Eating Italy: A Chef's Culinary Adventure (41 page)

For the mascarpone cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a half-sheet pan (an 18 x 13-inch/46 x 33-cm rimmed baking sheet) or two smaller rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Butter the parchment. Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the mascarpone, and with the machine running, add the eggs, one at a time. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the mascarpone mixture on low speed until incorporated. Spread the batter in the perpared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool and use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

For the strawberry marmalade:
Hull and quarter the strawberries. Bring the glucose syrup, 1⅓ cups (270 g) of the sugar, and 1 cup of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the strawberries, and cook over medium-high heat until they soften and begin to fall apart, 10 to 12 minutes, mashing the strawberries a little with a spoon. Whisk together the pectin and remaining ½ cup (100 g) of sugar, and then whisk into the marmalade. Cook until the mixture thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 week.

To finish:
Use a cookie cutter to cut out rounds of cake that will fit into your containers. I like to use a total of eight 8-ounce (235-ml) mason jars or glass mugs. For those you’ll need sixteen 2-inch (5-cm) rounds of cake. Lay a cake round on the bottom of a mason jar or mug. Spoon on a layer of about 2 tablespoons (30 ml) marmalade, and then a layer of about ¼ cup (60 ml) zuppa and repeat with additional layers of cake, marmalade, and zuppa until the jar or mug is filled (about two layers each for 8-ounce/235-ml jars or mugs).

BLOOD ORANGE CROSTATA
with
BITTER CHOCOLATE

Crostatas aren’t just for dessert. Italians will wake up and have some with a cup of morning coffee. The crust is the most important part; hence the name. It has to be somewhat thicker than a normal tart shell and stay on the softer side. I use cake flour because it stays tender, and I add a little baking powder for puff. Toasted and ground hazelnuts add incredible richness and flavor. I usually fit the dough into a 9-inch (23-cm) square tart pan with a removable bottom, but you could use a tenor 11-inch (25 or 28-cm) round tart pan. My favorite filling is blood oranges. In the winter, I make a reddish-orange marmalade with them, and then I use the marmalade all spring long. Serve the crostata warm or at room temperature. A little chocolate sauce makes it irresistible for dessert or for breakfast.

MAKES 12 SERVINGS

Blood Orange Marmalade:

6 pounds (2.75 kg) blood oranges (about 16)

¼ cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon (4.5 g) unsalted butter

5 cups (1 kg) granulated sugar

2½ teaspoons (11.75 g) powdered pectin

Linzer Dough:

1 pound (4 sticks/450 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

2 large eggs, divided

4¼ cups (582 g) cake flour

2½ ounces (½ cup/71 g) finely crushed vanilla wafer cookie crumbs

1 tablespoon (8 g) ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons (9 g) baking powder

8 ounces (227 g) hazelnuts, toasted and ground (about 2 cups)

To Serve:

2 cups (475 ml) Chocolate Sauce (
page 285
)

Confectioners’ sugar for garnish

For the marmalade:
Cut the rind from each orange, following the contour of the fruit and trying to cut as little of the flesh as possible. Working over a large saucepan, make V-shaped cuts around each segment, releasing the segments from the surrounding membranes and dropping the segments into the pan (this is called supreming the fruit); squeeze the membranes to release the juice. You should have about 6 cups (1.5 L) of orange segments and juice. Add the lemon juice and butter and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Whisk together the sugar and pectin and stir the mixture into the pan. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture reaches 217°F (103°C) on a candy thermometer, 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool in the pan until ready to use or refrigerate for up to 1 week. You should have about 3½ cups (875 ml) of marmalade.

For the Linzer dough:
Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Switch to low speed and add one of the eggs. Sift together the cake flour, cookie crumbs, cinnamon, and baking powder and add to the dough. Mix until incorporated, then add the ground hazelnuts and mix just until incorporated. Divide the dough in half and scrape each half onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Seal the dough in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.

Let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes so it is soft enough to roll. Roll half of the dough on a lightly floured surface to a circle about 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter and ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Carefully fold the dough over the rolling pin and transfer it to a 9-inch (23-cm) square or 10-inch (25-cm) round tart pan with a removable bottom. Unfold the dough and fit it into the pan without stretching the dough. The dough will be delicate and crumbly; patch any tears or holes with pieces of dough from the edge. Trim the dough so that it sits flush with the top of the tart pan.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Fill the tart shell three-quarters full with the marmalade; save any remaining marmalade for another use. Roll the remaining half of the dough on lightly floured parchment to about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick and 3 inches (7.5 cm) larger than the dimensions of your pan. Cut twelve to fourteen strips of dough, each ½ to ¾ inch (13 to 19 mm) wide, preferably with a fluted cutter. Slide half of the strips to a floured cookie sheet, arranging them in parallel bars on the sheet with ½ to ¾ inch (12 to 19 mm) between each strip. Carefully fold back every other strip half way. Insert a new strip at the center perpendicular to the parallel strips. Reposition the folded strips back over the new strip. Next, fold back the alternate parallel strips and insert another perpendicular strip next to the first one. Then reposition the folded strips back over the new strip. Continue until they reach the outer edge of the strips. Then, turn the crust and repeat the process on the other half, working from the center toward the edge. Carefully slide the lattice over the filling. The dough will be crumbly; if any of the strips break, seal them back together with your fingers. Trim the excess dough from the tart and pinch together the edges of dough around the perimeter of the tart to seal. Beat the remaining egg with 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of water and brush all over the dough, sealing any cracks. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool before slicing into wedges.

To serve:
Gently heat the chocolate sauce just until pourable and spoon a pool of sauce off center on each plate. Top with a slice of crostata, positioning the front corner over the sauce. Garnish with confectioners’ sugar.

THAT SUMMER I MOVED BACK INTO MY PARENTS’ HOUSE IN NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE. I RAN THE KITCHEN AT THE BEDFORD VILLAGE INN, A LUXURY B&B AND RESTAURANT. CLAUDIA WAS STILL IN ITALY, RUNNING HER VIDEO RENTAL BUSINESS IN ALBINO. EVERYONE KNOWS LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS DON’T WORK. BUT WE TOOK A CHANCE AND SPENT THE SUMMER TALKING VIA WEBCAM. WHEN SHE DECIDED TO VISIT ME IN THE STATES, I TOOK IT AS A STRONG STATEMENT.

I arranged a weekend getaway for us in Ogunquit, Maine. We stayed at Parson’s Post House on Shore Road, with a gorgeous ocean view. We strolled through the whitewashed shops of Ogunquit and lunched on lobster rolls piled high in buttered split-top buns. At the end of Shore Road, we wandered onto the Marginal Way, a beautiful mile-long walking path along Maine’s rugged coastline. The clean smell of seawater reminded me of all the fresh fish and salty cured meats I’d fallen in love with over the past three years in Italy. I thought about the places that Claudia and I had been together like Alba, Barolo, Venice, and Florence, and when we reached a little inlet called Devil’s Kitchen, we rested on a boulder overlooking the Atlantic. Almost directly east of us across the ocean sat the rocky cliffs of le Cinque Terre, where we held hands and kissed along the Via dell’Amore. My heart raced and my mind cycled through decades of images from my childhood to Italy to the present to the future. I turned to face Claudia, the tide receded, the squawk of the seagulls softened, and I opened my other hand, which had been clamped around a tiny object. “Will you marry me?” I asked, showing Claudia the ring and placing it in her palm. She started crying and shaking. I thought she was going to drop the ring in the ocean! Claudia clenched her palm, looked at me through teary eyes, and exclaimed, “
Si!
” It took me a few minutes to pry open her hand, but I retrieved the ring and slid it onto her finger.

With the ring on her finger, Claudia returned to Italy and we spent the next five months apart, just like the last five. Finally, her fiancée visa came through, and we had ninety days to get married in the United States. Her brother Alex bought her business in Italy to help Claudia make the move. I flew to Italy to pick her up and, at the airport, Pina cried because she had just lost her mother, Nonna Anna, and now her daughter was leaving.

For the next several months, we lived with my parents in New Hampshire. Claudia’s English was still shaky, and communicating with my mother and father wasn’t easy. She tried to form a bond with them over food. But my dad likes what he likes. Teriyaki, for instance. He makes it every few days. Claudia ate it, but eventually wanted to taste something different. Every other day it was steak teriyaki, chicken teriyaki. . . teriyaki, teriyaki, teriyaki! And my parents weren’t warming up to Claudia’s favorite foods. She would make risottos, pastas, and salads, and my dad would say, “No thanks, I already had dinner.” But he was secretly sneaking bites at night. Once Claudia found out that my dad was eating her food, she felt more at home.