After publishing Chef James McNair’s Chicken Breast stuffed with Herbs and Cheese recipe a couple of days ago, we offer you today another chicken recipe from the same “Chicken” cookbook we received from the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library.

The cookbook is written by Chef James McNair for San Francisco’s Chronicle Books and the images in this post, as in the previous post, are by photographer Patricia Brabant.

Today’s recipe is Chicken Scaloppine with Lemon and Capers Sauce, a poultry variation on a traditional Italian veal preparation.

Ready? Let’s cook it!

CHICKEN SCALOPPINE WITH LEMON AND CAPERS SAUCE
A recipe by Chef James McNair
(serves 4-6)

INGREDIENTS

- 6 boned and skinned chicken breast halves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 to 2 teaspoons drained capers
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- thin lemon slices for gamish
- parsley leaflets, preferably flat-leaf Italian type, for gamish

PREPARATION

Discard the tendons and any connecting tissue or fat from the chicken breasts; separate the little fillet and use it for another purpose or leave it attached and tuck it under the larger muscle. Leave small breasts whole; slice thicker ones in half horizontally.

Place breast pieces between 2 sheets of waxed paper and pound with a mallet or other flat instrument to a uniform thickness of about 1/8 inch. Set aside.

Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken scallops and sauté, turning once, until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes total cooking time. Remove chicken to a warm platter, season to taste with salt and pepper, and reserve.

Add the lemon juice and capers to the pan and heat, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and stir until melted. Stir in the minced parsley and pour the sauce over the scallops.

Garnish with lemon slices and parsley leaflets.

Thank you again BIGAB, and of course thank you also to celebrity Chef James McNair for this gourmet recipe.

Bologna, Italy,the capital of Emilia-Romagna, is world famous for its sophisticated cuisine, which includes this preparation for stuffed chicken breasts. Today we share with you a traditional Bologna recipe we found in a new cookbook at the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library: Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Herbs and Cheese.

The recipe is taken by the cookbook “Chicken” by celebrity Chef and cookbook writer James McNair, published by San Francisco publisher Chronicle Books.

The pictures in this blog post are taken from the same book, and are by photographer Patricia Brabant.

Ready? Let’s go to the kitchen!

CHICKEN BREAST STUFFED WITH HERBS AND CHEESE
A recipe by Chef James McNair
(serves 4 to 6)

INGREDIENTS

- 8 boned and skinned chicken breast halves
- 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, preferably flat-leaf Italian type
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano, or 2 teaspoons dried oregano, finely crumbled
- 1-1/2 tablespoons minced fresh marjoram, or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram, finely crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
- 1/4 pound Fontina or Bel Paese cheese
- flour for dredging
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup unseasoned fine dry bread crumbs, preferably made from Italian or French bread
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1/2 cup dry white wine

PREPARATION

Discard the tendons and any connecting tissue or fat from the chicken breasts; tuck the little fillet under the larger muscle.

Place breasts between 2 sheets of waxed paper and pound with a mallet or other flat instrument to a uniform thickness of about 1/8 inch. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reserve.

Place butter in a food processor or blender and whip until light and fluffy. Add parsley, oregano, marjoram, and nutmeg and blend well. Reserve.

Cut the cheese lengthwise into 8 equal-sized pieces and place 1 piece crosswide on each reserved chicken piece. Equally distribute about half of the reserved herb butter among the chicken pieces, spreading it over the cheese.

Roll the breasts tightly around the cheese. Place the flour, eggs, and crumbs in 3 separate bowls. Dredge the chicken rolls lightly in flour, then dip into beaten e6gs, and finally roll in the bread crumbs.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 1/8 inch in a heavy skillet, heat over medium heat, add the chicken rolls, and cook until lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken rolls, seam side down, to a flat, ovenproof baking dish.

Melt the remaining herbed butter in a small saucepan, stir in the wine, and pour the mixture over the chicken. Bake, basting occasionally, until the chicken is golden brown and tender, about 15 minutes. Spoon pan drippings over chicken before serving.

Thank you to the BIGAB team, our colleagues from the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library, for providing us with this traditional Bologna gourmet recipe. We actually got two chicken recipes from BIGAB, and we will publish the second one soon this week, so stay tuned!

There is no better symbol for summer than a watermelon, at least in Italy where its sweet and juicy pulp refreshes million of Italians (plus all the tourists) every summer - in July and August you can even buy watermelon by the slice in many public squares and beaches across Italy!

The Italian name for watermelon is anguria, but in Central Italy it is also called cocomero while in the South people calls it melone. No matter the name, everybody loves the juicy watermelon in summertime!

This is why we picked up a very summer-ish recipe for this Ferragosto (the Italian public mid-summer holiday on August 15) which is fresh, easy to prepare, and mostly made out of watermelon.

We browsed the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library and found a cookbook by Italian celebrity Chef Gianfranco Vissani, “Il Vissani - 400 recipes in 100 menus proposed by Gianfranco Vissani” (2002, RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana Editions).

Our Ferragosto recipe of choice here at Italian Food Lovers definitely is Watermelon Chill with Sugar Grate, a recipe proposed by Chef Vissani and based on the very popular Sicilian summer dessert Gelo di Mellone. Ready? Let’s go to the kitchen!

WATERMELON CHILL WITH SUGAR GRATE

A recipe by Chef Gianfranco Vissani
(serves 4)

Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

- 21 oz Watermelon
- 5.3 oz Icing sugar
- 2.8 oz Dark chocolate grains
- 3.5 oz Sugar
- 1 fl oz Water

PREPARATION

Using a food processor, blend the watermelon into a fine pulp. Then, slowly mix in the icing sugar.

Distribute the watermelon mix into cups, decorate with the dark chocolate grains and let it store in the fridge until it has reached the right consistence (approximately one hour).

When the watermelon mix is ready, decorate with an abundant amount of icing sugar on top.

To prepare the sugar grinds cook the sugar with water until it reaches a temperature of 200°F. Continue cooking until it has caramelized.

Place the pot into a container filled with cool water in order to stop the cooking process. Then spread the caramel onto parchment paper.

Using a fork, shape some crossed stripes obtaining a grind made of sugar. Put the sugar grind on top of the watermelon chill and serve.

Happy and fresh Ferragosto to all Italian food lovers from our blog team and from the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library!

After a brief consultation with the Chef Team at the Academia Barilla Culinary School, there were no more doubts about it: our ingredient of the month for the month of April is the Asparagus.

As reported by the Wikipedia, Asparagus has been used from very early times as a vegetable and medicine, mostly for its delicate flavor and diuretic properties.

There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius’s 3rd century AD “De Re Coquinaria, Book III”. Asparagus was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and dried the vegetable for use in winter.

Asparaguses lost their popularity in the Middle Ages but returned in the European culinary tradition in the seventeenth century.

Today we invite you to try a gourmet recipe with our ingredient of the month. We found a great recipe at BIGAB, the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library, in a cookbook titled “L’Asparago bianco di Bassano - Le ricette dei ristoranti Bassanesi” (Bassano’s White Asparagus - recipes from Bassano’s Restaurants). The image below is taken from the same cookbook edited by Terra Ferma, and the picture of the final dish is by Cristiano Bulegato.

The recipe we propose today involves the use of Pasta Brisé or pasta sfoglia salata, something similar to Southern piecrusts. Pasta Brisé is widely used in both Italy and France for food presentation and balance of savory food, and is not used with sweets. Pasta Brisé makes also a great base for miniature pies as appetizers, to cover and encompass finger foods, to wrap cuts of veal and seal in the juices and to make self contained casseroles.

Ready? Let’s go to the kitchen!

CRISPY LASAGNE WITH ASPARAGUS, SAUTE OF PRAWNS AND VESPAIOLO
(serves 5)

INGREDIENTS

- 12 oz Pasta Brisé
- 1.8 oz of Asparagus
- 15 prawns
- 1/2 green onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 5 tablespoon besciamella, white sauce
- 1 small glass of Brandy
- 1/2 glass of Vespaiolo wine
- 2 tablespoon of parsley
- 1 ripe tomato
- 2 sprigs of chives
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure D.O.P. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste

FOR THE BESCIAMELLA SAUCE

- 3 3/4 cups, whole milk
- 1 stick, butter
- 1/2 cu, all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon, grated nutmeg
- salt, to taste

BESCIAMELLA PREPARATION

Heat the milk in a pan until almost boiling. Separately, in a medium saucepan, heat the butter until melted. Add flour all in once, stirring until smooth.

Cook gently over medium heat until light golden brown, 6-7 minutes. Add milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until no lumps left.

Bring to a boil and let it cook for a couple of minutes, continuing to stir, until a smooth sauce is obtained.

Remove from the heat and season with salt and grated nutmeg.

In order to have a more liquid or thicker sauce, reduce or increase of 1 tablespoon the quantity of flour.

MAIN DISH PREPARATION

Prepare a thin layer of Pasta Brisé and cut it to shape 12 round pieces of about 2 inc hes of diameter and cook them in the oven for 7-8 minutes at 350° F.

In a separate saucepan with two tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, brown the garlic clove then sauté the prawns for few minutes, flame with brandy and eventually add the Vespaiolo wine. Eventually, add the minced parsley, salt and pepper to taste.

In a casserole with extra virgin olive oil, brown the green onion finely minced, add the asparagus, previously washed and cut in small pieces, season with salt and pepper and let cook.

When done, add the prawns and at last, the previously prepared, besciamella sauce.

On the serving plate, place a piece of Pasta Brisé, pour over a spoon of asparagus and prawns, then add a second piece of Pasta Brisé and two prawns on the very top.

Decorate the plate with some fresh cubed tomatoes, two sprig of chives and thyme.

The dish is now ready to be served! Buon Appetito from Academia Barilla and Italian Food Lovers!