roe. Chop up the onion and garlic and (if you have one) a shallot. Let it cook slowly in olive oil in a large pan. Make sure to add a few drops of water now and again to keep it all nice and moist.
Once it is all softened in the pan, add the roe and stir constantly until you notice the roe softening. Add a few spoonfuls of the white wine and keep on stirring. This will not harm the dish because the flavour of the wine, if you taste it later, is a pleasant addition.
Continue to cook adding olive oil, water and wine using your good sense so that the eggs swell up and remain soft. Add salt.
I believe that adding olive oil during the cooking is very important.
If you want to enhance the orange-yellow colour of the eggs add a dollop of tomato sauce. It will not change the flavour but will make the dish you are preparing all the nicer to look at.
Dust the pan with a bit of finely ground pepper, and maybe even add a bit of the chilli powder, an ingredient even we Umbrians have come to love. Add the lemon juice, stir and remove the pan from the stovetop. Cook the white part of the turnips and then let them simmer in a pan in some oil and garlic. Make sure they are cut into very small pieces so that when tender they blend in easily with the rest of the dish. In the meantime, boil the fagiolinas in salted water and, in my opinion, a clove of garlic. Add some salt to taste and set aside.
Add the turnip mixture to the pan with the roe and mix it all. The cheerful effect you’ll get is what earned this dish the name I gave it: Fiorita.
Place it in the shape of a crown on large flat plates, with an empty centre. Season the fagiolinas with some olive oil and pepper and then put them in a small clay bowl at the centre of the crown. Then amaze your guests with this unusual and delicious starter.
From the book Sentori di Lago Trasimeno: cucinario di eccezione e di invenzione by Maria Teresa Baldoni Edizioni Era Nuova.