Posted by Lucy Baker, September 4, 2008 at 1:15 PM
True Italian tuna conserva is a far cry from Chicken of the Sea. Fresh fish is poached in a bath of water or olive oil, and seasoned with a variety of aromatics such as fennel, garlic, lemon, and crushed black peppercorns. Once prepared, it is stored in tightly packed jars of olive oil.
Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from A16 Food + Wine, is for Tuna Conserva with Potatoes, Radicchio, Green Olives, and Almonds. If you are so inclined, you can make your own tuna conserva (authors Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren provide a recipe at the beginning of the antipasti chapter) but high-quality olive oil packed tuna will work, too.
This hearty dish combines the tuna with crisp, bitter radicchio (just now coming into season); briny green olives; and creamy potatoes. It would make a perfectly delectable lunch. Let loose a little and have a glass of Fiano di Avellino, a full-bodied white wine from Campania with notes of honey, pears, and orange blossoms.
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Posted by Blake Royer, August 14, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Earlier this week I wrote about my garden in Brooklyn and its lone lacinato kale-plant-that-could. But I have a very different story to tell about my garden's tomato plants, especially the Sun Gold, which began as a Greenmarket seedling only a few inches tall and now towers over me at close to seven feet. I have no idea what I did to deserve this, or what magic there is in the Brooklyn water, but the sight of literally hundreds of tomatoes that will someday ripen is almost frightening.
Not that I'm complaining. Sun Golds are among the most delicious tomatoes I've ever tasted, a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity—you can eat them like candy. This recipe, from New York Magazine adapted from the Babbo kitchen, couldn't be simpler. The flavors begin with the traditional "caprese" basil-and-tomato, but calls for lemon basil instead of regular basil and adds chives. Look for Sun Golds at your local greenmarket or replace them with very ripe cherry tomatoes.
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Posted by Barbara Hanson, August 7, 2008 at 9:26 AM
All of the asterisked ingredients came from Russo’s, in the East Village, which you read about on Serious Eats: New York.
- serves 4 as an appetizer, two as a light supper
Ingredients
1 large, egg, beaten
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan or Romano, or a blend*, plus additional for serving, if desired
3 tablespoons milk
4 ounces fresh salted mozzarella*, coarsely chopped
4 slices Pepperidge Farm or other firm sandwich bread, crusts removed and saved
¼ cup flour
½ cup unseasoned dry breadcrumbs*
¾ to 1 cup olive oil (not virgin)
puttanesca sauce*, heated (marina sauce, preferably a bit spicy, may be substituted)
1. Whisk egg, grated cheese, and milk together in a shallow bowl, along with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Put half of the mozzarella atop of each of two of the bread slices, top with the remaining bread (in other words, make two sandwiches!), and press down gently. Cut carefully on the diagonal.
3. Dredge triangles in flour, dip in egg-cheese mixture, then press gently into breadcrumbs, making sure that the sandwiches are coated on all sides. (Paper plates are useful here, and keep a towel nearby, your hands are going to get a bit gummy.)
4. Let sandwiches rest for a few minutes, while you heat the oil over medium-high heat. (I used a 12” pan, and ¾ cup of oil resulted in around a ¼” depth, which is about right.)
5. Test the oil, using a different reserved crust each time. When one begins to sizzle as soon as it hits the oil, slide in the sandwiches. Cook them 1 to 1 ½ minutes per side, until browned, shaking the pan a couple of time to slosh the oil around, which will ensure that the cut edges get sealed and crisped.
6. Serve with tomato sauce, and topped with grated cheese, if desired.
Posted by Lucy Baker, July 29, 2008 at 11:00 AM
On a recent vacation to Ithaca, New York, I sampled some of the flavors at Purity Ice Cream, a local parlor that has been serving scoops since 1936. Normally I'm pretty decisive when it comes to placing my order, but this time, as the line snaked forward and my turn approached, I found myself at an unexpected loss. There were so many flavors and add-ins—a dizzying array of ripples and swirls, chips and chunks as far as the eye could see. One kind even involved tiny chocolate cows!
In the end I settled on the appropriately named Finger Lakes Tourist, which consisted of chocolate ice cream studded with white chocolate chunks and toasted hazelnuts. It was delicious, but as I savored my cone I found myself wondering: whatever happened to the original, most basic form of chocolate chip ice cream?
In Italian, stracciatella literally means "torn apart." The eponymous gelato flavor is chocolate chip ice cream in its purest form: vanilla with fine chocolate shavings. The shavings melt in your mouth along with the ice cream, resulting in a very smooth taste unlike that of American chocolate chip ice creams, which often involve pieces of chocolate the size of small coins.
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Posted by Blake Royer, July 1, 2008 at 4:30 PM
While at the market this weekend I picked up a giant handful of garlic scapes, the rather beautiful garlic flower that looks a bit like a pig's tail—they were too inexpensive and attractive to pass up. I knew I wanted them in a pasta, but I didn't know how it would play out. I read about grilling them or treating them like asparagus by chopping into 1-inch lengths and sautéing in butter, but the simplest and post popular scape pasta seemed to be tossed with pesto.
But what would I put in it? In the end, I decided to keep the variables fixed and blend together scapes, pine nuts, Parmesan, and olive oil. I also sweated a little red onion in butter over low heat to develop a sweet oniony base for the pasta, which I hoped would bring out that side of the scape's flavor.
But the resulting dish wasn't all that I'd hoped. The subtle flavor of the pine nuts was lost, and too much oil was required to get the pesto to the right consistency—even then, it was nowhere near as smooth as the basil-based pesto Genovese. The pesto itself had too much hot garlic bite. Maybe I should I have cooked the scapes first, or blended them with an herb to soften the edges? I'm open to suggestions.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, June 9, 2008 at 4:45 PM
It's very hot in the Midwest right now, so I’ve been trying to keep cool any way I can. The many crisp green salads I ate to cope with the heat were fine for a while, but I need to move on. To find an alternative, I picked up Sicilian Home Cooking by Wanda Tornabene and Giovanna Tornabene and got stuck on this quick little rice salad with pesto and shrimp. It sounded like the perfect escape from the oppressive heat.
This probably works better with day-old rice, besides that it would make the whole recipe much easier, but that's assuming you have any hanging out in the fridge. I never seem to be prepared in that regard. I am, however, always prepared for pesto. Whenever I buy basil, I immediately use the leftovers to make pesto. That way the basil never goes bad, and I'm left with a freezer full of gorgeous green sauce ready to go at any moment. It freezes extremely well, and helps round out a dish like this one without requiring much effort at all.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, May 23, 2008 at 4:30 PM
The original recipe calls for gramigna pasta, but that would've required leaving the house in order for me to find it. Since the best part of this recipe is that it's a true pantry meal, I used what I had at home, which turned out to be these nifty looking guys that the fianc—e bought to make some soup ages ago. There are called ditalini, and though I’d never heard of them before, they worked extremely well. I’m sure any short shaped pasta would work well in this dish.
I found this in Lidia Bastianich’s Lidia’s Italy. And what’s truly important is the trinity of spinach, bacon, and chickpeas. Somehow this meager meal transforms into something truly comforting. Sure, bacon and its lovely fat can comfort any dish, but I was a little worried about the chickpeas interacting with the pasta. But all the chickpeas do is suck up the flavor, which makes this dish less like traditional pasta and more like a stew. Not bad for things that were hanging out in my pantry.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, May 23, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Tomato salads are one of the best parts of summer eating. What could be better, or easier, than a perfectly ripe, sliced beefsteak topped with nothing more than a drizzle of olive oil and a shower of salt and pepper?
Well, maybe a tomato salad à la Mario Batali.
In today’s Cook the Book recipe for Swordfish Involtini Sicilian-Style, excerpted from Mario Batali Italian Grill, rolls of citrus-stuffed swordfish are served a top a tomato salad filled with the traditional Sicilian flavors of capers, pine nuts, olives, and currants.
This dish exemplifies warm-weather cooking at its best: quick and simple, it lets the superior quality of seasonal ingredients shine through.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, May 22, 2008 at 2:00 PM
This brownie was created by Brooks Headley, executive pastry chef at Del Posto in New York City. If you don't want to splurge on the aceto balsamico tradizionale, you can try reducing a supermarket balsamic vinegar in a nonreactive saucepan. Just be careful in the reduction—let it go too long, and your saucepan is toast. Here's the recipe's backstory »
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Posted by Lucy Baker, May 22, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Braciole, a mainstay at Italian street fairs, is traditionally made with pounded cutlets of top round or veal. In some parts of Italy, they are simply grilled and topped with a flavorful sauce, while in others the cutlets are rolled around a savory filling.
In this version, excerpted from Mario Batali Italian Grill, a butterflied beef tenderloin is filled with a mixture of fresh herbs, best-quality salami, fontina, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The resulting "pinwheels" make a for a stunning presentation perfect for entertaining on Memorial Day or any day this summer.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, May 21, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, from Mario Batali Italian Grill, is for Chicken Thighs with Snap Peas and Agliata. Agliata, for those who aren’t well-versed in Italian (I'm not) means garlic sauce. Instead of cooking the thighs directly over the flames, Mario recommends placing them on the cooler part of the grill. This leads to juicy meat and a toasty crust. When the chicken is done, make sure to scoop the clumps of crumbs from the gill and scatter them on top for extra crunch.
This dish is an impressive and healthy option for Memorial Day. Of course beefy burgers are awesome, but if you're looking to prepare something a little lighter, flavorful grilled chicken served atop a pile of verdant greens is the way to go.
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Posted by Blake Royer, May 20, 2008 at 4:30 PM
The most important thing to remember when making this recipe is low, gentle, barely flickering heat. This is not a "hot" bean salad, it's a warm one, and delicate heat preserves the flavor of its ingredients. Quality herbs and olive oil also make a difference—but that low temperature at which the flavors open up without losing their most subtle qualities makes all the difference. Whenever I make it, I never let the flame get above a gentle simmer, allowing the oil, garlic, and green herbs to infuse with each other and become absorbed by the beans.
Otherwise, it couldn't be much gloriously simpler, which is often the case with the recipes of Viana La Place, who offers this recipe in her book Verdura: Vegetables Italian Style. It also tends to be the humble star of the meal, even next to grilled lamb chops or skirt steak or a fillet of salmon—all of which it pairs marvelously with. The addition of oil-cured olives is optional; sometimes I replace them with cooked shrimp to make the recipe into a one-dish meal.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, May 20, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from Mario Batali Italian Grill, embodies the spirit of summer—it's fresh, light, and effortless. Sea scallops are as easy to grill as any Oscar Meyer wiener, and the results are far more fabulous. Paired with heirloom tomatoes and bright green basil, and dressed simply with olive oil, coarse salt, and a hint of lemon, Sea Scallops alla Caprese is sure to be a hit at your beachside Memorial Day barbecue.
For this recipe, Mario grills the scallops alla pistara, which means on a flat griddle over a hot fire. You can use a regular stovetop griddle or an old fashioned cast iron pancake pan in a pinch, or purchase Mario's own pistara which is made from rust-proof granite.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, May 19, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Mortadella is to bologna what Dom Perignon is to Andre Spumante. A thick Italian sausage studded with chunks of pork fat (and sometimes pistachios), mortadella has a delicate, smoky flavor often spiced with pepper, nutmeg, and coriander.
In this recipe, the first to be excerpted from Mario Batali Italian Grill, slices of the savory sausage are folded around spoonfuls of robiola, a soft-ripe cheese made from a combination of cow, goat, and sheep’s milk. The packets are then grilled and topped with a bitter green salad.
The easy combination of gooey cheese and charred sausage would make a perfect appetizer for any Memorial Day feast. With a mere six ingredients, and a grilling time of just four minutes, you can relax and enjoy them with a glass of chilled Lambrusco before getting down to sear some serious steaks.
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If you'd like a chance to tailgate with Mario at the Texas Motor Speedway on November 2, visit this page and submit your grilling recipe and video demonstration of it. Grand prize winner will grill with Mario and grab two VIP tickets to the Dickies 500 race in Fort Worth.
As is always the case with our Cook the Book selections, we're giving away five (5) copies away this week to lucky readers. Enter to win here »
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Posted by Blake Royer, May 15, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I hardly ever eat veal, much less cook with it, but something about the recipe in this month's Saveur had me rushing to the butcher. The simplicity and richness of the dish was immensely appealing. Saltimbocca alla Romana is, as you might guess from the name, a classic Roman dish; the name means "jump in the mouth," which it did into mine, quickly. Its preparation takes only a few minutes, and the result is exceedingly elegant.
While I had my butcher flatten out the veal cutlets for me, it's easy to do at home with two sheets of plastic wrap and a pounding utensil (you can even use the bottom of a heavy skillet, like cast iron). Next, thin slices of prosciutto are pressed against the thin veal cutlets so that they gently adhere, and leaves of sage are pinned to the meat with toothpicks. The whole constructed sheet of meat is dredged very lightly in a little flour before sautéeing, which gives it a wonderful crust and later thickens the pan sauce, made from marsala and a little chicken stock. Just remember that you don't really need to salt anything—the prosciutto brings plenty to the party, as will the chicken stock.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, May 14, 2008 at 6:15 PM
It wasn’t exactly a con job, but I did end up spending way too much for the fontina cheese at the local cheesemonger. The man was describing some heavenly stuff that he had just gotten in and I simply got mesmerized. It smelled wonderful and complex and agreed to a 1/2 pound before I even thought about asking the price. When the total came in over $10 I realized I had surpassed my intentions. My original goal was to sprinkle it over some broccoli...and that’s it. That’s an expensive side dish. Cheese this good needed a higher lot in life.
The fiancée actually remembered this recipe out of the well-worn Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces. She claims we had this dish before, and she’s usually right. But we definitely didn’t have it with fontina this good. The level of nutty, earthiness is incredible considering how little cheese is actually used. All the rest is vegetable goodness, and the zucchini, especially, adds some wonderful sweetness. It’s just another potato and pasta recipe that sounds illogical, and yet creates a dish like this one. The recipe's name translates simply as "Pasta with Green Vegetables," but it sounds so much better in Italian.
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Posted by Ed Levine, May 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM
The first serious chef I think of when I think about Mother's Day is Lidia Bastianich. Lidia is the proud mother of Joe Bastianich, restaurateur, vintner, and food businessman extraordinaire, and of Tanya Bastianich Manuali, her travelmate on the Lidia's Italy television series. She's also a grandmother of five and the devoted daughter of her mom, Erminia, who escaped from a refugee camp with Lidia 40 years ago. So I figured I'd ask Lidia how she's celebrating Mother's Day.
Usually she spends it at her restaurants, she told me, because it's such a restaurant-oriented holiday. But this year Joe's son is having his First Communion, so the whole Bastianich clan is congregating at Joe's house in Connecticut. Lidia is making a special octopus dish that she says all her grandchildren love; here's the recipe.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, May 6, 2008 at 5:00 PM
After preparing the Roasted Cod on Large Garlic Croutons from the June issue of Bon Appétit for this week's magazine recipe review, I've determined that the only way to make always-delicious bruschetta even better is to make it bigger.
The recipe, part of an article on quick summer suppers that can be thrown together in 15 minutes or less, was designed to turn bruschetta—once relegated to party appetizer platters—into a main course. And that it did: the briny tomato-anchovy sauce perfectly complimented the mild cod, and the crusty bread beneath soaked up all the savory juices.
This was one of those simple-yet-sophisticated recipes that leaves you at once completely satisfied and at the same time pondering how you could make it again differently. Entrée-sized bruschetta is such a great idea. Next time I'm going to try it with tuna, or maybe salmon, and I'm definitely going to throw some olives into the sauce.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, May 1, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Everyone has ingredients they can't resist. Favorite foods that are always kept on hand; items that, when spotted on restaurant menus make a dish impossible not to order. For my mother, it's artichoke hearts. For my boyfriend, it's bacon. For me, it's fennel. Fronds, shavings, wedges—I love the crunchy, sweet, licorice-flavored vegetable in all its incarnations.
Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from Lidia's Italy, is for Baked Fennel with Prosciutto. This Roman dish is straight from the heart of Italian cooking, combining best-quality ingredients with simple preparation methods. Toss everything together hours ahead, store it in the fridge, and then pop it in then oven a bit before dinner.
Salty Prosciutto, fragrant cheese, sweet fennel, and a drizzle of butter. Who could resist that?
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Posted by Blake Royer, May 1, 2008 at 4:15 PM
I'd never eaten a ramp before in my life. But there I found myself week after week, trolling greenmarkets, unable to wait for something other than root vegetables. My own obsession was mysterious, but the general public excitement over ramps is remarkable. Ignored as nuisances for years, they are also called wild leeks and have flat, floppy leaves and a beautiful purple stem. The flavor is an earthy pungent combination of scallions and garlic, and is usually served simply grilled, in pastas or risottos, or baked into gratins and frittatas. The prices are quite fetching—up to $20/pound—for what is essentially a weed. When they first came, ramps were often sold out at the market by 9 a.m.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, May 1, 2008 at 12:30 PM
The following recipe is from the May 1st edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
In Lidia Bastianich's latest cookbook, Lidia's Italy, she shares recipes from her favorite ten places in Italy. This springtime recipe for risotto with spinach comes from Friuli in northeast Italy and shows the basic risotto-making technique used in Friuli. Instead of spinach, she suggests using greens more common to the region, such as nettles, wild asparagus, or sclopit, if you can find them.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 29, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Turn this Greek yogurt and honey into a light, creamy dessert.
When it comes to cream-based desserts such as puddings, mousses, and flans, panna cottas have always been my favorite. Add to that Serious Eats' collective obsession with Greek yogurt, and it was easy to choose what to make for this week's magazine recipe review: Yogurt Panna Cottas with Honey from the May issue of Food & Wine.
The recipe was created by Marisa Chruchill, a San Francisco-based pastry chef and cooking instructor, and a former contestant on Top Chef. In her version of the Italian classic, tangy fat-free yogurt replaces the heavy cream. The results are not only decadent and velvety, they're also downright healthy—only 120 calories and a trace of fat per serving.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 29, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from Lidia's Italy, proves that Italian food doesn't have to be heavy. There are plenty of light, flavorful dishes that are just as satisfying as stick-to-your-ribs spaghetti and cheese-laden lasagna. Manfredi's Steamed Calamari is a healthy Sicilian classic perfect for the impending summer months. Enjoy it warm or room temperature, as a main course, or an accompaniment to grilled fish or chicken.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 28, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, the first to be excerpted from Lidia's Italy, is for Gemelli with Smothered Cauliflower and Saffron. Distinctly Sicilian, this fragrant pasta dish combines traditional ingredients such as pine nuts, fresh basil, golden raisins and...anchovies.
While my first experience with anchovies was less than savory (it involved, at the tender age of six, a wayward topping on a slice of Papa Gino's cheese pizza) I've since learned to appreciate the salty, hairy little fish. I'd still never eat one whole or unadorned, but I love the briny flavor they impart in Caesar salads, olive tapenades, and puttanescas. In this recipe, just one tablespoon of chopped fillets is enough to enhance the entire dish.
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Posted by Blake Royer, April 22, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Sometimes I find myself in a rut when it comes to quick pasta tomato sauces. The usual canned tomatoes, a few herbs, garlic and onions—it's good, but it's a little boring. I thoroughly enjoy Batali's marinara on a regular basis, which grates carrots into the sauce, but I've been eating it all winter out of the freezer. When it's the middle of summer, I can chop up some juicy market heirloom tomatoes, marinate them with garlic, basil, and olive oil, then serve uncooked with hot linguine. But what about when tomatoes still suck and I'm out of ideas?
This recipe suggests simmering pork sausages in white wine, then using the resulting fat-infused liquid to flavor the sauce. I was further convinced by the use of butter instead of olive oil to begin the onions and garlic, which adds a little richness and creaminess to everything. And finally, freshly shelled peas are appearing at my farmer's market, and this recipe calls for those, too. Once again, Diana Seed's The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces came through in a clutch.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 22, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Sometimes a few simple ingredients come together to create something spectacular. The individual elements compliment each other so well that, when combined, the results are so delicious they border on magical. Think bacon and eggs; chocolate and strawberries; hot dogs, ketchup, and mustard.
To my mind, few dishes are as effortlessly flawless as a classic caprese salad composed of tart tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and fragrant basil. And while I wouldn't normally mess with perfection, I was intrigued by a recipe in the May issue of Bon Appetit that replaced the tomatoes with slices of fresh mango, and added radicchio to the mix.
A caprese salad with tropical and bitter flavors? I had to try it out for this week's magazine recipe review.
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Posted by Gina DePalma, April 22, 2008 at 8:30 AM
The markets of Rome are always ablaze with color, but as the weather gets warmer and the variety of produce grows, the vivid hues have intensified. This past Saturday at the Campo de’Fiori was a riot of spring colors, but it was the reds that leapt out and grabbed my attention.
Locals elbowed wide-eyed tourists for space and the usual Italian cluster mobs had formed, but the hand-to-hand mortal combat wasn’t enough to distract me from seeing red at every turn, bright and deep, from pink to purple. The last of the apples were being nudged by baskets of tiny fragole di bosco, or wild forest strawberries, delicate, variegated Radicchio di Castelfranco nodded to me in the breeze, and tomatoes of every shape and size from Sicily screamed of juicy ripeness.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 12, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Each Saturday evening we bring you a Sunday Supper recipe. Why on Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow.
When I've overdone it during the week, I like to keep things simple on the weekends. And this week I overdid it, with two burgers* in one night, a fair amount of drinkin', and a three-second ride on a mechanical bull. The easy comfort of risotto bianco is sounding really good right now. The recipe that follows is adapted from the one in Alice Waters' book The Art of Simple Food. It doesn't really say in her book, probably because it's second nature to Ms. Waters, but with something as basic as risotto, you really have to use good-quality ingredients. Homemade chicken stock is ideal. I have some in my freezer, so I'm going to hit my stash for this. And I'll just pick up a good Italian Parmigiano.
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Posted by Blake Royer, April 8, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I'm usually suspicious of any alterations to traditional basil pesto—those fancy, misguided ideas like trading out pine nuts for pistachios. "Don't mess with perfection," is my feeling. Except in many cases, these other pestos aren't trying to mess up a good thing—they're traditions of their own. Pine nuts, basil, Parmesan, and olive oil may be the most popular and arguably the most sublime of these concoctions (known officially as pesto Genovese), but there are others great ones, like this one from Sicily: pesto Trapanese.
Other than replacing pine nuts with almonds, it's not a sweeping change. But the recipe also adds cherry tomatoes, and they offer a little sweetness. Their crushed juices also help counteract the relative dryness of the almonds, which, unlike softer pine nuts, refuse to give themselves up to the pesto—they remain distinct and crunchy, adding a wonderful textural interest to the dish that pesto Genovese sometimes lacks. I found that a little pasta water was the essential step to keep it from drying out too much and helping to bind everything together.
What are your favorite non-Genovese pestos?
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 6, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Here's a perfect spring Italian brunch dish from one of my often-used cookbooks, Cucina Simpatica, by George Germon and Joanne Killeen, chef-owners of Al Forno, a wonderful restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island. According to the headnote in the book, "this recipe is an adaptation of the asparagi Bismarck served at Bagutta, a wonderful old restaurant in Milan." I serve it with thick slices of toasted rustic bread brushed with olive oil.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, April 2, 2008 at 4:15 PM
This Mario Batali recipe comes from his Simple Italian Food, a book that I somehow missed out on. I love his Molto Italiano and the Babbo Cookbook, but was a little surprised to find this amongst the stack at the local library. It sounded exactly like something I needed. I was worried about the lemon sauce and crispy garlic at first, but after the three minutes of boiling, it reduced to a beautiful lemony glaze that was perfect over the shrimp.
The only ingredient that might cause problems is the limoncello. It, unfortunately, also gives the dish its soul. There are some easy limoncello recipes, if you have a few months and some extra bottles of grain alcohol hanging around. As for substitutes, it’s all rather sketchy looking. It’d just suggest biting the bullet and securing a bottle—it’ll last for ages if you don’t drink it first. Or you could search out for some mini bottles, which is what I was able to find. That way you can whip up this wonderfully simple recipe in a matter of minutes and stun some guests.
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Posted by Gina DePalma, March 25, 2008 at 8:00 AM
The cluttered and dusty used bookstore on my block has become one of my favorite haunts, mostly for a sometimes campy and ever-revolving selection of old cookbooks. The Myra Breckenridge Cookbook displayed in the window last week made me laugh right out loud, but inside I found an even greater treasure—an old copy of Elizabeth David's Italian Food. It is impossible not to be inspired by David's evocative and vivid writing style, and thumbing through the dog-eared volume while imagining her travels through Italy in the early 1950s has become my new afternoon ritual.
The pages recently fell open to reveal her recipe for Carrots in Marsala; it instantly seemed so mouthwatering I had no choice but to head straight for the market.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, March 19, 2008 at 4:30 PM
It wasn’t until recently that I realized the term "risotto" could be applied to all sorts of dishes that didn’t have an ounce of rice involved. It’s a liberating idea in theory, but one I haven’t really followed through with in practice. Although I never thought turnips would be the gateway, we actually picked this recipe because of the turnips, not the risotto tag. The fiancée and I just came to the conclusion that we probably hadn’t ever bought turnips before. It was about time.
Halfway through preparing this recipe, I predicted disaster. It didn’t smell that wonderful, and all that oil looked excessive. The resulting dish was a tad heavy, but I suppose that all rice-based risottos are, too. Luscious, warming, and filling probably give a better description. It's yet another Mario Batali
recipe that seems a little too simple until it hits the plate.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, March 18, 2008 at 2:15 PM
When I have a craving for a really decadent dish—macaroni and cheese, say, or rice pudding—I prefer to make it for myself as opposed to ordering it in a restaurant. This is for two reasons: first, I think that rich, comforting foods are best enjoyed at home; second, when I am the cook, I am in control of the specific ingredients and the portion sizes. The end result is, I believe, always a little bit healthier.
For this week's magazine recipe review I made the orecchiette carbonara with leeks from the April issue of Bon Appétit. Spaghetti carbonara is something I would never eat out, for fear of popping a button off my pants in public. There is just no way to tell how much butter, oil, and bacon fat is being used. I was drawn to the version in Bon Appétit because it didn't use heavy cream (unlike some less traditional carbonaras), and because it called for fresh, seasonal leeks. Also, I happened to have a lot of eggs on hand.
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Posted by Gina DePalma, March 18, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Eggs are essential ingredients in Italian Easter celebrations, playing a role that extends beyond the huge, elaborately decorated chocolate eggs that decorate every shop window in the weeks before the holiday.
Eggs were a symbol of new birth and renewal for many of the ancient civilizations predating the Christian era, when they were adopted as a representation of the resurrection of Christ. They evolved as part of the traditional Easter feast partly because they were one of the foods originally forbidden to have during Lent. These traditions are still intact today, ingrained in the mind, heart, and stomach; each region of Italy has its own special recipes for consuming eggs on Easter.
Romans are likely to enjoy a light first course of Brodetto Pasquale at their Easter table, the local version of a soup that features eggs as well as lamb, another iconic Easter food.
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Posted by Blake Royer, March 13, 2008 at 4:30 PM
It's probably some kind of shill to say that one of Mario Batali's own recipes is itself proof that making his Basic Tomato Sauce is worth your time. But the sauce has become a freezer ingredient that I couldn't do without, especially when it comes to quick, simple pastas on weeknights. With little effort, a simple recipe goes from ordinary to superb. Sure, a can of good whole tomatoes will work instead, but a cupful of homemade sauce makes all the difference. It doesn't need to be Batali's—Serious Eaters have their own ideas, too.
This recipe is an exceptional fish pasta, which aren't all that common. The monkfish fillets are an inspired choice—they have a meaty, dense texture that holds up well to cooking. This recipe simmers half-inch chunks of the monkfish in a liquidy, winey broth—almost equal parts wine and tomato sauce. Beforehand, red onion and zucchini are cooked golden brown in olive oil to give it a sweet base. The result is a light yet substantial meal.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, March 12, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the March 12th edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
In My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea, 50 of the best-known chefs around the world share the recipes of their final meals. Jamie Oliver chose spaghetti all'arrabiata, a dish of spaghetti in a tomato, chili, garlic and onion sauce he learned in Tuscany and has since become his favorite comfort food.
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Posted by Gina DePalma, March 4, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Spring vegetables arrive shockingly early in Rome to the eyes of this American. As the availability of puntarelle has waned, artichokes have burst onto the scene as the first harbingers of primavera.
Nobody celebrates the artichoke like Romans, and at the produce market, artichokes harvested from the countryside surrounding Rome are always the first choice of shoppers; they are a specific variety that thrives in the volcanic soil from the valleys surrounding Monte Cimino, Lake Bracciano, and Lake Vico.
Huge, purple-green globes have taken over the town, piled high in the open-air markets and artfully arranged at the entrance of Roman restaurants and trattorie. A bouquet of artichokes in the window means there may be carciofi alla guidea (crisp and deep-fried), alla Romana (braised in olive oil, with red onion, garlic and fresh mint), or any number of other artichoke delights on the menu tonight.
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Posted by Ed Levine, March 2, 2008 at 12:00 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on spinach lasagna. —Ed Levine
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, February 13, 2008 at 4:15 PM
Most of my experience with tossing raw eggs on pasta revolves around pasta carbonara, one of my very favorite meals. I eat it a lot. Because it requires only some eggs, bacon, and pasta, it is my go-to meal when the fridge is running low. What makes it great is not just the ingredients, but how they are added. When tossed in at the last minute that raw egg yolk lovingly coats every strand of pasta in a perfect, luscious sauce. When I saw this recipe I got very excited—here was another recipe that added the egg at the end. What kind of wonders would it hold?
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, February 13, 2008 at 1:45 PM
My biggest liability in the kitchen is my extreme pokiness at doing pretty much everything. Chopping onions, thinking through recipes, and (especially) washing vegetables—I’m just not speedy. Cookbooks that list prep times always make me laugh (a little tightly) because no matter how realistic they claim to be, the authors seem to have at their disposal either a team of prep cooks (and multiple sinks) or magic instant vegetable washing techniques they have forgotten to share. Confronted with a mountain of kale to wash or carrots to peel, I usually cope by trying to convince myself that the task at hand is meditative and even enjoyable. This works on the weekend but is a harder sell on Wednesday night. So why did I try to make Marcella Hazan’s Baked Escarole Torta—bread stuffed with sautéed escarole, a recipe I had been eyeing for years—on a night when I had about five thousand other things to take care of?
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Posted by Mario Batali, February 12, 2008 at 1:30 PM
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
1 pound fresh crab meat
4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus 4 scallions
1/4 cup basic tomato sauce
1 recipe basic pasta, rolled out to thinnest setting
6 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Procedure
1. Bring 6 quarts water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt.
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together crab, scallions, and basic tomato sauce until well blended. Cut pasta into 4-inch squares; place 1 tablespoon filling in center. Fold into triangles, exude air and seal edges. Bring points of long side together to form a ring (or a hat!) and seal with pressure between fingers. Place tortelloni in water; boil 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter with poppy seeds. Drain cooked tortelloni carefully; place gently in pan. Add remaining scallions; toss to coat. Serve immediately.
Posted by Mario Batali, February 12, 2008 at 1:15 PM
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
4 skewers, soaked in water 8 hours
8 quail, boneless
4 pieces pancetta, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 ounces balsamic vinegar
2 ounces virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
4 cups water
10 sage leaves, chopped
1 cup polenta
1/2 cup Asiago, freshly grated
Procedure
1. Check quail for bones or feathers; place in mixing bowl. Add pancetta, vinegar, olive oil, honey, and black pepper; toss to coat. Set aside and preheat grill.
2. In a 3-quart saucepan, place onion, water, and sage and bring to a boil. Thread one quail, followed by one piece of pancetta, followed by one quail on each of four skewers; place on hottest part of grill. Cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until just pink at the leg bones.
3. Meanwhile, pour polenta slowly in a thin stream into boiling water, until all is incorporated and polenta thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Switch to a wooden spoon, add Asiago, and cook 1 minute more, until as thick as paste. Remove from heat; pour on to a service-ready cutting board. Pile skewers on top of polenta, and serve.
Posted by Mario Batali, February 12, 2008 at 1:00 PM
- makes about 2 pounds of cookies -
Brutti ma buoni translates roughly to "ugly but good."
Ingredients
4 egg whites, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon amaretto
1 tablespoon cocoa powder, bitter
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup pine nuts
Zest of 4 oranges
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and dust cookie sheet.
2. Place whites in the bowl of an electric mixer; whip to soft peak. Add sugar steadily, and beat 2 minutes. Stop machine; add flour, vanilla, amaretto, and cocoa powder. Mix 1 minute, and stop machine. Stir in nuts quickly; place 2-inch blobs on cookie sheet. Bake 30 minutes until crisp. Remove and let cool.
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 9, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Each Saturday evening we bring you a Sunday Supper recipe. Why Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow, of course!
I only discovered the Silver Palate Cookbook after joining Ed Levine here at Serious Eats. He recommended it early on as indispensible. But it wasn't until the 25th Anniversary Edition came out that I actually picked up a copy. And now, whenever I'm at a loss for dinner or want to beef up my recipe repertoire, I turn to it.
One of my favorite quick and easy recipes from it is this one for Tortellini with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce. I actually haven't made it in quite a while, but Jamie Forrest's recent blue cheese dip post—and the fact that he stopped by Serious Eats HQ with samples of it (thanks, Jamie!)—has me hankerin' for this pasta dish again.
The book's authors recommend it as either a first course or light main, and I generally make it as a main, accompanied by a simple salad and some good oven-warmed crusty bread. It makes enough for six servings, which is too much for one or two, so if you find yourself with leftovers after making it tomorrow night, you'll have a couple lunches or dinners for next week.
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Posted by Blake Royer, January 31, 2008 at 4:15 PM
No, it's not as good as the real thing. It doesn't have the creaminess, the richness, the elegance. But I wanted a big bowl of creamy starch for dinner, I wanted it quickly—and real risotto will never be quick. This was a pleasant surprise: the orzo spends four or five minutes boiling to accomplish most of the cooking, then a short simmer in stock with some fresh thyme and orange zest completes it. Like the real deal, butter and Parmesan are stirred in at the end—unlike the real deal, this was ready in 15 minutes, including waiting for the boiling water.
The flavors are exceedingly subtle, and The Best of Gourmet: A Year of Celebrations recommends it as a side dish, which is probably wiser. If I made this again, it would be next to a roast chicken. It's more of a wingman. But if it had to be a main course, maybe some shallots or onion, sautéed beforehand in butter along with that thyme and orange zest, would boost the flavors; the parboiled orzo could be added to that along with stock. I'm also curious how long this would take without the pre-boiling: just dry orzo added to stock, simmered until tender and absorbed, more like a real risotto. Has anyone tried that?
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 25, 2008 at 3:30 PM
I’ve explored a few recipes from The Silver Spoon
with varying degrees of success. The ricotta and spinach gnocchi were delicious, but a roast chicken with apples was a complete disaster. I’m not sure why I was trying these recipes, when what I really wanted to do was rampage through the pasta section. That was, in fact, the main reason why I ever wanted the book.
And what a section it is. It is stuffed with unique ideas, which seem at once exotic and also incredibly simple. That’s exactly where this recipe falls. The rosemary and tomato seemed harmless enough, but the addition of flour and water felt a little like cheating to add body. But is actually just the perfect vehicle to help that rosemary sauce cling to every single noodle. It makes what looks like a little bit of sauce stretch over an entire box of pasta. Scoring some great pasta to coat with that sauce also helps. I picked mine up at a local Italian importer and can’t see myself ever going back to the old pasta again.
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Posted by Emily Koh, January 25, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Unlike other members of the wheat family, farro (Italian for "emmer wheat") hasn't gotten as big of a push into the spotlight, although it has started to appear on menus in soups and salads. It also isn't stocked as widely, considering that all authentic farro comes directly from Italy, and availability is limited to gourmet and health food stores. Don't let that stop you, however—this grain cooks quick like rice, and has an earthy, nutty taste, not unlike oats. If you're hankering for some warm risotto these cold winter nights, try switching it up with this farro risotto with butternut squash, ham, sage, and toasted walnuts recipe.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, January 24, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Marcella Hazan, who introduced an America familiar with red sauce joints to true Italian food, is a teacher and writer with whom every home cook should spend some time. She was born in Italy but immigrated to the United States as a bride. Though she had never cooked before, she had to learn to feed her husband (hey, it was the 1950s), and luckily for all of us it turned out that she was no slouch. She began teaching Italian cooking in New York City and eventually published several books of her beautifully simple, authentic recipes.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
combines two books Hazan published in the 1970s. The food here is, for the most part, straightforward and homey, and the instructions are detailed and clear. I often turn to this book when I’m not sure what to do with a vegetable or need new ideas for saucing pasta, but there are lots of big meaty dishes as well.
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Posted by Blake Royer, January 17, 2008 at 5:00 PM
The name itself—singsongy and alliterative—was enough to convince me. Then I noticed it had 7 ingredients, which includes salt and pepper—so let's say 5 ingredients. Little chance for anything superfluous to get between the two main acts—just a little Parmesan for creaminess, olive oil to soften the citrus, and basil for color and freshness. Along with Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic, this is comfort food, out-of-the-pantry cooking, with no ingredients left to be taken out of the dish. There would be nothing left.
After searching for a couple recipe variations (I decided against Paula Dean's approach, which adds a carton of sour cream), Giada De Laurentiis seemed the most sensible: while the pasta cooks, a little emulsion of lemon juice, olive oil, and Parmesan is whisked in the serving bowl, seasoned with salt and pepper, then tossed with the cooked pasta and some of its water. Lemon zest is sprinkled on top, along with some chopped basil. This lets you adjust the sauce right in the serving bowl before adding the pasta, so that the puckery lemon doesn't overwhelm.
If a bowl of pasta without much else doesn't appeal, this would make a nice bed for a piece of seared chicken, or tossed with a couple sautéed shrimp.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 9, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I’m apparently still obsessed with death, because I can’t put My Last Supper down. I mean, of all recommendations, wouldn’t a “last-recipe-ever” tag by a respected chef seem like a good place to start? Especially when the chef is Mario Batali and his recipe is called Shrimp in Crazy Water? It looked like a beautiful rustic dish, rather like his chicken with green sauce recipe I still salivate over.
The “crazy” in the water is due to some fresh chiles, which in my case were serranos, though jalapeños or habeneros—for you really crazy folk—would also work. The chiles certainly do make a scene in the tomato and fennel sauce, though not in a way that would impede excessive slurping. I sure couldn’t find any live or whole shrimp in Ohio, so I had to settle for some wild Gulf shrimp without their heads. Not exactly the perfect re-creation for his last meal, but perfectly delicious for a weeknight meal.
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Posted by Jenn Sit, January 4, 2008 at 1:00 PM
At school, we make massive pasta dishes to feed our whole house and I've become addicted to adding heavy cream and bacon to every sauce I whip up. Even if we use a jar of alfredo sauce, I can't help but go the semi-homemade route and add even more cream. With Ellie Krieger's recipe for fettuccine with creamy red pepper sauce from The Food You Crave, I may be convinced to kick the cream habit and even resist the temptation to add bacon. There's been talk amongst my housemates about eating healthier as an entire house and this could be the first step in that direction. Her recipe is not only cream-free and healthy, but super quick to put together. To make it even more filling, but without ruining its nutritious spin, I'd add chicken and some more veggies.
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Posted by Blake Royer, January 3, 2008 at 4:00 PM
The lore of Pasta alla Puttanesca, which translates as "Whore's Pasta," varies: some say it refers to the spicy, pungent aroma produced by its ingredients that enticed passing customers; others claim pragmatically that this out-of-the-larder dish was the easiest thing workers could prepare between customers, and cheap to boot. People cook it today because it has a remarkable flavor, is easy, and is made of ingredients easily kept on hand.
A soffrito of garlic, chili flakes, and anchovy sautéed in oil introduces a sharp, nutty taste to the base of the dish, which is richened with tomato sauce, then speckled with piquant capers and black olives, which give it a sweet brine. Three strong flavors are competing for attention on the palate—anchovies, olives, and capers—so restraining each is essential (so is avoiding salt altogether: there's plenty of it in the ingredients already). The taste should be vibrant, yet smooth, the epitome of balance. A tip on Chowhound recommends the rule of halves, which worked perfectly when I used it: Start with a full amount of olives (say 1/2 cup per pound of pasta) then use half the capers, and half again as many anchovies as capers. Most recipes call for a can of whole tomatoes, which is the simplest and fastest option, but a little homemade frozen tomato sauce is even better. I had some of
