Cooking in Italy
This is what we made..
Chef Andrea here writing you about all the recipes we cooked on the evening of Tuesday the 4th of April during your cooking class. Have fun reading this email and enjoy preparing the recipes that we cooked together!
All the ingredients are listed by weight as well as by volume to make you all able to reproduce my food back home, but always keep in mind that measures by weight (especially for flour) are more accurate. Measuring flour by cup sometimes requires to sift it, as it might be more dense than the one we used - in Italy we use a 00 flour.
1. Appetizer: Carciofi alla Romana - Roman Style Artichokes
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 4 whole artichokes (including the stem)
- Roman style mint (replace it with parsley if you can't find it back home)
- 1 lemon
- 1 clove of garlic
- 5 tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil
- 2 glass lukewarm water
- salt & pepper
Instructions:
Clean your artichokes starting with tearing off the outer leaves. As soon as the bottom of the leaves begin to turn into a brighter color, stop pulling the leaves off. Then you are ready to start peeling the stem, all the way through from the top to the collar/base of the artichoke, leaving as much of the stem as possible. Right after be sure to rub the artichoke with lemon to avoid a color change. To carve the heart, you need a pairing or serrated knife. You need to hold the knife 45° to the stem (not perpendicular to it!), making sure you are only using the knife edge. Start carving where the brighter part of the leaves ends and the purple starts. Cut one layer at a time always moving up on a spiral. After rub with lemon. Once carved, leave them all in a bowl of water with lemon until you are ready to stuff them inside.
Stuff the artichokes with finely chopped mint leaves, a little chopped garlic (don’t forget to clean the garlic first from the soul or heart of it, as it's the heavy part to digest), and salt and pepper. If you can not find Roman mint, then you can substitute with flat Italian parsley.
In a deep skillet leave the artichokes down (stem up) - making sure that your skillet/pot is just large enough to contain them - then pour extra virgin olive oil and let fry the bottom until browned and seared. Then add the water until it reaches half way up the artichoke. Cover the skillet/pot with a lid and let it cook until tender (the amount of time really depends on the type and size of artichokes; usually 20-25 minutes). As soon as the stem will become soft, you are able to plate them and serve warm.
2. First course: Homemade Cavatelli shaped pasta with Broccoli and Prosciutto Sausages (Cavatelli fatti in casa con Broccoli e Salsicce di Prosciutto)
Ingredients for the dough (serving 4 people):
- 500 gr / 4 cup of semolina flour (hard durum wheat)
- 250 ml / 1 cup lukewarm water
- 4 pinch salt
Ingredients (serving 4 people):
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 sausages (the one I bought for you are called Prosciutto sausages, but make sure not to get any type of seasoned sausages back home)
- 500gr / 1/2 Lb Roman Style Broccoli
- 1/2 cup / 50gr freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 cup dry white wine (Frascati or Chardonnay are preferred)
- fresh chili
- Coarse salt
Instructions for the fresh pasta:
Cavatelli pasta (also known as Gnocchetti Sardi or Malloreddus) are made with a hard durum wheat (semolina) flour and water (no eggs) which gives them a distinctive golden yellow color (if you want to increase the yellow color just add a few pinches of saffron to it). It’s not a difficult recipe, but you may want to have some helpers if you have large numbers of gnocchetti to make!
To get ready with the dough, make a ring with the flour on a flat surface, marble or board and pour some of the water into the middle. Add salt and draw the flour towards the middle using your finger tips. Keep doing this until you have incorporated most of the water and flour into a sticky dough. Knead it lightly, adjusting water and flour until the dough is relatively smooth and elastic. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 15/20 mins.
Once chilled, divide the dough into quarters or more for ease of rolling. Roll these out using your fingers into long ropes of dough about 1cm/0,4 inch thick. Cut each rope into thin "pillows" and then press each pasta piece against the wood paddle or tines of a fork with your thumb, pulling down as you press and leaving a small dent inside. This should add the characteristic grooves to the pasta. Patience, practice and helpers will win out here!
Either cook straight away, or dust with semolina flour to prevent them sticking while you prepare the sauce. Once in a pan of salted boiling water, they will float to the surface when nearly done, needing no more than 4-5 mins to be "al dente".
Instructions for the sauce:
All you have to do is to prepare the broccoli, cut off the buds and get ready to cook them. So you have to start by rinsing and slicing all the buds, getting rid of the broccoli leaves. Then boil them into unsalted boiling water for a few minutes, until they will result soft overall but not too mushy. In the meantime in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, stir in the garlic with extra virgin olive oil and cook until it starts to brown. Reduce the heat to low and stir in crumbled sausages (the one I bought for you were "prosciutto sausages" since they are tastier and less fatty). Add white wine to degrease the sausages and then add your previously boiled broccoli. Add the peperoncino (if you'd like) and freshly chopped parsley. Then, when the sausages are browned, turn off the heat. Salt to taste and cook until crisp but still tender.
To cook the pasta put a large pot of boiling water over high heat. When the water is boiling, toss in a couple of tablespoon of salt with the pasta. Stir to keep it from sticking and cook for 4/5 minutes until a piece of pasta tastes cooked (if the pasta if freshly made, just cook it for couple of minutes will be enough otherwise it will result too soft and mushy).
When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the frying pan with the broccoli and sausages mixture. Drizzle with heaps of Pecorino Romano cheese to coat the pasta. Season your dish with pepper if you like and garnish with some fresh parsley leaves, and serve hot. It will be delicious!!!
Wine Pairing: Negramaro - it comes from heel of the booth, in the famous and breathtaking Puglia region in the south of Italy. To the nose is a wine with a complex perfume - gracefully flowery, reveals a strong aroma, cherry and other red berry fruits, forest fruits and spices. To the palate is a wine with a concentrated and rich flavor - with sweet and thick tannins, lasting and lingering aftertaste. It is produced by the local Winery (Puglia region) - ed. 2014
3. Second course: Polpette della nonna (Meatballs with fresh herbs from the garden)
Ingredients (serving 4 people):
- 500 gr / 1 Lb ground mixed meat (usually the recipe requires 70% beef and 30% pork sausages, grounded and minced) - the sausages we used in the kitchen were Prosciutto sausages - healthier and tastier than the usual ones
- 1 egg
- 100 gr / 1 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
- 100 gr / 3,5 Oz Fontina cheese (soft, mild cheese grated - any American cheese, Edam cheese or something similar would work)
- 50g / 1/2 cup fresh unseasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/2 loaf leftover bread that you have to soak into milk (no crust, get only the soft part of the bread)
- 1 tbsp salt
- pepper
The ingredients for the sauce are:
- 5 tablespoon of E.V. olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (remember to keep the skin on as it contains all the nutrients)
- fresh herbs from the garden (sage, rosemary, bay leaves, marjoram, thyme, etc....)
- 1 glass dry white wine (Frascati or Chardonnay is preferred)
Instructions:
To make the polpette (meatballs) you have to mix in a bowl the meat (a mix of grounded beef and pork - if you can't get Prosciutto sausages, make sure to get unseasoned ones or even minced pork loin or fillet), grated cheese, mild and soft grated cheese (like edamer), egg, leftover bread soaked into milk, salt and pepper. Mix it very well, powerfully, and set aside for a good half an hour just to season it. Then shape into meatballs and roll them into the breadcrumbs. In the meantime, in a large frying pan over low heat, stir in the garlic with E.V. olive oil and cook until it starts to brown.
Now it's time to brown the meatballs into the frying pan over medium-high heat, until brown outside but still undercooked in the inside. Add the glass of wine, turn on the heat over high and let it evaporate. In the meantime the meatballs will get cooked all the way through, it will take about 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of the meatballs, making sure they will not have undercooked pork while serving), turning carefully once or twice. While cooking add fresh herbs and cover the frying pan with a lid. If the meatballs will dry out too much, add a little water at a time. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.
Wine Pairing: Frascati Superiore DOC - it comes from the Frascati DOC zone of the Municipality of Rome and it’s produced with 50% Malvasia di Candia, 30% Malvasia del Lazio and 20% Trebbiano. Has a delicate nose with moderate fruit and blossom. The palate is dry, fresh, elegant and appealing. It is produced by the local Winery Principe Pallavicini - Colonna (Lazio region) - ed. 2014
4. Dessert: Tiramisù alle Fragole (Strawberry Tiramisù)
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 4 tablespoon of sugar
- 250gr mascarpone cheese
- ladyfingers or savoiardi biscuits
- 2 cups/ 200gr blended strawberries
Instructions:
Blend strawberries to dip your lady fingers in and set aside (remember to add water so they won't be too thick and enough smooth to dip lady fingers into it). To make the cream mixture you have to separate 4 eggs yolk from the whites, and use an electric whisk to whip 4 eggs whites with 2 spoons of sugar until stiff but not dry. Then into another bowl you have to beat the 4 yolks and 2 other spoons of sugar until very thick and light in color. With a wooden spoon or a spatula stir in 250gr of mascarpone cheese (it's an imported product in the States, so I'm using the Italian measurement so you will know how much to get!) until smooth. As soon as both of the creams are ready, you have to mix them from the bottom to the top with a spatula......in this way your egg whites will keep their consistency.
To assemble, dip half of the ladyfingers, one at a time, in the strawberry mixture (which is made from blended strawberries and lukewarm water) and line a long flat serving dish with them (if you want you can use a Martini cup for a nicer presentation of your dish). Add some slices of straweberrys for a a better texture and presentation of the dish, and then spoon a layer of the cream mixture over these. Add another layer of dipped ladyfingers and some strawberry slices, then spoon the remaining cream over the top. Cover the whole thing with a layer of blended strawberries with a little sugar added, then let it reduce over low heat and it will become caramelized, and leave it chilling in the fridge for min. 2 hrs before serving.
Wine Pairing: Romanella - it's 100% Cesanese red grapes, that has ripe tropical fruit on the nose, with hints of vanilla. It has a balanced, generous palate, with elements interweaving well and it suits perfectly all kind of sweets. It is harvested in late October and it is produced from a late harvested wine produced from the famous Frascati. It comes from the Winery Cantina San Marco - Frascati (Lazio region) - ed. 2016
Have fun cooking and a great dinner!
I really hope you all enjoyed the lesson and I wish you all a great time in Rome!
Best,
Andrea Consoli
Executive Chef
Cooking Classes in Rome
www.cookingclassesinrome.com