Panna Cotta

Here's a recipe for Panna Cotta, a delightfully delicate traditional Piemontese pudding. The wild berry sauce is a perfect complement, though you will also encounter other toppings, including chocolate.
Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 4 servings panna cotta
Ingredients:
1 quart (1 liter) cream
1 1/8 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
3 sheets fish glue or unflavored gelatin (check the the packet for how much you will need to thicken this volume)
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 cup (250 ml) milk
Preparation:
Warm the milk (don't let it boil), then dissolve the fish glue in it and stir in the flour. Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil for a couple of minutes, with 1 cup of the sugar. Remove from the fire and gently stir in the milk mixture.

Caramelize the remaining sugar and coat the insides of 8 individual-portion custard cups. Fill them with the cream mixture, and chill for 2 hours before serving.

Unmold them onto pretty plates when you serve them.

This is the basic recipe; you can also make a sauce with fresh red & black currants, blueberries, and wild strawberries. Combine them (the amounts are up to you) with a tablespoon of currant jelly and gently warm them over the fire till the fruit is cooked and begins to come apart.

Spoon a bit of sauce over each serving.

Cannelloni Ripieni di Ricotta

Ricotta and sausages make for a somewhat more rustic cannellone or manicotti filling. You'll want mild Italian sausage, not the spicy variety, and fresh ricotta of the kind sold in delicatessens that's somewhat crumbly. To serve 6 you'll need:
Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 90 minutes

Ingredients:

2/3 pound (300 g) commercially prepared cannelloni shells
1 egg
Salt
1 1/4 pounds (500 g) fresh ricotta
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano
3 mild pork sausages, about 1/2 pound (225 g)
2 tablespoons lard, butter, or prosciutto fat
1/4 of a small onion, equivalent volumes celery and carrot, and 1 tablespoon parsley, minced
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste, diluted in water
Butter
Preparation:

Put the ricotta through a strainer and into a bowl, seasoning it with a good pinch of salt, the grated Parmigiano, and a beaten egg. Mix well.

Prick the sausages well and set them to cook in water to cover; once the water has evaporated brown them in the grease that they'll have given off, then peel them, crumble them, and stir them into the ricotta mixture.

Finally, sauté the minced herbs in the lard or butter until the onion is lightly browned, stir in the tomato paste diluted in water, season the mixture lightly with salt and pepper, and simmer it for 5 minutes or so, adding a little more water if it begins to dry out.

While the sauce is simmering roll out the dough if you're starting from scratch, and cut it into 3 by 4-inch rectangles. Once the pasta is cut cook it a few pieces at a time in abundant lightly salted water (if you're using commercially prepared shells follow the directions on the package). Remove the pasta from the water with a slotted spoon while it's still rather al dente, and lay the pieces on a damp cloth taking care lest they be touching and stick.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 250 F (170 C).

You are now ready to fill your cannelloni: lay some of the filling along the long edge of the first sheet, roll it up to make the cannelone, and place it in a well buttered, elegant baking dish. Repeat the procedure until pasta and filling are all used up. Pour the sauce over the cannelloni, dust them with more grated Parmigiano and dot them with butter, and heat them through for about 20 minutes.

The wine? I'd go with a light zesty red, for example a Chianti d'annata or a Bardolino.

Yield: 6 servings manicotti with ricotta and sausages.

Tiramisu

From Cosa Bolle In Pentola, the newsletter:
Winding down, a couple of people have recently asked me for which is my favorite among the dozens of Tiramisu recipes out there. Put simply, wife Elisabetta's:

Prep Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
4 very fresh, top quality eggs, separated
4 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 pounds fresh mascarpone cheese
Brandy (dashes, optional - depending upon how she feels at the moment)
1 demitasse espresso coffee, diluted with water and lightly sweetened with sugar.
3/4 pound savoiardi cookies (available in Italian delicatessens
-- or use ladyfingers -- 1 savoiardo = 2 ladyfingers)
Powdered bitter chocolate
Preparation:
Beat the yolks with the sugar, then whip in the mascarpone and, if you're using it, the brandy. Whip 2 of the whites to firm peaks (use the other 2 for something else) and fold them in.

Put the diluted, sweetened coffee in a bowl and add about a tablespoon of brandy (to taste here, assuming you want it). Dip the savoiardi in the coffee and line a mold large enough to hold the mascarpone mixture. Fill with the mixture, chill for 2 hours, and dust with the powdered chocolate before serving.

This should serve 6-8.

Grande Lasagna di Carnevale

This Carnival lasagna is a Neapolitan specialty, a spectacular sendoff before the privations of Lent. Time was every family had its variation, and the poor saved for months to make it.

Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 pound store-bought Lasagne
1/2 pound beef, in one piece
1/4 pound prosciutto, in a single thick slice
1/4 pound Italian salami, in 2 or three slices (see note 1, below)
2 ounces cured lard (see your delicatessen; it should be lightly spiced -- or use prosciutto fat)
1 medium onion, finely minced
1 cup broth
3/4 pound drained canned plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon minced parsley
An egg
Flour
Oil for frying
1 cup grated Parmigiano
1/3 pound mozzarella
1/4 pound ricotta -- optional, see note 2
Preparation:
Note 1:Italian salami is raw -- no trichinosis here -- has fairly large chunks of fat, and is lightly spiced. If you cannot find it in your delicatessen use mild Italian sausage, not a cooked or spiced salami.

Cook the sheets of pasta in abundant, slightly salted water until they're al dente, run them under cold water, and lay the sheets out on a cloth, covering them with a second cloth.

Sauté the onion in the lard, with the piece of meat. Turn the meat often, and when it has browned on all sides season it with salt and pepper, then add the tomatoes. Simmer over a moderate flame for about an hour, adding the broth a bit at a time. When the meat is done remove it from the pot (reserve the sauce), grind it, and combine it with an egg, the parsley, and half the grated cheese. Make smallish (1-inch diameter) meatballs from the mixture and dredge them in the flour. Heat the oil and fry the meatballs until golden, about 10 minutes, then remove them with a slotted spoon, place them on absorbent paper, and keep them warm.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 360 degrees (180 C). Dice the prosciutto, salami and mozzarella. Butter a pan (a high-sided 6 by 9-inch should do, but use your judgment). Lay down a first layer of pasta, and then a few meat balls, some of the sauce, some of the diced ingredients, and a dusting of Parmigiano. Continue until all is used up, then bake your lasagne for 15 minutes. Let them sit for five minutes before serving them.

This will serve 4-6 as a main course, or 6-8 as a first course. It would be excellent with an Aglianico del Vulture or a Campanian red wine such as Mastroberardino's Aglianico d'Irpinia or Lacrima Cristi Rosso.

Note 2: Should the meatballs come out to soft, work some finely ground breadcrumbs into them to thicken them. Tradition calls for, and you can add, some ricotta to the mixture.

Andar per Antipasti: Crostini

Aldo Santini is fun to read: he begins his discussion of crostini in La Cucina Maremmana by observing that he had no intention of mentioning them when he began working on the book, since those living in the poorest part of Tuscany were lucky to have anything to eat, much less appetizers. However, wherever he went as he researched the book they appeared, and he concludes with the observation that they're rather like the teenage majorettes who lead the bands in Italian small town parades -- not seductive, but guaranteed to bring a smile.

Antipasti vary as much as any other facet of Italian cooking -- from the delicate flans, chicken in carpione (a pickled sauce), rabbit salad, minced raw beef and dozens of other things sufficient to make a meal by themselves in Piemonte, to hardly any antipasti at all in Naples, until quite recently (according to Jeanne Francesconi, author of La Cucina Napoletana). Tuscany falls somewhere in the middle; no festive meal is complete without a selection of crostini.

What are crostini?
Thin slices of lightly toasted bread, with a variety of toppings, generally patés moist enough to be easily spreadable. Though one sometimes encounters crostini made with slices of pane casalingo, Tuscan unsalted bread (see The Artisan for a discussion of bread types and recipes), Artusi suggests one use fine grained bread baked in a bread tin (because of its regular shape), and more elegant Tuscan bakeries have special crostino loaves with the profiles of the suits of a deck of cards. In their absence, a long thin loaf such as a baguette will work well (slice it on a diagonal, into half-inch slices). The topping should be spread about a quarter-inch thick.

In addition to bread, you can also use polenta squares, cut to the same size and fried for a few minutes, or until crisp and golden, in hot oil. They're especially good with mushroom sauce, but are also quite nice with the most traditional crostino spread, which is made with chicken livers and sage.

Unlike some dishes, which are only served in certain seasons, crostini are good year round. You may wish to make just one kind, or several so your guests can choose what they prefer. What to serve with them? Either a robust white, for example Vernaccia di San Gimignano, or a zesty red wine -- a Chianti Classico d'annata would be perfect. And a platter of cold cuts, including prosciutto, salame, capocollo, and perhaps finocchiona.

Bruschetta

Bruschetta is one of the simplest things in the world to make, and can be very satisfying if you have good extravirgin olive oil.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Bread, ideally freshly sliced
Garlic
Extravirgin Olive oil
Salt
Beans or tomatoes (optional)
Hot coals, if possible
Preparation:

You will need 4 six-inch wide slices of Tuscan bread. Toast them, over the coals if possible (though a toaster will work fine if need be) gently rub them with a cut clove of garlic (you don’t want to overwhelm the oil), then drizzle them with good olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cut the slices in half, and serve. Serves 4.

There are lots of variations to bruschetta.
One of the tastiest:
After rubbing the slices with the garlic, rub them with a very ripe cut tomato as well (or spread a thin layer of chopped tomatoes seasoned with basil, salt & pepper over the slices). Then sprinkle with olive oil and season. In addition to being a fine appetizer, this is a traditional merenda, or afternoon snack.
And another:
Boil cannellini (white) beans, use a slotted spoon to spoon them over the toasted bread, season the bruschetta with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and serve. In my experience, people ask for seconds and thirds of this variation.
Finally, don't forget, if you are having a barbacue, that bruschetta is an excellent way to begin.

Alfredo Sauce and Penne alla Fiesolana

Fiesolana Sauce is a smooth, creamy, cream sauce, and will work well over pasta or stuffed pasta, especially tortellini with a meat filling. If you modify the recipe slightly, you instead obtain an Alfredo sauce. To begin, the Fiesolana sauce, which will serve 4:

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
> A 1-pound (500 g) package of Penne
> 2 ounces (50 g) Prosciutto Toscano
> 1 tablespoon flour
> 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
> 1 cup (250 ml) milk
> 1/3 cup (80 ml) cream
> Salt and pepper to taste (this will depend on how seasoned the prosciutto is)
1/2 - 3/4 cup cooked fresh green peas (optional)
> Grated cheese to taste

Preparation:

1.) Make a béchamel sauce by melting a tablespoon of butter and carefully stirring in the flour to keep lumps from forming. Cook until the mixture is a pale brown, then add the milk, a few drops at a time, stirring all the while. Continue cooking over a low flame till the sauce thickens somewhat, and then stir in the cream, heat through, and set aside. Meanwhile, set the pasta to cook in salted water. Shred the prosciutto and lightly sauté it in a large skillet with the remaining butter. Add the béchamel sauce and the peas to the prosciutto and keep the sauce warm. When the pasta is just shy of being cooked, drain it, turn the flame under the sauce to high, and finish cooking the pasta by tossing it in the sauce. Serve with grated cheese to taste.

A Note: If you omit the peas and the prosciutto, you will obtain a smooth creamy sauce that closely resembles an Alfredo sauce, though it's not quite as rich. Making a true Alfredo Sauce is actually easier. You will need:
> 1 pound (450 g) fettuccine or other dried pasta
> 1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter
> 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
> 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano
> Salt and pepper to taste
> A hint of freshly grated nutmeg, if you like it

2.) Begin by setting pasta water to boil. Salt it, and add the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter over a gentle flame in a large skillet; do not let it froth or brown. When the pasta reaches the al dente stage drain it and turn it into the skillet. Add the cream and the cheese, season to taste, stir gently to coat the strands, and serve.

A wine? Depends upon the pasta. If I were serving the cream sauce over tortellini, I would go with a light, zesty red, even a Lambrusco secco (dry Lambrusco). If I were instead serving it over strands of pasta or short pasta, I would go with a white, perhaps a Vernaccia di San Gimignano.