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Inzimino, florentine style, with cuttlefish and "snakes"

(Inzimino alla fiorentina di seppie e serpenti)

  • 600 grams of cuttlefish already cleaned and cut in pieces
  • 1 Kilogram of French beans (the type so called S. Anna, they look like snakes) trimmed and cut in three parts
  • a chopped mixture composed by:
    4 garlic cloves
    a small bunch of parsley
    3 hot chili peppers
    8 spoons of oil
    300 grams of ripe tomatoes
    a glass of white wine
    salt
Take a quite large pan with a thick bottom and with a lid of good seal and brown over a blazing flame the cuttlefish together with the chopped herbs for 4-5 minutes, continuously turning in order anything will attach on the bottom of the pan. When the garlic will have a light brown colour and will not give off any smell, bathe with the wine and, always over a blazing flame, let evaporate: it will take 3-4 minutes. Now add the tomato that you have previously mushed in a blender (it should be like a purée), turn and mix very well, salt and boil once again; you should cook this stuff for few minutes (2-3), at this time add in the pan the French beans. Turn and boil once again, then adjust the heat for a very slow cooking, cover very well and cook, at least, for 30 minutes or until the beans will be very tender.
At this time taste and add, if necessary, some more salt, remove the lid from the pan, continue to turn (very often) and cook for 9-10 minutes more over a medium blazing flame, then switch off the fire and serve.
This is a classic recipe of the Florentine cooking, even if it is prepared with spinach instead of French beans (S. Anna).
This type of beans has demonstrate to be wonderfully suitable for this recipe, because they add to the light sweetish taste of cuttlefish their acute spicy flavour and, by this way, an admirable balance has been created.
In the event you think the spicy flavour of these beans excessive, they can be previously boiled in salted water for 15 minutes and once drained, they are added to the cuttlefish at the same cooking point, only reducing the cooking time to 10 minutes.

A Giuseppe Alessi recipe
Translated by Gianna Toni


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