This Cricket Piccata recipe is from our friend Michela Dai Zovi’s new cookbook Bugs 4 Beginners. Go out and get your copy today! Click here to listen to Michela talk all about the cookbook on the Ento Nation podcast. Just click on the picture below and you’ll have access to over 80 edible insect-based recipes from various cooking enthusiasts and professional chefs!
Cricket Piccata
Michela’s Note: This dish willed itself into existence. I guess that’s appropriate, considering that the name of piccata dishes comes from the Italian word piccato, meaning “annoyed”—it’s almost as if the dish were annoyed that I almost made something else. Initially, this was going to be something like a bar snack; beer-boiled crickets you could share with your friends over a few brews. Then, little by little, I adjusted the flavors, decided it would taste better sitting on top a bed of Bugsolutely Cricket Pasta than it would by itself, and before I knew it, my beer-boiled cricket snack had metamorphosed into a proper piccata dish. No one was more surprised than I was, but I’m never one to argue with deliciousness. I like to make piccata with a little bit of sour cream, but if you want a more classic piccata, go ahead and skip the cream. ~Michela Dai Zovi
Total 30 mins; Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
- 1 12 oz Can Light Lager Beer
- 1 Large Lemon; Halved
- 1 Cup Crickets
- 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
- 1/2 Large White Onion; Chopped
- 2-3 Cloves Garlic; Chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Capers
- Enough Bugsolutely Cricket Pasta for two people
- 2 Tablespoons Sour Cream (Optional)
- Salt, to Taste
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to Taste
- 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese; Freshly Grated (to Garnish)
- Fresh Chives; Finely Chopped (to Garnish)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Pour beer in a small pot and bring to a boil. Cut the lemon in half, and while beer is boiling, squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon into the beer, and toss the lemon half in as well, after you’ve squeezed it. Add frozen crickets, cover, and boil for at least 5-10 minutes, allowing the beer to reduce in volume.
2. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until translucent; about 5 minutes. Remove boiled lemon from cricket and beer mixture, and pour crickets and beer into butter. Add sour cream, if using. Bring to a boil together, and then allow to simmer for an additional 10 minutes. While it is simmering, add salt and pepper to taste, and extra lemon juice from the other half of the lemon, if desired.
3. While sauce is simmering, prepare cricket pasta as you would any other pasta, by boiling in a pot of salted water. Note Bugsolutely cricket noodles boil very quickly; you will probably only need about 5 minutes. When noodles have achieved desired consistency, remove from heat, drain, and rinse cold water over them to stop them from cooking further.
4. Place noodles over plates, pour piccata sauce over them, and serve. Garnish with capers, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and green onions, if desired.
