Great Dishes Using Summer Produce

Many Veggies, Fruits At Peak Season Now; Tori Ritchie Has Recipes

(CBS)  Swordfish, Sicilian Style

Wrinkled, salt-cured black Sicilian olives are the perfect choice for this dish, but other salt- or brine-cured black olives would work, as well. Try Greek Kalamatas, tiny black niçoise olives, or one of the many black olives from Spain or Italy. When cooking with olives, be careful when adding salt to your dish, as most olives are themselves quite salty. Taste the olives, add them to the dish, then taste the dish to see if more salt is needed. Olives that seem too salty to begin with may be blanched for a minute in boiling water, then drained.

This recipe can also be prepared with salmon, says Ritchie, so there are options if you don't love swordfish.

Olive oil for coating
4 swordfish steaks, each about 1/2 lb.

For the spice rub:
1 Tbs. garlic powder
1 Tbs. dried basil
1 tsp. fennel seeds, ground in a mortar or spice grinder
1/4 tsp. hot red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon pepper or freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa:
1/4 cup chopped pitted Sicilian or other cured black olives
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt, to taste

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for direct grilling over high heat and oil the grill rack. Coat the swordfish with olive oil.

To make the spice rub, in a small bowl, mix together the garlic powder, basil, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, salt and lemon pepper. Sprinkle both sides of each swordfish steak generously with the spice rub.

To make the salsa, in a bowl, mix together the olives, tomatoes, basil, garlic, cayenne, oil and lemon juice. Taste and season with salt. Set aside.

Grill the swordfish directly over high heat, turning once, until grill-marked, firm to the touch and opaque throughout, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Arrange the fish steaks on individual plates and top with the salsa or serve it alongside. Serves 4.

Variation Tip: Serve with the salsa tossed with your favorite pasta.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Grilling, by Denis Kelly (Simon & Schuster, 2002 )

Grilled Southwestern Pizza

This pizza is topped with chorizo, a flavorful pork sausage seasoned with garlic, chili powder and other spices. If using fresh chorizo rather than the precooked (or cured) variety, you will need to cook it before adding it to the pizza.

2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 batch thin-crust pizza dough
All-purpose flour for dusting
1/2 cup crumbled ricotta salata cheese
1 ear of corn, roasted and kernels removed from cob (about 1/3 cup)
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/3 cup thinly sliced precooked chorizo sausage, or crumbled and cooked fresh chorizo
1 Tbs. fresh cilantro leaves

Prepare a hot fire in a grill and preheat a grill-top pizza stone for at least 30 minutes, until the thermometer on the stone registers 500ºF.

In a small fry pan over low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic, then remove the pan from the heat.

Using a rolling pin or your hands, gently roll out or stretch the pizza dough into a 10-inch round. Lightly dust a pizza peel with flour and lay the dough on top. Lightly brush the dough with the garlic-infused olive oil. Scatter the cheese evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Arrange the corn, bell pepper and chorizo on top, overlapping the ingredients slightly.

Carefully slide the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone, cover the grill and bake until the crust is golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Scatter the cilantro on top. Using the pizza peel, transfer the pizza to a cutting board and cut into slices. Serve immediately.

Serves 2 to 4.

Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.