You may wonder a bit about the word “Rossetti” in this dish, an appetizer (antipasto) made from tiny, yet adult fish, the transparent goby. When cooked (steamed) the flesh of this fish becomes a brilliant white, we you can see in the picture.
Italians have several ways of serving tiny fish. When rossetti are served, you’ll find tiny adult fish on your plate, but if the word bianchetti appears, they are the fry of a larger fish like a sardine or anchovy. In Naples I’ve had these fish formed into a larger fish shape, then breaded and deep fried.
In the dish in the picture, the steamed rossetti are served over thin slivers of small artichoke as you’ll find in the spring, then drizzled with a fine (in this case Ligurian) olive oil.
We had it at Ristorante La Carvella in Ventimiglia on the Ligurian coast.