Erica De Mane

A springtime treat: soft-shell crabs, crisp and juicy, on a warm escarole salad.

Recipes:

Soft-Shell Crabs with Warm Escarole, Potato, and Lemon Salad
Whole Wheat Penne with Asparagus, Pancetta, and Green Jalapeño

My new goal is to try to replace about 75 percent of the refined carbohydrates in my diet (white rice, white bread, white spaghetti, white ziti, cannolis, and so on) with green vegetables, mostly of the leafy variety, either cooked or in salads. When I really stick to this I lose weight and feel good, since I not only cut down on my sugar intake but load up on Omega-3 fatty acids from all the greens. I feel pretty good about all those vegetables—except when I think about the cannolis and ziti I could be eating.

Working more vegetables into my life has really not been hard at all, especially since I grew up on leafy greens, bitter and otherwise but almost always prepared in a way that made them delicious. It’s the Southern Italian way, whether you live in Basilicata or in Greenwich, Connecticut. My grandmother picked dandelions, watercress, mystery weeds she insisted were edible, and all sorts of sprouting stuff from golf courses and neighbors’ backyards in Westchester County. It was humiliating for the family, but she couldn’t be stopped, she said. Her health would be in jeopardy, although her health was probably actually in more jeopardy from all the weed killer and bug spray and dog pee she ingested along with her greens. But she lived to be 99, so I guess she was doing something right. Maybe the gallons of fizzy purple Riunite Lambrusco she drank along with all the weeds canceled out all the bug spray.

Whole grains, green vegetables, small amounts of meat and fish: That’s a great diet. And wine, of course. Not Riunite if you can help it; drink really good wine with your vegetables. It’ll make you forget about all the cannolis and fettuccine Alfredo you’re missing. A good Southern Italian white for both these dishes is the Fiano di Avellino made by the great producer Mastroberardino, in Campania. It’s light and incredibly refreshing but has a slight honey taste that gives it richness and unique Southern Italian character (Fiano is an ancient Southern Italian grape).

In my continuing effort to provide you with the most delicious, slimming recipes, loaded with the Italian flavors you crave, here are two more good ones to keep you sleek and elegant and also very healthy.

Happy springtime cooking.

A note about cleaning soft-shell crabs: Soft shells are very perishable and should be purchased live. You can have your fish person clean them for you, but you should then cook them fairly quickly, within about 4 hours. If you want to buy them live and clean them at home, you’ll need to cut off their heads a little behind the eyes (I use kitchen scissors for this). That will immediately kill the things. Then you’ll want to remove the inedible gills on either side of the body by pulling back the soft shell. I usually just scrape it out with a small knife. That’s about it.

Soft-Shell Crabs with Warm Escarole, Potato, and Lemon Salad

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
1 medium head escarole, torn into small pieces
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 approximately ¼-inch-thick slices pancetta, cut into small dice
1 garlic clove, sliced
The grated zest from 1 small lemon
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
A splash of dry white wine
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup fine ground corn meal
¼ cup all-purpose white flour
Salt
Aleppo pepper or another ground, dried red pepper
2 soft-shell crabs (if they’re extremely small you might want to get 4, for 2 per person), cleaned (see note above)

Place the potatoes in a small pot, and cover them with water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil, and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 8 minutes. Peel them, and cut them into medium dice.

Put the escarole in a small salad bowl. Add the warm diced potatoes.

In a small skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta, and let it get crisp. Add the garlic and the lemon zest, and sauté a minute. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and the white wine, and let it bubble for a few seconds. Pour this over the escarole, season with salt and black pepper, and give it a gentle toss. Serve the salad out onto 2 dinner plates.

Mix the corn meal and flour together on a plate, and season it with salt and Aleppo pepper. Coat the crabs in the corn meal mix.

Pour about ¼ cup olive oil into a large skillet, and let it get hot, but not smoking, over medium-high heat. Add the crabs, shell side down, and sauté until browned and crisp on one side, about 4 minutes. Give them a flip, and brown the other side, about 3 or 4 minutes more. By this time they should be just cooked through. Be careful while sautéing, since the crabs tend to pop and spit (stand back a bit). Drain the crabs briefly on paper towels, and then place one on each salad. Sprinkle them with the remaining teaspoon of lemon juice. Serve right away.

Whole Wheat Penne with Asparagus, Pancetta, and Green Jalapeño

½ pound asparagus, peeled and cut into small pieces on an angle
Salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 approximately ¼-inch-thick slices pancetta, cut into small dice
½ green jalapeño pepper, minced, with the seeds
1 medium shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
The grated zest from ½ lemon
A splash of dry white wine
¼ cup chicken broth, plus a little extra if needed
½ pound whole wheat penne
A small handful of basil leaves, lightly chopped
A chunk of Grana Padano cheese

Set up a large pot of water, and bring it to a boil. Drop in the asparagus, and blanch for about 2 minutes. Scoop the asparagus from the water into a colander with a large strainer spoon. Run cold water over it to stop the cooking and to set its green color. Drain.

Bring the water back to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt, and drop in the penne.

In a large skillet, heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta, and let it get crisp. Add the jalapeño, shallots, and garlic, and sauté for a minute to release their flavors. Add the asparagus and the lemon zest, and season with a little salt. Sauté for about a minute, and then add the white wine, letting it boil away. Add the chicken broth.

When the penne is al dente, drain it well and add it to the skillet. Sauté quickly over medium heat, coating the penne well with the sauce and adding a splash more chicken broth if it seems dry. Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl. Add the basil, a tiny drizzle of fresh olive oil, and a few gratings of Grana Padano. Toss gently and serve, bringing the chunk of cheese to the table in case you find you want a little extra.