Today Cathy Mantuano will teach us how to make the perfect Bellini cocktail - not only, she also give us a great tip on how to make little changes to the original recipe to prepare also Rossini and Tiziano cocktails!

We know you are going to love all of them, so go ahead and enjoy the three cocktails, just please remember to drink responsibly. Wine expert Cathy Mantuano suggest to serve these cocktails at brunch, or at cocktail hours.

BELLINI COCKTAIL
A cocktail recipe by wine expert Cathy Mantuano
(makes 1 cocktail)

WINE EXPERT NOTES AND TIPS

This sparkling wine drink, invented at the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice, is made there with white peach juice, though yellow peach juice would also be delicious.

INGREDIENTS

- 2 ounces chilled peach juice or peach nectar
- 4 ounces chilled Prosecco or other dry sparkling wine

PREPARATION

In a champagne flute, combine the juice and the wine.

ROSSINI COCKTAIL

To make this fruity sparkling wine drink, substitute strawberry juice for the peach juice.

TIZIANO COCKTAIL

Perfect for fall, this refreshing cocktail substitutes Concord grape juice for the peach juice.

Thanks Cathy, and cheers to all Italian Food Lovers!

Remember that today, July 2, wine expert Cathy Mantuano and her husband and cookbook co-writer Chef Tony Mantuano have a book signing and demo beginning at 2 p.m. as part of the Taste of Chicago event. They will be located outside the Zagat pavilion signing copies and showcasing recipes from Wine Bar Food, their latest cookbook. Can’t miss this!

Just a final note from the Italian Food Lovers blog team, as you know we live and breath food culture but we also love Italian culture overall. Did you know that the cocktails are named after three major Italian artists?

When the famous Harry’s Bar in Piazza San Marco, Venice (Venezia, not LA), created the Bellini cocktail, it was dedicated to Venetian Renaissance painter and Maestro Giovanni Bellini, while the Tiziano cocktail is named after another Venetian Reinassance painter, Tiziano Vecelli (Titian).

The Rossini cocktail honors a more recent artist, the Italian opera composer and Maestro Gioacchino Rossini, the author of famous operas such as The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Sivilla), William Tell (Guillaume Tell) and Tancredi. Maestro Rossini was born in Pesaro and not in Venice, but has performed a lot in Venice, granting him the honor of a virtual Venice honorary citizenship and… naming a great cocktail!

These final images are taken from Wikipedia and so are the links, that we invite you to explore to get to know more about the three Italian Maestros. Maybe while sipping their drinks!

We are late with this recipe since we promised you, as well as Chef Tony Mantuano and wine expert Cathy Mantuano, our new guests at the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network, that this recipe would have been published last week, only that we have been really busy traveling around the world here at the Academia Barilla blog editorial team.

After the PKN conference in Parma, we had to head to NY for a big event - no anticipations about it, we’ll blog about it later!

Now it is finally time for the first recipe provided by Chef Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia, the top Italian restaurants and cafe in Chicago, Illinois. Wine expert Cathy Mantuano also sent us a great recipe for a classic Italian cocktail, so today you finally get both recipes! Here we go with the first one.

CRISPY PARMIGIANO FLATBREAD
A recipe by Chef Tony Mantuano
(makes 16 large pieces)

NOTES AND TIPS FROM THE CHEF

This cheesy flatbread is so satisfyingly crunchy and easy to make that you will want to bake it regularly. We recommend using a manual or electric pasta machine to roll out the dough for these crispy, paper-thin treats. Using a rolling pin will yield slightly thicker results. After just one bite you will understand why this is one of the most sought-after recipes in our restaurants.

INGREDIENTS

- 2 envelopes active dry yeast

- 11⁄2 cups warm water

- 2 tablespoons Academia Barilla extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

- 2 cups freshly grated Academia Barilla Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 teaspoon sea salt


PREPARATION

Combine the yeast and warm water in a small bowl and let sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Stir in the olive oil.

Put the flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook or in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix on low speed or with your hands until the water is absorbed and a shaggy dough is formed.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured board until the dough is uniform and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. It will be slightly sticky.


Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and shape into balls. Dust with flour and place on a floured cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.


Preheat the oven to 425°F. 
Have ready 2 nonstick cookie sheets or grease regular cookie sheets with olive oil.
 Working with one dough ball at a time (cover the remaining dough with a moist kitchen towel until ready to use), dust the ball with flour and flatten with your hand.

Cut the dough in half and roll half the dough through a pasta machine with the rollers set midway apart. Dust the dough with flour if it becomes sticky. Reduce the space between the rollers one setting at a time until you have reached the last setting and the dough is a smooth, thin sheet.

Transfer to a cutting board and cut in half on an angle into large pieces so that 2 will fit on a cookie sheet. The pieces should each be approximately 4 inches wide and 12 inches long. Roll and cut the remaining half in the same manner as the first.

Place the rolled dough on the cookie sheets. Brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with about a quarter of the cheese, and bake until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on a rack before serving.

Repeat this process with the rest of the dough balls, rolling and baking until all the dough is used. Stored in an airtight container, the flatbread will keep for up to 2 days.


Buon appetito from Chef Tony Mantuano, Academia Barilla and Italian Food Lovers!

Please see next blog post for Wine expert Cathy Mantuano’s recipe.

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We interviewed via email Tony and Cathy, and asked them a couple of questions about their Chef and wine experience and their love for Italian food.

Chef Tony Mantuano wanted to be a Chef because he “loves to cook“, as simple as that. According Chef tony Mantuano, “the secret of being a top Chef is being smart enough to know to leave out an ingredient. The most important ingredient in any dish is the one you leave out“, he said to us.

Chef Tony Mantuano’s favorite food is Cape Cod Potato Chips and his favorite cooking style is “Regional Italian food that respects tradition“. His definition of Italian cuisine is “Food that has respect for Italian culture and tradition“, while his definition of Italian gourmet is “Traditional food presented in a modern fashion for today’s palate“.

Check out this video we found on Google Video, if you want to get more Italian Chef insight, knowledge and philosophy from Chef Tony Mantuano!

We also interviewed wine expert Cathy Mantuano, and she told us that her favorite food is “pasta because there are so many kinds of pasta and so many different sauces and preparations for it“, while talking about her cooking style she stated that she is “a fan of any cuisine that uses fresh, seasonal products as a base for its dishes. I like spicy dishes, as in Thai and Chinese food. I also like Japanese food. I love the spices of Middle Eastern cuisine“.

When asked about her definition of Italian cuisine Cathy Mantuano said that “Italian cuisine highlights top quality ingredients in season, prepared simply, using few ingredients“, while her definition of Italian gourmet is “freshly picked produce, handmade pasta, farm raised poultry and meat, artisanal cheese, estate wines“.

As we reported on our latest post, Cathy and Tony Mantuano are co-authors of the Italian cookbooks “Wine Bar Food: Mediterranean Flavors to Crave with Wines to Match” and “The Spiaggia Cookbook: Eleganza Italiana in Cucina“, both available online at Barnes and Noble’s and Amazon.com’s online stores. Wine Bar Food is also available at CrateandBarrel.com.

Some of the recipes from Cathy and Tony’s cookbooks feature Academia Barilla products (as well as in their Chicago restaurants Spiaggia, Café Spiaggia, and Private Dining Rooms of Spiaggia) and we got permission from the authors to share with you some of their Italian gourmet creations - so here we go with the first one… only that we want to publish the recipe on a clean new post, so you can print it and take it with you to the kitchen - stay tuned for the recipe post coming up tomorrow!

This month we won’t only introduce renowned Chef Tony Mantuano, but also wine expert Cathy Mantuano. James Beard award-winning chef Tony Mantuano is Chef and Partner of Spiaggia, the only 4-star Italian restaurant in Chicago! Chef Mantuano and wine expert and wife Cathy recently released a new cookbook titled Wine Bar Food that features Academia Barilla products in the book!!! They also are running a casual dining café-restaurant called Café Spiaggia that complements the recently launched exclusive shoreside Private Dining Rooms of Spiaggia. And there will soon be an event with Zagat next month!

Wait, wait, too much info, let’s start introducing both our new Guest Chef and wine expert.

Chef Tony Mantuano, as reported on his bio published on the Spiaggia Restaurant site, “loves green, fruity olive oil, rare Italian cheeses, woodsy porcini mushrooms and the riches of Italian gastronomy“, which he considers “every day specialties“.

After spending one year in Italy back in 1983, learning all he could about traditional Italian cooking and working at a number of Guide Michelin-rated restaurants near Milan and on the Tuscan coast in Viareggio, Chef Tony Mantuano learned to prepare regional specialties that few Americans had ever experienced.

When Chef Mantuano opened Spiaggia Restaurant in 1984, he was widely acclaimed as a trailblazer of fine Italian cuisine, with reviews from the Chicago Tribune calling Spiaggia “the best high-end Italian restaurant between the coasts” and describing the Italian restaurant as “a jewel” and the food as “spectacular“.

While operating also his family’s restaurant, Mangia, in his native Kenosha, Wisconsin, Chef Mantuano took Spiaggia for a new spin in 2000, reshaping the restaurant’s traditional menu into “an exemplar of contemporary Italian cuisine,” with signature dishes such as Crescenza Cheese-Filled Pasta Pillows with Parmigiano-Reggiano, Brown Butter, Rosemary and Garlic, or the Succulent Roasted Turbot with Sunchoke Puree, Porcini Mushrooms and Veal Mushroom Sauce.

Tony Mantuano is the author, with co-author and wife Cathy Mantuano, of “The Spiaggia Cookbook: Eleganza Italiana in Cucina” (Chronicle Books 2004, awarded as one of the twenty-five best cookbooks of 2004 by Food & Wine). He also has appeared nationally on CNN and PBS, is a regular contributor to the local ABC, CBS and FOX affiliates in Chicago, and has been a guest on popular food talk shows, such as “The Frank DeCaro Show” and “Food Talk with Rocco DiSpirito.”

In 2004, Zagat Survey awarded Spiaggia the “Best Italian Restaurant in Chicago” and the restaurant was named one of the Top five in Chicago by Chicago Magazine. Chef Mantuano also received Chicago Tribune’s “Good Eating Award” and James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: MidWest Award in 2005.

The recent launch of the fashionable Cafe Spiaggia, in the heart of the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, brought the dimension of the neighborhood cafe sanctuary and casual dining room in the fast pace of Michigan Avenue, creating a new well-known neighborhood Chicago favorite.

Chef-Partner Tony Mantuano and wine expert Cathy Mantuano, their cookbooks and their restaurants get plenty of rave reviews from the likes of Forbes blogs, Chicago Sun Times, Food & Wine, Condé Nast Traveler on Concierge.com, Epicurious.com and OpenTable.com.

Spiaggia’s address is One Magnificent Mile (on the corner of Michigan and Oak) - 980 North Michigan Avenue, Level 2, Chicago, Illinois 60611 - Google Map for your driving directions here below.

For more info on Tony Mantuano please check Spiaggia’s and Cafe Spiaggia’s web pages.

If you are interested in the Italian cookbooks published by Tony and Cathy Mantuano, you can purchase them online at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. Wine Bar Food is also available at CrateandBarrel.com.

Or, if you live in the Chicago Area and can’t wait to catch up in person with Tony and Cathy, they have a book signing and demo scheduled on July 2nd beginning at 2 p.m. as part of the Taste of Chicago. They will be located outside the Zagat pavilion signing copies and showcasing recipes from Wine Bar Food - save the date!

This is getting quite long for a blog post, so we cut it here to introduce to you wine expert Cathy and Chef Tony Mantuano with their first gourmet recipe tomorrow!

As you might remember, Chef D’Avico’s favorite food is seafood, so it was no surprise that he sent us this fish gourmet creation, after sharing with us the recipe for a mouthwatering Octopus Carpaccio.

We are also very curious to taste Chef D’Avico’s gourmet twist in Italian cuisine, due to the strong and spicy presence of curry in a traditional Italian dish such as polenta, a classic alternative to pasta from Northern Italy, made of boiled cornmeal.

Are you ready for cooking? You can print this recipe or take your laptop to the kitchen, here we go!

POLENTA WITH RAGU OF CRAYFISH, TOMATOES AND CURRY
A recipe by Chef Doug D’Avico
(serves 4-6)

INGREDIENTS
For the polenta:

- 1/2 cup organic course ground corn meal
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 3 tablespoon Academia Barilla 100% Italian organic extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano

For the sauce:

- 1 lb. cleaned and cooked crayfish tails
- 4 oz. fresh corn kernels, cut off the cob or use frozen
- 4 oz. pancetta or smoked bacon, diced small
- 1/2 small sweet onion, cleaned and thinly sliced
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white Wine
- 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
- 28 oz. can Academia Barilla Peeled Cherry Tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon butter
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- crush red chili flakes, just a pinch
- marjoram leaves, for garnish

PREPARATION

First start the polenta, bring the water and chicken stock to a boil. While constantly stirring, slowly add the polenta to the boiling liquid, this way you will not form any lumps. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Be careful as to not splat the hot liquid as it could cause a severe burn.

You will have to stir often so that the polenta cooks evenly and to prevent it from burning on the bottom of the pot. The polenta will take around 45 minuets and will be finished when the polenta has the consistency of oatmeal.

Next add the olive oil and Parmigiano, season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle a little bit of oil on top so a skin does not form and cover till ready to serve.

While you are making the polenta you can start the ragu. In a 2 quarter sauce pan, render out the pancetta until it starts to brown. Drain off half of the fat and add the garlic and onions. Using a med heat you are going to brown the onion to form the sauce without burning them.

After the onions are browned, add the curry and the white wine. Bring to a boil and reduce the wine by a third.

Crush the tomatoes with your hands and add to the sauce, add the corn, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and stir then cook until the sauce reduces by a third or is about the consistency of a tomato sauce. Make sure you are stirring the sauce often so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan and burns.

When the sauce is at the right consistency add the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. At this point you can adjust the curry taste or add a small pinch of crushed red chilies and add the crayfish. Bring to a boil to heat the crayfish check the flavor one more time and simmer for 2-3 minuets and then get ready to serve.

To serve, make sure your polenta is still warm by stirring in the oil on top and rechecking your seasoning. Divide between the serving plates and then spoon the ragu over the polenta. Garnish with some fresh marjoram leaves and serve.

Buon Appetito from Chef Doug D’Avico, Academia Barilla, and Italian Food Lovers!

Thank you Chef Doug, we look forward to get other gourmet recipes and top Chef tips in the next months!