Just in time for your next Saturday night pasta party, a new jarred sauce that's worth a first taste and second helping has appeared on store shelves. Mezzetta, the company famous for such glass-jarred wonders as snappy peperoncini and an addictive giardiniera, has launched Napa Valley Bistro, a line of pasta sauces prepared with Napa Valley wines. We were glad to cook up a sample sent our way and toss it with some noodles. Hey, anything for our readers – especially if it involves eating spaghetti.
We tried two versions: basic marinara and the creamy version. The saucy results are after the jump.
As someone who has spent hours reading about how to perfect the omelet, the Italian frittata is another egg-based culinary delight I admit takes a certain skill. Like making an omelet, you must use just the right amount of ingredients so that the dish is not too cheesy or full of too many mushrooms. A frittata is somewhat a mix of an omelet and a quiche. It cooks over the stove in a skillet and is finished off in the broiler.
When entertaining, I often make frittata, because just one can serve up to 6 people. There are several different ways to make frittata. In southern Italian cuisine, especially Neapolitan cuisine, the frittata can contain spaghetti, macaroni, or another kind of pasta. Check out AOL's leftover spaghetti frittata recipe. A more traditional yet simple frittata might contain onions and Parmesan cheese.
Risotto tastes more savory with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Rice and cheese can be a rich and lusciously creamy combination. For this reason, Supplì al Telefono, fried rice balls stuffed with mozzarella, is one of my favorite Roman dishes. Its rich taste and mouthwatering texture are an intense culinary delight.
Supplì al Telefono is often made with both Parmigiano and mozzarella. I first tried it at a restaurant in Piazza del Popolo, in Rome. I was pleasantly overwhelmed with cheese and rice. I would hardly compare these balls of cheese to American mozzarella sticks. The addition of rissoto and oregano creates a totally unique aromatic milky texture. In his book Molto Italiano, Mario Batali states "These suppli' have a cult that is all their own; you will find us strutting down the streets of the Eternal City, stretching strings of mozzarella from our hands to our gluttonous mouths."
While you can find this Roman gastronomic treat at several Italian restaurants, it's easy enough to make on your own. And, you can make several different variations. Gourmet has a recipe that uses mushroom risotto. Mario Batali's recipe calls for porcini mushrooms, prosciutto, and San Marzano tomatoes. Supplì al Telefono are the perfect appetizer when entertaining. Next time, you're thinking of eating a melted cheese dish, take out your leftover risotto and concoct these stuffed rice balls.
While exploring the Italian cuisine of Cinque Terre, I tried an exquisite dessert wine, called Sciacchetrà. It's sweet and has expressive notes. The drink was brought to us with a plate of homemade pistachio biscotti and biscotti flavored with apricots. Ah, what a splendid way to end a meal! As a lifted the glass of Sciacchetrà to my lips, I could smell a distinctive aroma of apricots and acacia honey.
Just a small glass of Sciacchetrà pairs perfectly with biscotti. As with all dessert wines, this one should be sweeter than the food accompanying it. The slight bitterness of the biscotti balances the intense sweetness of the wine. Sciacchetrà also works well with a slice of panettone.
This rare white wine of very limited production has become a symbol of Cinque Terre. It is produced from the best grapes of the white wines being left to dry in the sun. Several wine shops sell Sciacchetrà. Alternatively, you can find it online. A half a liter sells for approximately $75. It's well worth the splurge.
I first discovered taralli a year or two ago. My friend and I went out for beer and ordered an "Assortito" plate. What arrived was pure finger food heaven -- meats, cheeses, pickled vegetables, roasted vegetables, and these small pretzel-like crackers boasting the wonderful taste of fennel seed. But I drank too much to remember what they were called, and forgot until this weekend, when I once again ordered the Assortito. Memory wasn't going to stop me this time! I went home and researched.
Taralli are an Italian snack food popular in southern Italy. They look a lot like an untwisted pretzel, and are really quite close to a bagel -- formed and pinched, quickly boiled, and then baked. But whereas the bagel is soft and chewy on the inside, perfect for toppings and bread-like meals, the taralli is crisp and dense, like a cracker. With the addition of fennel seeds, which are folded into the dough, these are absolutely wonderful with the foods I mentioned above. It's not quite a sweet flavor, but one that wonderfully balances strong, savory flavors.
It takes a little time to make these -- forming the dough, working with stickiness, a 2-hour rise time -- but if you like the flavor of fennel, you must try it. (But don't go overboard and add anise. I added a little ground anise and it was way too strong for this snack.) The taste is too good to pass up -- I'm even scheming to make some small ones for my salads -- a tasty alterna-cruton.
To make the above taralli, I used the recipe noted on BreadBasketcase and LemonPi, from Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking.
Does food symbolism bear any truth? If, so then Italian sweet basil can trigger romance. In Italian culture, basil symbolizes love. When a woman puts out a pot of basil, it means she is ready to receive her suitor. Interestingly, in Ancient Greece, it represented anger. Since basil is one of my favorite herbs, I prefer to believe it's a sign of love. The sweet pungent taste of Genovese basil with hints of anise brings me back to a past trip to Cinque Terre.
While basil is a summer herb, I recently tried a delicious basil tea that reminded me of how much I love it and yearn for summer produce. While it originated in India, Africa, and Asia, it's now grown worldwide. Genovese Basil might be one of the best varieties out of the 150, because it yields about 8 cuttings and makes the best pesto.
While in Cinque Terre, I visited a small pesto factory outside the village of Riomaggiore. I'll never forget the gorgeous cliffs covered in bright green basil and the beautiful enchanting aroma of basil emanating from a red bucket in the pesto factory. If indeed basil activates romance, then this Valentine's Day, find a way to incorporate it into your meal.
Genoa, the culinary capital of the region of Liguria in Italy, has one of the most colorful indoor food markets that I have ever been to - Mercato Orientale. Some of the narrow cobblestone streets surrounding the market are permeated by a smell of fresh focaccia bread. As you enter the market, you'll notice various cheese stalls, meat stalls, and bakeries that border the market. In the center, there are produce stalls with some of the brightest fruits and vegetables that I have ever seen.
The produce display is gorgeous and informative. Each item has a sign explaining where in Italy it's from. The vendors are more than willing to explain what makes their produce unique and the best way to eat it. If you speak even minimal Italian, I encourage you to interact with these friendly vendors. For me the highlight of the market was the produce.
If you live in a large city in the U.S., you can find nearly any kind of produce, but often it's in questionable condition. Either it's way too under ripe or the quality is just horrendous. At the Mercato Orientale, I was overwhelmed by the incredible quality of nearly every vegetable and fruit. If you're going to be in Genoa, I highly suggest you visit this market located at the corner of Via 20 Settembre and Via Galata.
Throughout my childhood, 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' left me with an indelible memory of a large fantasy-like room with crazy color schemes where flowers and mushrooms are edible delectable sweets. So, my first experience of a candy factory had a lot to live up to! Last fall, I took a tour of a Genoa institution: Romanengo Fu Stefano. While it was not as surreal as Wonka's factory, it was much more authentic - every activity steeped in tradition.
The machines and the utensils were all reminscent of the store's eighteenth-century origins. Since 1780, Romanengo Fu Stefano has been serving some of the world's most exquisite handmade candied fruits and chocolates to those with discerning palates. One of the highlights of the tour was the chocolate room where I saw their antique chocolate mill (mélangeur) that dates back to the 1800s mixing cocoa paste with granite stones. Delfina Romanengo, descendant of Antonio Maria Romanengo, the original owner, told me that granite brings out chocolate's delicious aroma.
I saw succulent fresh apricots, pears, and figs transform into candy and syrups. The most striking and honorable aspect of Romanengo is it's dedication to preserving its traditional age-old recipes even if they're more time consuming and labor intensive. The chocolate is "beaten" non-stop for three days and three nights in the mill. Industrial chocolate can take just a few hours. After the tour I stopped by their historic gorgeous antique mirror-covered store on Genoa's Via Soziglia. You can order Romanengo sweets online. Or, if you live in the Boston area, you can purchase them from Formaggio Kitchen. Check out the gallery below to see some of Romanego's sweets and antique machinery.
If you love Italian cheeses as much as I do, you probably know that the term "robiola" is vague and can refer to a variety of different style cheeses from all over Italy. For example, in Campania, you can try an ash-coated buffalo milk cheese called Robiola in Cenere. Despite this diversity, Robiola di Roccaverano comes closest to the original conception of this cheese that was first produced by Ligurian Celts in the eleventh century. Robiola di Roccaverano has a luscious cakey creamy texture and a lightly acidic taste that is balanced by a rich grassy taste of goat's milk.
Robiola di Roccaverano is produced in the area around the village of Roccaverano in the Piedmont region of Italy. It has a DOP label which functions similarly to the French AOC; to protect the traditional way of production. Unfortunately, the DOP rules are shockingly lax. Today, a Robiola di Roccaverano can be produced with 85 percent cow's milk. This is because goat's milk, the original milk used in this cheese, is more expensive. Goat's do not yield as much milk as cows. Fortunately, there are numerous cheese vendors selling 100 percent goat's milk robiolas and ultimately helping to preserve the traditional ways of cheese production that have existed for hundreds of years.
Last fall, I visited the charming village of Roccaverano and had the culinary pleasure of eating ravioli with 100 percent raw goat's milk Robiola di Roccaverano. Cheese producers were selling robiolas on the side of the road, directly off their farms. We mostly ate Robiola di Roccaverano with savory foods, such as salame. However, you can also try it with a grape mostarda, a typical piedmontese condiment. Recommendations on where to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
Last year, at Slow Food's cheese festival in Italy, I tried Nostrale di Elva, a rich cow's milk cheese with a slight cheddar-like taste and a creamy texture. What first attracted me to this cheese was it's circular patterns on the rind and its oozing light pale paste. The cheese's bright earthy, lightly acidic flavor, pairs well with drizzled honey, in particular wild dandelion honey. Interested in a decadent sandwich? Put Nostrale di Elva in a variety of sandwiches to add a more interesting texture and flavor.
In Italian, "Nostra" means "our." Nostrale di Elva is produced in the Alpine village of Elva by a small cheese consortium that uses raw milk from cows that graze on pastures over 5,000 feet high. The craftsmanship of this cheese can be attested to the cheese's unique luscious texture and sweet taste. It's unlike many similar style Italian cheeses, such as Raschera and Castelmagno. The wheels are aged by an expert affineur in the Piedmont.
Where can one purchase Nostrale di Elva? Currently, the cheese is being imported exclusively by Formaggio Kitchen. The cheese sells for about $27 per pound on their website. You may be able to find it from Ayse Gurdal at Formaggio Essex in NY. When in Italy, I highly recommend making a trip to the Piedmont to taste some of the best creamy and savory dishes. While in the Piedmont, drive through Elva and experience the seemingly endless impressive bucolic countryside that makes this artisanal cheese so special.
The image above shows wheels of pecorino being aged on the island of Sardinia in Italy. No time to catch a flight to Italy to purchase a pecorino-style cheese? Try a delicious handmade pecorino from Dancing Ewe Farm in Granville, NY. While at the Union Square greenmarket last Friday, I stopped by their booth and was surprised at how similar these cheeses were to their European counterparts. It's uncanny! Their younger pecorino tasted just like a pecorino that comes from Casa Madaio in the Campania region of Italy.
Of course, these local pecorinos from NY stand out in their own right! Nevertheless, due to Jody and Luisa Somers' mastered techniques, it's practically impossible not to compare their cheeses to their Italian cousins. As someone who worked in the cheese industry, I am perfectly aware that many European cheeses are in transport (trucks, boats, and more trucks) for a period that could take up to two months. Then, the cheese could sit at a warehouse for another several months. This drastically affects the flavor of the cheese; and, may answer your question as to why Italian cheeses taste so different in Italy.
Visit Dancing Ewe Farm! You can count on Dancing Ewe Farm for it's fresh, creamy, and slightly cirtus flavored pecorinos. Their aged pecorino tasted like bright pastures and exuded a deeply nutty aroma. This husband and wife team is committed to preserving traditional techniques in producing Italian style cheeses. They also produce a sheep's milk ricotta and a rich buttery cow's milk Prima Caciotta. In between purchasing the farm in 2000 and starting his cheese operation in 2003, Jody spent time in Tuscany learning how to make cheeses. When he returend, he transformed one of the crumbling buildings into a state of the art "caseificio", or cheese house. Suggestions on where to purchase their cheeses can be found after the jump.
Some of the most memorable and delicious dishes are the ones that revel in simplicity. As much as completion of a difficult culinary feat can be rewarding, there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of amazing flavor growing out of relaxing ease.
This works two-fold for recipes that require minimal, basic ingredients., like Lamb Hunter-Style from Biba's Italy. Making this dish is an absolute treat because it takes less effort than some of my more oft-made meals. There's just a little chopping, searing, and sauteing before the whole thing gets put in the oven to roast. What comes out is the juicy meat you see above -- meat so tender that it's falling off the bone and melting as it hits the tongue.
As you can see I've changed this week's "Midweek Meals" to "Weekend Meals." This recipe, while delicious, takes up a goodly amount of time and so after a long day, this isn't the quick meal to prepare for yourself. After acquiring "The Paley's Place Coobook," I was instantly drawn to this recipe and had to make it immediately. So that's what I did Sunday afternoon - all of Sunday afternoon.
After a hard week at work, I like to reward myself with a meal exactly like this one, hearty and unique. This recipe has become an absolute must - the pork shoulder is divine and the robust blend of cinnamon, ground fennel, allspice and ginger made this dish unlike anything I've ever tasted before. If fall could taste like something, it would taste like this dish.
Adapted from the cookbook: The Paley's Place Cookbook by Vitaly Paley and Kimberly Paley with Robert Reynolds
No self-respecting American pizza lover would ever dare to use a knife and fork to dispatch a slice, unless it was Chicago style. Apparently folks across the pond have no shame when it comes to eating their 'za with the aid of cutlery. And one Neapolitan chain operating in London is none too happy about the situation. Rossopomodoro has banned knives and forks from its shops in Covent Garden, Chelsea and Notting Hill.
Rossopomodoro uses only ingredients sourced from Naples and is staunchly true to its Italian roots, hence their attitude toward people eating pizza with their hands. "Pizza is something you touch and share. You've got to treat a pizza like someone you want to make love to," said Rossopomodoro's managing director Simone Falco.
While I applaud any effort to encourage people to enjoy pizza as a sensual experience by eating with their hands the campaign's tag line, "Fork Off!" is clearly in poor taste. No word yet on whether Rossopomodoro's London restaurants will install metal detectors to enforce the ban.
For years, no one really knew where Zinfandel came from, so in typically American style, we made it our own. Zin became California's grape like Riesling is the grape of Germany and Pinot Noir is the grape of Burgundy. California Zinfandels are often similar to Americans themselves: loud, brawny, a barbeque lover with bold flavors and plenty of opinion. Zinfandel inspires such passion in the U.S. that it even has its own professional organization, aroma wheel, and annual festival.
Finally scientists did DNA testing on Zinfandel and discovered it came from the same stock as Italian Primitivo and Croatian Crljenak. Now here's where the grape gets interesting. When wine geeks talk about terroir, or the sense of "place" you can taste in a wine, they're referring to everything from the specific minerals and elements in the soil that help flavor the grape to the region's climate to the vineyard's altitude and relative position to the sun. All of these elements add up to taking what would be a generic grape that tastes the same no matter where it's produced (like when you're on the road and all the restaurants look scary, and then you find a Panera and think, well at least I can get a decent sandwich), and making it into something completely distinct.
With Zinfandel and Primitivo, the two, though genetically twins, are more like cousins when you throw terroir into the mix. Zinfandel/Primitivo is a versatile grape, able to make light and fruity wines like Beaujolais and deep, dark, alcoholic, jammy wines, which represents the style of most American Zins.
Continue reading "Wine of the Week: Primitivo" after the jump.
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.
Just in time for your next Saturday night pasta party, a new jarred sauce that's worth a first taste and second helping has appeared on store shelves. Mezzetta, the company famous for such glass-jarred wonders as snappy peperoncini and an addictive giardiniera, has launched Napa Valley Bistro, a line of pasta sauces prepared with Napa Valley wines. We were glad to cook up a sample sent our way and toss it with some noodles. Hey, anything for our readers – especially if it involves eating spaghetti.
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
