Eating Italy: A Chef's Culinary Adventure (12 page)

ZUCCHINI FLOWERS STUFFED
with
RICOTTA
and
TUNA

In late spring 2004, I spent more and more of my time off at Claudia’s house in Cene, eating, cooking and getting to know the family. Her mother had an amazing garden filled with zucchini flowers. Those orange and green trumpets bloomed right up until the summer heat started to hit. At some point, Pina started stuffing the blossoms with tuna and ricotta. The filling was a mixture she’d been using for years; she typically breaded and fried it like meatballs. Then she thought, “Why not stuff it into all these zucchini blossoms?” She baked the stuffed zucchini blossoms with little tomatoes from her garden and it became this famous dish in town. Everyone wanted the recipe because it was so easy and so good.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

1 (8 ounce/227 g) can Italian tuna in olive oil

12 zucchini blossoms

12 ounces (340 g) fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese (1½ cups)

2 tablespoons (7 g) chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons (30 ml) plain, dry breadcrumbs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise

4 baby zucchini, sliced

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Drain the oil from the tuna into a small bowl. Brush any dirt from the zucchini blossoms with a paper towel, but don’t wash the blossoms or they’ll get soggy. Gently twist and pull out the stamens from the centers of the blossoms, using tweezers, if necessary.

Add the tuna, ricotta cheese, and mint to the breadcrumbs, stirring until combined; taste and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the filling into a resealable plastic bag (the filling can be refrigerated at this point for up to 2 days). Cut off a corner of the bag and pipe the filling into the zucchini blossoms, leaving some room for the blossom to close at the end. Arrange the stuffed blossoms in a 2-quart (2-L) shallow baking dish or on a baking sheet, and top each blossom with a tomato half, cut-side down. Arrange the sliced baby zucchini around the edge of the baking dish.

Bake until the filling is set, 12 to 15 minutes. If the tomatoes are still firm, run the dish under the broiler until they wilt a little. Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve.

PEAR
and
TREVISO SALAD
with
TALEGGIO DRESSING

In the fall, you find two things in every home in Bergamo: bitter greens and Taleggio cheese. Claudia made the best salads with bitter greens from their garden, and there was always a big piece of Taleggio sitting on the table. One afternoon I came over for lunch during a break from the restaurant and made a warm dressing with the Taleggio. I melted the cheese and pureed it with milk, sherry vinegar, olive oil, and an egg yolk. With the pears and radicchio, you get sweet, salty, sour, and bitter flavors in your mouth all at once.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Pear and Treviso Salad:

12 ounces (340 g) Treviso radicchio (1 head)

4 ounces (113 g) Belgian endive (1 large head)

1 tablespoon (15 ml) sherry vinegar

3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Salt

1 Bartlett pear, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon (4 g) chopped mixed fresh herbs (parsley, rosemary, and thyme)

Taleggio Dressing:

½ cup (120 ml) whole milk

2 ounces (56 g) Taleggio cheese, grated (½ cup)

1 large egg yolk

½ cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 ml) sherry vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pear and Treviso salad:
Cut the Treviso lengthwise into quarters and the Belgian endive lengthwise in half. Then cut both crosswise on a diagonal, leaving the pieces pretty big (1 to 2 inches/2.5 to 5 cm long), and place in a large bowl.

Put the sherry vinegar in a small bowl and whisk in the 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of oil until blended. Season with salt to taste. Drizzle about half of the vinaigrette over the greens and toss until coated. Add the pear and mixed herbs to the remaining vinaigrette and toss to coat.

For the Taleggio dressing:
Put the milk in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and whisk in the Taleggio until it melts and incorporates. Pour the mixture into a blender and blend in the egg yolk, then slowly drizzle in the oil and 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of the sherry vinegar. Taste and season with additional sherry vinegar, salt, and black pepper, as needed.

Divide the Treviso mixture among plates and drizzle with a generous amount of the Taleggio dressing, about 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) per plate. Drizzle with some olive oil, 1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 ml) per plate, then scatter the pears over the salad and serve immediately.

Note

The dressing will keep for about 3 days in the refrigerator. Return to room temperature and reblend before using. Look for Treviso radicchio, which has a long bullet-shaped head like Belgian endive. It’s larger than the common round Chioggia radicchio found in most North American markets. Either radicchio will work fine here, but if you’re using Chioggia, you might need two heads instead of one.

CRESPELLE DELLA MAMMA

Pina usually stuffs crêpes with marmalade made from figs, plums, cherries, or other fruit harvested from around the house. But one year, her family foraged a ton of porcini mushrooms and dried them to make them last through the winter. That Christmas, she came up with these savory
crespelle
stuffed with ricotta, fontina, ham, and spinach. She folded the crêpes around the filling like little Christmas presents, layered them in a baking dish, and topped them with two sauces: béchamel and porcini tomato. I loved the dish so much that I now have it on the menu at Alla Spina in Philadelphia. The recipe here makes enough for a big family, but if you want less, cut the amounts in half.

MAKES 10 SERVINGS

Crêpes:

2 cups (475 ml) whole milk

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon (15 ml) melted unsalted butter

2 cups (250 g)
tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Oil, as needed

Porcini Sauce:

1½ ounces (43 g) dried porcini mushrooms (1 cup)

1 cup (235 ml) hot water

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 quarts (2 L) canned plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crêpe Filling:

2 pounds (1 kg) fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese (1 quart/1 L)

3½ ounces (100 g) Parmesan cheese, grated (1 cup)

8 ounces (227 g) fontina cheese, diced (2 cups)

1 cup (235 ml) cooked chopped spinach

2 teaspoons (4.5 g) grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 quarts (2 kg) Béchamel Sauce (
page 281
)

1½ pounds (680 g) thinly sliced Prosciutto Cotto (
page 242
) or other cooked ham, about 20 slices

3½ ounces (100 g) Parmesan cheese, grated (1 cup)

For the crêpes:
Whisk together the milk, eggs, and butter in a small bowl. Put the flour in a large bowl and slowly whisk the milk mixture into the flour. Season with salt and pepper and strain to remove any lumps of flour. Let rest at room temperature for 1 hour or in the refrigerator up to 4 hours.

Dab a paper towel with oil, wipe a 6-inch (15-cm) nonstick pan with it, and put the pan over medium heat. Briefly whisk the batter to wake it up. Pour about ¼ cup (60 ml) of batter into the center of the pan and quickly swirl the batter by tilting the pan in large circular motions, spreading the batter to the edges of the pan to create an even circle. Cook until the top is dry but beaded with sweat, about 30 seconds. Flip the crêpe, and cook the other side for 10 to 15 seconds. You should have about twenty 6-inch/15-cm crêpes.

For the porcini sauce:
Soak the porcini in the hot water until softened, about 15 minutes. Pluck the mushrooms from the soaking liquid and chop finely. Reserve the soaking liquid. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic, and cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chopped porcini and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes. Crush the tomatoes by hand, discarding the cores and adding the tomato flesh and juices to the pan as you work. Season with salt and pepper and add half of the reserved porcini soaking liquid. Cook over low heat until you have a nice thick tomato sauce, 25 to 30 minutes. If the tomato sauce gets too thick, thin it with a bit more of the reserved porcini soaking liquid.

For the crêpe filling:
Combine the ricotta, Parmesan, fontina, spinach, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the dish,
preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and spread a little béchamel over the bottom of a 3-quart (3 L) baking dish. Place one slice of ham on a crêpe and spread a heaping tablespoon of ricotta filling over the ham. Spoon on 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of béchamel and fold up the crêpe like a package, folding in two sides first, then folding over the other two sides to enclose the filling. Place the filled crêpe in the prepared baking dish and top with a spoonful of béchamel. Repeat with the remaining crêpes, ham, filling, and béchamel, layering them in the baking dish. Pour in enough porcini sauce to come half way up the baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake until hot and bubbly, about 45 minutes.

APRICOT
and
CHANTERELLE SALAD
with
PARMESAN CRISPS

Both apricot trees and chanterelles grow in the mountains near Claudia’s house. One afternoon, I walked out her back door to pick some apricots from the tree and stumbled upon some chanterelles growing in the chestnut forests down the hill. The only natural thing to do was to make a salad. Americans don’t always put mushrooms and fruit together. But if you think about it, they make a great combination. Lightly cooked chanterelles have some apricot aromas to them, and gently cooked apricots have a texture similar to chanterelles. What grows together goes together.