When one is fasting, the meals one does eat should include protein.
As seen above, olives, chick peas, eggs, bread sticks and tuna can be healthy and filling.
Here are some larger meal meatless soups.
Cacciucco is a fish stew made in the Tuscan port of Livorno.
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of mixed fish (see list below)
- A half a medium onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic
- A bunch of parsley, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 pound sliced fresh or canned plum tomatoes (if they're fresh, blanch and peel them)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar diluted in 3/4 cup of water
- Salt to taste
- Crumbled or minced hot red pepper (about a half teaspoon, or to taste - don't overdo it)
- Toasted Italian bread rubbed with garlic
Preparation:
The Fish: Whatever is in season (it needn't be expensive), for example, sole, mullet, catfish, dogfish, goby, squid, octopus, fresh shellfish (see The Joy of Cooking for treatment instructions), and shrimp. Chop the large fish, but leave the small ones whole.
Procedure: Sauté the onion, parsley, and garlic in the oil in a deep bottomed pot. Once the onion has turned translucent, stir in the chopped tomatoes and season the mixture to taste. This is one of the few hot North Italian dishes, so don't feel you must be sparing with the red pepper. When the tomatoes are done, stir in the water and vinegar. Simmer the for a few more minutes and remove the garlic. Blend the sauce and return it to the fire with the fish, and, if you wish, sprinkle another tablespoon or two of olive oil into the pot. Simmer the cacciucco until the fish is done, 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, toast several slices of bread and rub them with a crushed clove of garlic.
Once the fish is done, line the bottoms of your bowls with the toasted bread, ladle the cacciucco over them, and serve.
Yield: 4-6 servings
Procedure: Sauté the onion, parsley, and garlic in the oil in a deep bottomed pot. Once the onion has turned translucent, stir in the chopped tomatoes and season the mixture to taste. This is one of the few hot North Italian dishes, so don't feel you must be sparing with the red pepper. When the tomatoes are done, stir in the water and vinegar. Simmer the for a few more minutes and remove the garlic. Blend the sauce and return it to the fire with the fish, and, if you wish, sprinkle another tablespoon or two of olive oil into the pot. Simmer the cacciucco until the fish is done, 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, toast several slices of bread and rub them with a crushed clove of garlic.
Once the fish is done, line the bottoms of your bowls with the toasted bread, ladle the cacciucco over them, and serve.
Yield: 4-6 servings
Fish Bouillabaisse
same yield
same process...
Ingredients
- Rouille
- 6 slices baguette
- olive oil
- coarse salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 12 tsps orange zest (freshly grated)
- 1 leaf parsley (chopped fresh, garnish)
- 5 lbs red snapper (monkfish or striped bass bones heads removed)
- 2 cups tomato paste
- 12 cup olive oil
- coarse salt
- black pepper
- 6 carrots (sliced 14 inch thick on the bias)
- 2 fennel bulbs (sliced 14 inch thick on the bias)
- 1 bunch celery (sliced 14 inch thick on the bias)
- 2 onions (sliced)
- 3 leeks (white parts only sliced)
- 6 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 6 cloves 16 cups Homemade Fish Stock (sliced)
- 2 tbsps saffron (fresh)
- 1 cup pernod (2 tablespoons)
- 750 mls white wine (chardonnay)
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes (canned)
- 12 shrimp (jumbo)
- 24 ozs monkfish (pieces)
- 24 ozs striped bass (pieces)
- 1 12 lbs cuttlefish (cleaned)
- 3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 oranges (halved and sliced)
- 2 red onions (thinly sliced)
- 1 cup fronds (chopped green fennel)
- 2 cups olive oil
- 2 cups carrots (finely chopped)
- 2 cups chopped celery (finely)
- 2 cups fennel (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp saffron
- 2 lbs mussels (scrubbed and debearded)
- 2 lbs clams (cockle)