Cappon Magro — Ligurian Seafood and Vegetable Pyramid

Ingredients

• For the base
• 4 hardtack (ship's biscuit), soaked in cold water, then vinegar
• For the vegetables
• 150 g green beans, trimmed, cooked separately
• 2 stalks celery, cooked separately
• 2 globe artichokes, trimmed, cooked separately
• 2 medium waxy potatoes, cooked separately, sliced
• 2 medium carrots, cooked separately, sliced
• 1 medium beetroot, cooked separately, sliced
• For the fish
• 400 g sea bass or sea bream fillet, poached, flaked
• 200 g whole prawns, poached; some reserved whole for garnish
• For the salsa verde
• 40 g flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
• 4 anchovy fillets under salt, rinsed and desalted
• 30 g capers under salt, rinsed and desalted
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 30 g pine nuts
• 2 eggs, hard-boiled; yolks used in salsa verde, whites reserved for garnish if desired
• 120 ml extra-virgin olive oil, good Ligurian oil preferred
• For the garnish
• 30 g black olives
• 15 g capers under salt, rinsed and desalted
• For seasoning and soaking
• 60 ml white wine vinegar, for soaking the hardtack and seasoning components
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, for cooking water of each component

Method

1. 1
   Over two sessions — ideally across two days — cook each vegetable component entirely separately in well-salted water: green beans until just tender, celery until yielding, artichokes until a leaf pulls cleanly, potatoes and carrots until a knife meets no resistance, beetroot until a skewer passes through without drag. Drain and season each independently with olive oil, a few drops of vinegar, and salt. Keep beetroot apart to prevent it staining the others. The cook's test: each component must be fully seasoned and hold its own flavour before it enters the pyramid.
2. 2
   Poach the sea bass or sea bream and the prawns separately in lightly salted water. The fish is done when the flesh turns opaque and separates into clean flakes at the lightest pressure; the prawns are done when the shells turn fully pink and the flesh is just firm. Flake the fish. Peel most of the prawns, reserving several whole for the garnish. Season both with olive oil and a few drops of vinegar.
3. 3
   Make the salsa verde in a mortar. Begin with garlic, a pinch of salt, and the anchovies; pound to a paste. Add the capers and pine nuts and continue to work. Add the parsley leaves in stages, reducing them to a dense green mass. Work in the hard-boiled egg yolks — this is the step that binds the sauce into a creamy, coating emulsion rather than a loose dressing. Finally, incorporate the olive oil slowly, working the pestle in steady circles. The finished salsa verde must be cold, firm, vivid green, and emulsified: it must coat a spoon cleanly rather than run from it. This is where the dish lives or dies — a warm, thin, or poorly emulsified salsa verde will slide from the pyramid and destroy both structure and flavour.
4. 4
   Soak the hardtack in cold water until it yields to thumb pressure but does not crumble, then transfer briefly to a shallow dish of white wine vinegar. Arrange the soaked biscuits on a large cold serving plate to form the base of the pyramid. Spoon a layer of salsa verde across the biscuits.
5. 5
   Build the pyramid in ascending layers: begin with the cooked vegetables in order — potato, carrot, green beans, celery, artichoke — spooning a layer of salsa verde over each tier as it is laid. Add the beetroot last among the vegetables, as its outermost position limits the risk of bleeding. The structure should narrow with each layer, resolving toward a peak. Spoon salsa verde over the vegetable section before adding the fish.
6. 6
   Crown the pyramid with the flaked sea bass or bream and the peeled prawns. Spoon the remaining salsa verde over the summit, allowing it to run in defined rivulets down the sides — the sauce must be cold and firm enough to settle where it falls rather than pool at the base. Arrange the reserved whole prawns, olives, and desalted capers around the base of the pyramid as the final display garnish.
7. 7
   Refrigerate briefly if the kitchen is warm, then allow the assembled pyramid to return fully to room temperature before serving — the cold will have set the structure, and the flavours — brine, olive oil, acid, mild seafood sweetness — resolve only when the dish is no longer chilled. Serve at room temperature.