Eating Italy: A Chef's Culinary Adventure (37 page)

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 teaspoons (10 ml) olive oil

4 ounces (1 stick/113 g) plus 2 teaspoons (9.5 g) unsalted butter, divided

1 small garlic clove, smashed

10 ounces (283 g) fresh or frozen porcini mushrooms, thawed if frozen, sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons (2.5 g) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1¼ ounces (35 g) Parmesan cheese, grated (6 tablespoons), divided

1 small egg

Pinch of grated nutmeg

4 ounces (113 g) Egg Pasta Dough (
page 282
), rolled into 1 sheet, about
inch (0.8 mm) thick

4 ounces (113 g) Taleggio cheese

4 sprigs fresh thyme

Put the oil, the 2 teaspoons (9.5 g) of butter, and the garlic in a large deep sauté pan over medium-high heat. When hot and bubbly, add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and shake the pan so the mushrooms are in a single layer. Cook without stirring until the bottoms of the mushrooms brown in the hot fat, 4 to 6 minutes. Shake the pan and flip the mushrooms to brown them evenly, another 4 to 6 minutes. Add the parsley and transfer the mushrooms to a colander or mesh strainer to drain and cool. Discard the garlic.

Transfer the mushrooms to a food processor and pulse until finely minced but not pureed, about a minute. Transfer to a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons (12.5 g) of the Parmesan, along with the egg and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper and use immediately or spoon into a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

Lay the pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface and trim the short edges square. Cut the sheet in half lengthwise to make two long sheets, each about 3 inches (7.5 cm) wide. Pipe the filling in ½-inch (1.25-cm)-diameter balls down the length of each sheet, right in the center, leaving 2 inches (5 cm) between each ball. Pinch off ½-inch (1.25-cm) pieces of Taleggio and place each piece on the porcini filling. Spritz the dough lightly with water and fold it over the filling, long edge to long edge. Gently press around each ball of filling to eliminate air pockets, minimizing folds in the dough. Using a 2½-inch (6-cm) round pasta or cookie cutter, cut out a series of half-moons, placing the cutter off center so the folded edge of the pasta bisects the equator of the cutter. Transfer the ravioli to parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate for up to 1 hour, or freeze until solid, transfer to resealable plastic bags, and freeze for up to 1 week. You should have fifty to sixty ravioli.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the ravioli in batches if necessary to prevent crowding, and cook until tender yet firm, 5 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the ravioli to warm pasta plates, arranging 10 to 12 on each plate in a single layer.

Meanwhile, heat the thyme and the remaining 4 ounces (113 g) of butter in a large deep sauté pan over medium heat until melted but not browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle the ravioli with the remaining ¼ cup (25 g) of Parmesan and drizzle on the herbed butter.

CHINOTTO AFFOGATO

Affogato
is an Italian float, but it’s usually espresso poured over a scoop of gelato in a cappuccino cup. Here’s my version made with
chinotto
, the Italian soft drink flavored with the same bittersweet orange used in Campari. From my first sip, I loved chinotto. It reminded me of Moxie, a soda I drank as a kid. Both sodas have a bitter, molasses, savory, only slightly sweet taste. I boiled the chinotto to a thick syrup and made gelato with it, and then poured some fresh chinotto over the gelato and served the float with a couple of lemon cookies. People went nuts for it.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (390 g) almond flour

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (255 g) confectioners’ sugar, plus some for dusting

1 teaspoon (4.5 g) baking powder

2 lemons

4 large egg whites

4 cups (1 L) Chinotto Gelato (
page 286
)

4 cups (1 L) chilled chinotto

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Stir together the almond flour, confectioners’ sugar, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Zest both lemons into the mixture, then cut one of the lemons in half and squeeze its juice through a strainer into the bowl. Stir in the egg whites just until the ingredients are combined and crumbly.

Fill a shallow dish with confectioners’ sugar for dusting. Roll the dough into 1-inch (2.5-cm)-diameter balls between your palms. Roll the balls in confectioners’ sugar and place on a baking sheet. Flatten slightly and bake until set but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for 10 minutes, and then cool completely on wire racks.

Freeze eight cappuccino cups. Place a scoop of Chinotto Gelato in each frozen cup and top with some chilled chinotto. Serve three lemon cookies on the saucer of each cup.

FRIED HUCKLEBERRY RAVIOLI
with
MASCARPONE CREMA

On the Leffe mountainsides, there grew these intense purple blueberries that reminded me of the huckleberries I grew up with on the hills of Nashua, New Hampshire. It was like coming home! I made a jam with the wild berries, stuffed them into sweet pastry dough, and fried them for dessert at Locanda del Biancospino. All the dessert needed was a creamy sauce, and mascarpone goes perfectly with berries. I just mixed it with whipped egg yolks and sugar. Boom! If you can’t find huckleberries for the ravioli, blueberries work just as well.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Huckleberry Filling:

2¼ pounds (1 kg) fresh huckleberries or blueberries (6¾ cups)

1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon (14 g) unsalted butter

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice

Sweet Pastry Dough:

3½ cups (440 g)
tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour

⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

2 large eggs

½ vanilla bean, split and scraped

4 tablespoons (57 g) melted unsalted butter

1⅓ cups plus 1 tablespoon (335 g) white wine

Mascarpone Crema:

3 large egg yolks

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (200 g) mascarpone

To Serve:

Oil, for frying

1 tablespoon (6 g) grated lemon zest

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

For the filling:
Combine the huckleberries, sugar, butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer until the mixture thickens and reaches 224°F (107°C) on a candy thermometer. Let cool, then spoon the mixture into a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

For the dough:
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, eggs, vanilla, butter, and wine in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Position a pasta roller at the widest setting. Cut the dough into three equal pieces and shape each piece into a thick rectangle the width of your pasta machine. Return two pieces to the refrigerator and roll one piece of dough through the pasta roller, lightly dusting the dough with flour to prevent sticking. Reset the rollers to the next-narrowest setting and pass the dough through the rollers. Pass the dough once through each progressively narrower setting, concluding with the second to last setting. Between rollings, continue to dust the dough lightly with flour, if needed, always brushing off the excess. You should end up with a sheet 4 to 5 feet (1.25 to 1.5 m) long and about
inch (1.5 mm) thick. Lay the sheet on a floured work surface and trim the edges so they are square. Notch the center of the sheet on the edge to mark it. Spritz the dough with a little water to keep it from drying out. Pipe ¾-inch (2-cm)-diameter balls of filling at 1-inch (2.5-cm) intervals in two rows down the length of the dough just to the center. Leave a 1-inch (2.5-cm) margin all the way around each ball of filling. Lift the opposite end of the sheet and fold it over the filling so the edges meet. Gently press the dough around each ball of filling to seal. Use a 3-inch (7.5-cm) round fluted cutter to cut round ravioli, or use a knife to cut squares. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Dust the ravioli with flour, cover loosely, and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 8 hours. If you have any leftover filling, keep it refrigerated for up to a week and spread it on toast or use it like any other jam.

For the mascarpone crema:
Combine the egg yolks and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until the mixture forms stiff peaks when the whisk is lifted, 4 to 5 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the mascarpone until smooth.

To serve:
Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 350°F (175°C). Add the ravioli in batches to prevent overcrowding and fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain and keep warm while you fry the rest of the ravioli.

Spread the mascarpone cream in a circle on each plate. Top with four or five ravioli, a scattering of lemon zest, and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.ttttttt

I PARKED CLAUDIA’S RED MINI COOPER ON A SIDE STREET. IT WAS MY FIRST TRIP TO FLORENCE AND THERE WERE NO PARKING SPOTS AT OUR BED-AND-BREAKFAST, B&B NOVECENTO ON VIA RICASOLI. THREE MONTHS LATER, CLAUDIA GOT A 350-EURO PARKING TICKET. INSTEAD OF “NO PARKING” SIGNS IN FLORENCE, THEY JUST USE STREET CAMERAS AND SEND YOU A BILL!