| |
Baked Carp Stuffed With Rice And Nuts
(Sharan Polnen s Orechki)
|
|
|
| What You Need: |
|
|
|
½ pound filberts or hazelnuts
2 tablespoons unconverted longgrain white rice
A 3- to 3½-pound carp, cleaned but with head and tail left on
1½ teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup finely chopped onions
1/8 teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne)
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup strained fresh lemon juice combined with ½ cup water
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| How To Cook: |
|
|
1. Drop the filberts or hazelnuts into enough boiling water to cover them completely and boil briskly for 2 minutes. Drain the nuts in a sieve and, with a small, sharp knife, peel them while they are still hot. Grind the nuts in an electric blender or with a nut grinder or pulverize them with a mortar and pestle.
|
2. In a 2- to 3-quart saucepan, bring 1 quart of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the rice and boil briskly, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until partially cooked. Drain the rice in a sieve or colander, run cold water over it, and set it aside.
|
3. Preheat the oven to 400. Wash the carp under cold running water and pat it completely dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the fish, inside and out, with 1 teaspoon of the salt.
|
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy 8- to 10-inch skillet. When a light haze forms above it, add the onions and, stirring frequently, cook over moderate heat until they are soft and translucent but not brown.
|
5. Add the nuts, rice, red pepper, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and a few grindings of pepper, and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Cool to lukewarm, then spoon the mixture into the fish and close the opening with small skewers and kitchen string or sew it up with heavy thread.
|
6. Pour the remaining 3 tablespoons of the oil into a shallow roasting pan large enough to hold the carp comfortably, and tip the pan back and forth to spread the oil evenly.
|
|
7. Place the fish in the pan and brush the top with the remaining oil. Pour ¼ cup of the lemon-juice-and-water mixture over the fish and bake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes, basting it every 15 minutes with the remaining lemon juice and water. Serve at once from a heated platter.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
