Made in Sicily. Giorgio Locatelli

      Scrub the mussels and/or clams separately (pulling any beards from the mussels) under running water and discard any that are open. Put the mussels and/or clams into a large pan with the white wine over a high heat, cover, and cook, shaking the pan from time to time, until all the shells have opened. Remove from the heat, strain off the cooking liquid and reserve this. Discard any mussels and/or clams whose shells haven’t opened. Take the rest out of their shells and throw the shells away.

      Remove the octopus from its cooking liquid and cut it into small pieces. Cut the squid bodies into strips.

      Arrange the octopus, squid, mussels and/or clams with the celery in a shallow serving dish. Whisk 50ml of the strained cooking liquid from the mussels and/or clams into the lemon oil, season to taste and drizzle over the seafood. Scatter with the parsley and garlic and serve.

Insalata di gamberi ai pomodori

      Warm prawn salad with sun-dried and fresh tomato

      This is a Sicilian dish that we refined a little for the menu at Locanda. The bread dressing is something I first made a long time before I fell in love with Sicily, when I started out cooking with Corrado Sironi at Il Passatore in Varese – but the use of breadcrumbs, lemon juice and olive oil has a very Sicilian feel to it, and when you combine it with tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes, I feel it brings a little bit of the island to our menu at Locanda.

      Serves 4

      120g sun-dried tomatoes

      olive oil

      4 large tomatoes

      sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

      1 teaspoon parsley and garlic

      12 big prawns, unpeeled

      a handful of lettuce

      2 tablespoons Giorgio’s dressing

      For the prawn cooking liquor:

      2 tablespoons olive oil

      1 carrot, chopped

      1 onion, chopped

      2 celery stalks, chopped

      ½ leek, chopped

      450ml white wine

      300ml white wine vinegar

      10 peppercorns

      2 bay leaves

      For the bread dressing:

      2 handfuls of breadcrumbs

      juice of ½ lemon

      3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

      1 tablespoon garlic oil

      a little white wine vinegar, to taste

      To make the cooking liquor for the prawns, heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped carrot, onion, celery and leek. When they start to colour, add the white wine, the vinegar and 500ml of water, along with the peppercorns and the bay leaves. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

      With a pestle and mortar, or using a blender, blend the sun-dried tomatoes with a tablespoon of olive oil until creamy.

      To make the bread dressing, mix the breadcrumbs with the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and garlic oil. Taste, and if you like a little more sharpness, add the wine vinegar.

      Cut the tomatoes into wedges, put them into a bowl, season and toss with the bread dressing and the parsley and garlic.

      Bring the cooking liquor for the prawns to the boil, put in the prawns and cook for 3–4 minutes. Lift out and peel them while hot. Add them to the bowl of tomatoes, mixing well.

      Spoon the tomatoes and prawns on to plates. Dress the lettuce with Giorgio’s dressing and arrange on top, and drizzle some of the sun-dried tomato dressing around each plate.

Insalata calda di polpo

      Warm octopus salad

      Serves 4–6

      1kg octopus, fresh or frozen (and defrosted), cleaned, with tentacles sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

      1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

      750g potatoes, cut into 2.5cm cubes

      75g whole green and black olives in brine

      4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for finishing

      1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus a little extra for finishing juice of 3 lemons

      1 chilli pepper, finely chopped (optional)

      1 carrot, cut into matchstick pieces

      1 celery stalk, chopped

      If the octopus is fresh, beat it with a meat hammer to tenderise it and rinse it very well under cold running water, with the help of a clean sponge, to remove any excess saltiness. If it has been frozen, you don’t need to do this, as freezing has the effect of tenderising it.

      Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the octopus, but don’t season it, or it will toughen up. Cover with a lid, turn down the heat and let it simmer gently for about 20–30 minutes, or until tender. Remove, drain and chop into pieces about 2.5cm long.

      While the octopus is cooking, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the white wine vinegar, add the cubed potatoes and cook until tender, then drain.

      Drain the olives and pat dry. With a sharp knife, make three or four cuts in each olive from end to end, then cut each segment away from the stone as carefully as you can.

      Pour the extra virgin olive oil into a bowl. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper, the chopped parsley, the lemon juice and the chilli, if using. Mix well, then add the octopus and potatoes.

      Finally add the olives, carrot and celery and toss everything together. Finish with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some more chopped parsley.