MINI SAVOURY PANETTONI

mini savoury panettoni

These mini savoury panettoni are a bit time-consuming but not hard to do, you can decide whatever stuffing you love. The classic recipe included prawns with cocktail sauce, smoked salmon with cream cheese and chives and lemon zest. Or cold cuts and cheeses, or vegetarian fillings.

You can choose whatever filling you love.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes (4 hours for cooling down) | Yield: Makes 6  servings.

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup (50 ml) warm milk
  • 13 g fresh baker’s yeast or 4 g dry active yeast
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 ½ tbsp (50 g) butter, room temperature, cut in small pieces
  • 1 cup (240 g) bread (Manitoba) flour
  • 1/2 tbsp honey
  • 25 ml water
  • 1 ½ tbsp (20 g) white sugar
  • Butter for the tin
  • 4 tbsp fresh cream or an egg yolk + some milk for glazing

Preparation

Add the warm milk, honey, and water to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment on medium speed. Add the yeast and, after a minute, the egg.

Then add the flour, and when it is well mixed, add the sugar, and finally the salt. If the dough is too dry, add some water. The total time including the kneading of the dough takes around 15 minutes.

Let the dough sit in a deep bowl and cover with plastic wrap. If the temperature in your kitchen is around 77 F (25 C) let it rise for 2 hours. If your temperature is around 66 F (19 C) like in my kitchen, add half an hour.

After the dough has doubled, divide it into 6 balls and knead it, bending the folds under each ball.

Butter the muffin tin and place one ball in each hole. Let it rise again for 2 hours, covering with plastic wrap.

Modify the rising time according to the temperatures in your kitchen.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F (175 C).  Using a pastry brush, coat the balls with fresh cream, or an egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons of milk. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

When the pannettoni reach room temperature, move to a cooling rack. They will be firm enough to be cut in thin slices the next day. Calculate making 5 cuts, top included. Fill the layers every 2 cuts, in order to make a sandwich. Choose your favourite canapé fillings. Once you have finished, make at least one vertical cut.




THE BIRTH OF CARBONARA PASTA

Carbonara pasta is a typical Roman dish. Full of taste and very easy to make, its goodness is thanks to quality ingredients. Be that as it may, it seems that originally, the ingredients were different.

Legend has it that in the Rome of WWII, occupied by allied troops, a local innkeeper was asked to make food for some American soldiers who gave him bacon and powdered eggs from their military supplies. The best way to feed a lot of people with few ingredients is making pasta, so the innkeeper combined these few ingredients to make a dish that is big favourite of Lazio citizens, but it is also loved in many countries.

Later, when things got better and it was possible to have local ingredients again, the recipe was enriched with guanciale (cured pork jowl) and fresh, creamy eggs.

To celebrate Carbonara day, I made spaghetti alla chitarra, reminiscent of Roman tonnarelli (a fresh, long egg pasta) and enjoyed this epicurean dish during this period of quarantine with my husband.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Yield: Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients

 

For the pasta

  • 100 g semolina flour
  • 100 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • About ¼ cup water, room temperature

For the sauce

  • 3 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano (I did not have Roman Pecorino)
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 egg
  • Black pepper
  • 60 g guanciale (cured pork jowl)

Instructions

 

On a wooden pastry board, pour the flour in a mound, make a well in its centre and crack the egg into it. Blend by hand, making a dough that you are going to smooth with a rolling pin.  It should be rolled to a 3 mm thickness.  Then cut it into rectangles that will be cut on the chitarra.

Cook the pasta in salted water; if it is fresh, it will cook in a few seconds.

You might need to add some flour if the dough is too wet or some water if it is too dry and impossible to work.

TIPS:

As you work it, keep the dough near your belly, when kneading and rolling.

Lean into the dough as you work, exploit gravity, not your shoulders and arms.

In a frying pan, sauté the guanciale in its own fat. While the water for pasta is beginning to boil, I place the egg and egg yolks in a Pyrex or stainless steel bowl and place it over the pot, whisking them until they are fluffy, gradually adding the cheese and a generous sprinkle of black pepper. Remember to keep the bowl away from direct heat to avoid curdling the egg.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and toss it in the frying pan with the guanciale. Transfer it to the bowl with the egg mixture. Toss until the egg mixture has coated the pasta  and enjoy.




ZABAIONE MOUSSE WITH BISCUITS

Zabaione is a fluffy mixture of egg yolks, sugar and a sweet wine, usually a Moscato d’Asti or Marsala wine. As a mousse, the addition of fresh whipping cream lends a more sophisticated touch to a very traditionale dessert.

Cooked in a bain-marie, zabaione is usually served, still lukewarm with crunchy biscuits called lingue di gatto as they are reminiscent of cat tongues. Easy to make, these biscuits are made with egg whites, and they are ideal for scooping up the zabaione.

This recipe is quite similar to making eggnog, including the addition of fresh cream: in this case it is whipped, and with gelatine, it gives a unique texture to this dessert.
In this recipe I offer two different ways of serving it: either in a cocktail cup with a biscuit and mixed berries, or a type of sandwich made with two biscuits.

Zabaione is traditionally appreciated in all of Northern Italy. The recipe seems to have originated in Piedmont in 15th century, and there are probably individual variations. Is also typical of Romagna, where it was turned into a liqueur called Vov.
Near Forlì, a local restaurant owner found a precious recipe book (published in 1907), when helping friends clearing out an old attic. In it, a woman who lived there at the time had made notes. The ingredients are quite different, but it testifies the deep appreciation for this dessert and its taste. This mousse is quite often served in small dark chocolate cups, inside croissants or with poached pears in red wine.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 60 minutes | Yield: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

  • For the zabaione
  • 1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
  • ⅓ cup (80 ml) dry Marsala wine or brandy
  • ¼ cup (60 g) white sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp (5 g) gelatine
  • For the lingue di gatto biscuits
  • 3½ tbsp (50 g) butter – room temperature
  • ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
  • 1 egg white
  • ½ cup (50 g) cake flour

Instructions

For the zabaione

In a large saucepan, bring 1 inch of water to a simmer. Remove from heat and melt the gelatine in the water.
In a large copper or stainless-steel bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until thickened and light yellow in colour. Whisk in the Marsala wine or brandy and place the bowl over the pan of simmering water. Mix slowly until the zabaione gets thicker, at least 5-6 minutes.
Add the gelatine to the zabaione, and stir until it is perfectly combined.
Turn off the heat and move the bowl to a cold bain-marie. Cover the bowl with food wrap and place it in the fridge to set for 20 minutes.
Whip the cream and fold it carefully into the zabaione. Fill a pastry bag with a star nozzle.
Place the biscuits on a dish, squeeze the mousse on them, and cover with another biscuit. Repeat the process and add some berries to add colour. Serve.

For the lingue di gatto biscuits
Pre-heat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
Get 2 muffin trays and brush each bottom and sides with melted butter, then cover the bottoms with parchments rounds.
In a bowl, mix the butter and the sugar carefully with a spatula, without letting it become fluffy. Add the egg whites, and mix until smooth. Add the flour until it is incorporated. Place the mixture in a pastry bag with a plain 10 mm tip.
Pipe a dollop of the mixture onto each parchment round and place in the oven for 10 minutes. When the biscuits are cooked, place them on a cooling grill to dry, and only when they are perfectly dry and crunchy, place them in a biscuit box.
To make the traditional cookies, lay parchment paper on a cookie sheet and pipe 10 cm-long rows.




ONION SOUP, THE NOBLEST OF ALL

This onion soup sinks its roots deeply in Tuscan tradition, even though it only  became famous when it was adopted by the French and became known as soup à l’oignon.

According to Tuscan tradition, the recipe includes the red Certaldo onion, whose reputation was so renown that it was quoted in Boccaccio’s Decameron.

Certaldo (link a Visit Tuscany) is not only Boccaccio’s birthplace, but also the location where this onion, which has been famous in Tuscany since the Middle Ages , grows. The father of the literary genre of the novella, which became the model for The Canterbury Tales, already celebrated this amazing vegetable in a novella where the main character was a monk called Friar Onion who narrates the abundance and fame of this vegetable. This red onion was celebrated later by Caterina de’ Medici, who exported the Tuscan onion soup to France with her Italian cooks.

Certaldo, which you might be familiar with, or may have heard of, is a town and comune in Val d’Elsa, in the Metropolitan City of Florence. This area grows an abundance of onions, more so than all of Tuscany, a food that was greatly influenced by those Friars, hungry men with a good appetite.

This onion is so important to this small town that it was even added to the town’s emblem in the 12th century – a red and white shield with an onion in the centre, and the motto “By nature I am both strong and sweet/ and am appreciated by both the rich and the workers”.

Every year this onion is celebrated in many country fairs in Certaldo, especially at the end of August, where I had the opportunity to eat the famous soup, made according to the simple Tuscan recipe.

Going back to the woman who contributed to making this very rustic recipe so famous, Caterina de Medici probably ate this soup with other ingredients that were very popular in the cuisine of Renaissance courts, which would likely be quite hard to accept for contemporary palates. While the “workers” probably ate the soup as it was cooked in the following recipe, the cooks of “the rich” enhanced it by adding almonds, sugar, verjuice (a highly acidic juice made by pressing unripe grapes used since the Middle Ages all over Western Europe), cinnamon and sugar, all remarkably expensive ingredients at the time.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 1 hour + 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour + 30 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

 

Ingredients

  • 4 large onions, red if possible, finely sliced (a mandolin would be perfect)
  • 5 tbsps. olive oil
  • 1 litre (4 cups) water or broth (either beef, chicken, or vegetable)
  • 8 tbsps. fresh pecorino cheese, grated
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 4 slices of Tuscan bread, possibly day-old, grilled

Instructions

In an earthenware or a cast iron saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the onions. Stir frequently to prevent burning, sauté until they become golden; this will take approximately 30 minutes. Then add the wine and simmer until it has evaporated by half, about 3-5 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for 40 minutes. If you like it thicker, add 1 tablespoon of flour before adding the broth and dissolve it well.

Arrange the bread slices in each bowl, ladle the soup on the bread, and sprinkle with the pecorino cheese.

TIP: if you want to make it more sophisticated, pre-heat the oven and pour the soup in 4 ovenproof dishes. Place the bread slices on top of the soup, instead of pecorino cheese, sprinkle the bread with gruyere cheese and place under the grill until the cheese melts to a crisp golden brown (about 3 minutes).




MULLET OF ORBETELLO.




ROASTED LAMB SHOULDER: AN EASTER DELICACY

This way of roasting lamb is incredibly simple but involves some degree of organisation, since you need to calculate the time needed for marinating and cooking.

This a very traditional Tuscan recipe, celebrated in Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. In those days, preparation snd cooking times, and ingredient quantities were rarely indicated, so I am trying to give more precise indications.

This Arezzo style roasted lamb is usually cooked on the BBQ, and is frequently basted with the marinade: in Italy we use a rosemary sprig as a brush.

This recipe’s ideal side dish is an oven dish full of golden potatoes, roasted with olive oil, garlic and sage.

Cook them apart, not in the same baking dish as the lamb, since the sharpness of the vinegar would give the potatoes an acidic taste.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hour + 10 minutes ( + 2 hours for marinading) | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

 

  • 2.5 lb (1 kg) lamb shoulder
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 3 sage leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Sea salt

 

Instructions

Coarsely chop the herbs and add the olive oil and vinegar. Poke holes in the meat with a fork to absorb the marinade and let it sit for 2 hours.

Bake in a convection oven at 375° F (190° C) for an hour, turning and brushing it with the marinade (using a rosemary sprig).

Serve with sage and garlic roasted potatoes.




SWEET AND SOUR BORETTANE ONION

This side dish was created in Emilia, and it is the perfect complement to a vast variety of roasted meats, such as beef braised in Barolo wine.

It is a unique side dish, rich in fibre without the boring stigma associated with “healthy” foods.

In order to peel the onions, I found an American recipe that blanches them in a pot of boiling water followed by immersing them in a bowl of cold water to stop them from cooking. The temperature shift makes them easier to peel. In Italy, I usually find them peeled.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

 

  • 1 kg – 2.2 lbs Borettane onions, peeled
  • 60 g – 1/3 cup sugar
  • 300 g – 1½ cups water
  • 150 g – ¾ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tbsp olive oil

 

Instructions

 

In a non-stick pan, heat the olive oil and add the onions. Brown the onions and add the sugar. Stir to melt the sugar, and when onions are caramelized add the vinegar and cook for a few minutes, until most of it evaporates. Add the water, stir gently and cook for 10 minutes, then cover with a lid and cook for 10 more minutes.

Test with a fork; the onions are ready when they are soft.




ROSEMARY NOODLES, SAVOY CABBAGE AND SAUSAGE.

This pasta recipe is quite rustic. Savoy cabbage and Italian sausage give a robust quality to this dish, and you can play with different flours. In this case I prefer blending durum wheat and pastry flour, in Italian a “00”, but also using whole wheat or buckwheat is an excellent choice. I do not love artificial colourings; I prefer to add mashed vegetables or aromatic herbs to the flour.

It is a very rich dish, and perfect from a nutritional point of view. If you open the meal with a very fresh salad, the balance will be perfect.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients for pasta

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 + 2/3 cups (g. 200) pastry flour
  • ½  cup + 1 tablespoon (g. 100) durum wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary, finely grinded

Ingredients for the sauce

  • 3 sausages (350 g. about 12 oz.)
  • 1 small Savoy cabbage
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Marine salt

 

Instructions for pasta

On a wooden pastry board pour the flours in a mound, make a hole at its center and pour the eggs in it. Join the rosemary. Mix, make a dough that you are going to roll out by hand using a rolling pin.  Roll the dough into a sheet about two mm. (1/24-inch) thick.

While pasta is drying, prepare the sauce.

Instructions for the sauce

Put a big pot with salted water on the stove. Wash and core the cabbage leaves (about half of the cabbage).

In a wok, simmer the onion with the oil.

Peel the sausages, chop them in small chops and join them in the pan. Simmer the ingredients together.

Boil the cabbage leaves for a couple of minutes, and then put them in a bowl with water and ice.

Core and shred the leaves. Join them to the sauce.

Sprinkle the pasta dough with durum flour and roll it. Cut it in stripes. If it does not dry, cut it with the tool.

Boil pasta in the same water where you boiled the cabbage and pour it in the wok with the sauce. Add a couple of tablespoons of boiling water, and mix all the ingredients together. Add a bit of olive oil before serving the pasta.




BEEF BRAISED IN BAROLO WINE, REAL ITALIAN LUXURY

A luxurious braised beef in a precious wine like Barolo, again a recipe from Piedmont.A real comfort food,above all if served with polenta and its sauce or with borretane onions.

Beef braised in Barolo is typical of festivities and holidays. This special dish contemplates the cost of the ingredients and the time – both the marinading and cooking time – involved in its preparation.

The secret of its success rests in the quality of the ingredients and the cooking method: after marinading, it is necessary to pat the meat dry and brown it in olive oil to “seal” the meat and avoid its loss of juices.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 2 hours | Total Time: 14 hours + 30 minutes (including 12 hours marinating | Yield: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

  • 4-pound (1,2 kg) boneless beef roast – chuck or sirloin trimmed of excess fat.  These cuts do well for braising – 1,2 kg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
  • 1/2 cup (5 spoons) extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and diced
  • 4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 3 large celery stalks, diced (the vegetables should be chopped in similar sized pieces to ensure even cooking)
  • 2 plump garlic cloves, peeled with internal germ removed
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary with lots of needles
  • 5 – 6 whole peppercorns
  • 1 750 millilitre bottle of Barolo wine (if substituting wine for another select a good drinkable red wine and extend the marinating time by 6 hours)
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 – 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon (50 gr.) butter
  • 3 – 4 whole cloves

Recommended equipment

A heavy saucepan, enamelled cast-iron dutch-oven, glass or ceramic round or oval pan with a cover.  Select a pot in which the roast will fit with no more than 2 inches of space around it.  (The less space in the pot the less wine you’ll need). Select a bowl in glass or ceramic of similar size.

 

Instructions

 

Start marinating the meat in the wine and herbs the night before to ensure it marinates a minimum of 12 hours.

Dry the meat with paper towels and place in the bowl.  Add half of the diced vegetables, garlic cloves, the rosemary, peppercorns, and the bay leaves.  Put the remaining vegetables in a covered container and place in the fridge for later when they will be added when cooking the meat.  Pour the bottle of wine over the meat and vegetables ensuring everything is completely submerged. Season with salt and pepper.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge (in the warmest section) for at least 12 hours.

When ready to cook, remove the meat from the marinade, dry using paper towels and put the roast into a pan that you have previously added the oil and butter and warmed slightly.  Brown it on all side for 4 – 5 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon remove the vegetables and aromatic herbs from the marinade and add them to the roast.  At this time, add the reserved vegetables from the fridge.  Cook this mixture for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring frequently just until the vegetables soften.  Once the vegetables have softened add all   the marinade, bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for approximately two hours.  Rotate the roast so it is submerged in the braising liquid.  Braise this way, turning the meat every 30 minutes, never using a fork that would pierce the meat and cause it to lose its juices.

Once the meat has finished cooking, remove the meat to a platter and cover with tinfoil to keep warm.  Take the saucepan off the burner, remove the rosemary and bay leaves.

Make a puree with the vegetables and marinade together with an immersion blender.  Heat to a boil, reducing the sauce to a consistency that coats the back of a spoon.  Season the sauce to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

To serve – slice the meat crosswise (against the grain).  Heat the sauce to a gentle simmer, then spoon over the beef so the slices are lightly coated.

In Italy it is usually served with mashed potatoes or sweet and sour borettane onions.




SICILIAN BEEF ROLLS, A STORY FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

This simple dish demonstrates the deep interconnection of Italy with the Middle East and the Arab world. In all Italy, mainly along the coasts, we have the introduction of pine nuts and raisins in many dishes; see for example the Liguria cuisine, or Venice one, as a demonstration that along the century the contacts have been intense.

The case of Sicily is special since the Muslim Arab directly ruled it for centuries. This is not a history blog, so I need to summarize briefly a complicated but very interesting period.

Sicily, which was part of the Byzantine Empire, fell under Arab control first in the 7th century, in a short-lived conquest, that ended briefly. The systematic invasion of the island was concluded in 965 after a prolonged series of conflicts from 827 to 902.

The Muslim Arabs created a multi-ethnic society, where the previous Byzantine Sicilian inhabitants and a Jewish minority were “tolerated” and were able to flourish. In agriculture, the Arabs promoted a land reform, encouraging the growth of smallholdings and the subsequent increase in productivity. We also owe them the introduction of oranges, lemons, pistachio, almonds, and sugarcane to Sicily, as well as the improvement of the irrigation system thanks to the Qanats.

Due to intra-dynastic quarrels, which took place within the Muslim regime, the island fragmented into four areas. These internal divisions led to the progressive weakening of the Arab rule and the success of the plot of the princes from the inland, who enrolled Christian Norman mercenaries. The Emirate was conquered in 1071.

The Normans were great admirers of the Arab culture and under their rule, Sicily enjoyed a period of prosperity and the flourishing of Siculo-Norman architecture and art. 

This vocation towards multi-ethnicity perpetuates nowadays: the local dialects and cuisines in centuries have been embracing ingredients and other languages in its local culture, from France and Spain because of dominations, and the culture of the Mediterranean. Nowadays the cultural melting-pot has one of its most poignant symbol in the couscous festival, which is held every September in San Vito Lo Capo.

SICILIAN BEEF ROLLS

  • 20 slices beef top round (about 1 pound total), pounded 1/8″ thick*
  • ½ + ¼ cups (100 g.) breadcrumbs
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and grossly chopped
  • 3,5 oz. (100 g.) Caciocavallo cheese, finely grated
  • 24 bay leaves
  • 2 red onions, possibly Tropea ones, one of them finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped raisins
  • marine salt and black pepper to season
  1. Heat 3 tbsp. oil in a small skillet over medium-high and sauté the minced onion. Add the breadcrumbs and mix carefully.
  2. Combine cheese and the mixture of onion and breadcrumbs in a medium bowl. The mixture must be a moist and soft, so if necessary add 1-2 tablespoons oil.
  3. Lay beef flat on a work surface; brush with oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup breadcrumb mixture. Working one at a time and starting at the short end, roll up beef, first along the long side, then turn the shorter rim right inside, in order not to make the stuffing waste during the cooking process. Cut the onion and make layers as long as the rolls. Thread together the rolls in a wooden skewer, alternating them with a bay leave and an onion leaf. Make four rolls for each skewer.
  4. Again, brush the rolls with oil and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Grill the rolls 2 minutes for each part and serve. If you do not have a grill, pour 1 tbsp. olive oil in a non-stick pan and cook 2 minutes for each part. Alternatively, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F, then cook for 3 minutes for each part.