Welcome back to the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network! Today our Guest Chef Doug D’Avico from Trattoria N. 10 in Chicago, shares with us another gourmet recipe: Polenta with Ragu of Crayfish, Tomatoes and Curry.

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!

Our Italian Food Lovers Chef Network has been now officially launched.
After introducing himself as a Chef and a food lover, today Chef Douglas D’Avico from Trattoria No. 10 in downtown Chicago will start sharing with us his Chef experience, and of course also his top recipes.

As we already anticipated, Chef D’Avico loves seafood, and his first recipe for the Guest Chef series at our blog is for a great antipasto: Octopus Carpaccio with Blood Oranges.

OCTOPUS CARPACCIO WITH BLOOD ORANGES

(a recipe by Chef Douglas D’Avico)
(serves 6-8 approx)

INGREDIENTS

- 2 lb Steamed or Boiled octopus
- 4 Limes, juiced
- 1 cup Academia Barilla Monti Iblei Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/8 tablespoon Crushed Red Chili Flake
- 1 tablespoon Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped
- Salt, to taste
- Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
- 1 Bunch Hydro or Organic Watercress, Trimmed
- 2 Blood Oranges, segmented and juices saved
- 24 Caperberries, rinsed

PREPARATION

Remove the head and beak from the octopus and slice very thin on a mechanical slicer. Put the sliced octopus in a bowl and squeeze out excess water.

Take the juice from the limes, half of the olive oil, chili flake and chopped parsley and mix in the bowl with the sliced octopus. Mix well.

Season the octopus with salt and pepper to taste, make sure that you mix thoroughly before tasting. Cover and marinate over night or at least 2 hours before serving. You can adjust the seasoning to your liking if need be.

To serve, arrange the marinated octopus on a plate in a thin flat layer. Next mix the reserved blood orange juice and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, season to taste. Mix with the trimmed water cress and divide

between the plates by placing a small amount in the center of each plate.

Garnish the plate with the caperberries and blood orange segments. Drizzle with a little bit of the olive oil and fresh ground pepper and serve.

CHEF TIPS

For a little extra flavor you can finish the plate by using the Academia Barilla Sea Salt flavored with Blood Orange.

Welcome to the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network series and to its official opening with the assignment of the first Guest Chef residency to Chef Douglas D’Avico from Chicago, Illinois.

Chef Douglas D’Avico, also known as Doug, decided to become a professional Chef as he loves being around food and the environment of the kitchen. Today Chef D’Avico is the top Chef at the Trattoria N0. 10 in Chicago, where the restaurant specialty is contemporary Italian cuisine.

Before taking the lead in the kitchen at Trattoria No. 10 in Chicago and been awarded with 3 Stars by the Chicago Tribune in 1991, he worked at a horse racing park, a river boat casino and for hotels in Miami, Florida and Honolulu, Hawaii, as he told us in a recent interview.

Among the other questions, we asked him what was the secret ingredient in being a top Chef, and he answered “good fresh ingredients“.

Chef D’Avico’s favorite food is seafood and pasta, and he has a definition of Italian cuisine as “clean, fresh and simple“. Also, Chef D’avico definition of Italian gourmet is “taking fresh produce, artisan ingredients, and cooking with care and respect“.

Chef Douglas D’avico is an adopter and supporter of Academia Barilla products, for his culinary creations. He states that Academia Barilla products are “very good quality with clean flavors“, and you can always find them in his menus.

You can trust Chef D’Avico’s judgment or give it a try for yourself at the Academia Barilla online store, where plenty of Italian gourmet specialties are available and just a click away, and where you can also find the authentic Italian gourmet ingredients used in gourmet recipes by Chef D’Avico and other top Chefs around the world who take Italian cuisine seriously and to the next level.

If you want to get in touch with Chef D’Avico you can meet him at Trattoria N.10, 10 N. Dearborn, Chicago IL 60602 (Google map below). Please visit the restaurant website at www.trattoriaten.com for complete contact info but also detailed menus, restaurant reviews, reservations for private parties and restaurant gift cards. Also, feel free to call directly Trattoria No. 10 at +1 (312) 984-1718.

Since Chef D’Avico’s “plat fort” is seafood, he will be back with us tomorrow to share his first recipe, a yummy Octopus Carpaccio with Blood Oranges. We can’t wait, can you?

We have been blogging about celebrity Chefs for some time now, and we are finally proud to announce the launch of the Italian Food Lovers Chef Networks!

Thanks to the never-stopping activity of Academia Barilla’s Italian Culinary Specialist Team in the United States, and to their relations with several top and celebrity Italian Chefs, we put together a network of guest Chefs who will be contibuting to our Italian Food Lovers blog sharing their Italian food love, passion, experience and, of course, gourmet recipes and special Chef’s cooking tips!

Each month we will introduce a new Italian Food Lovers Guest Chef, who will then start contributing on regular monthly basis. We have a nice line-up of celebrity gourmet Chef who will share their culinary secrets with us.

No anticipations, just get ready to meet our first Chef Network Guest next Monday, Chef Douglas D’Avico from Trattoria n. 10 Restaurant in Chicago.

Welcome to the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network series!