Another recipe from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Chef Series.

Today, Barilla USA Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni who shares another recipe he performed at the Chicago Chef Show: Rotini Pasta with Braised Fennel, Carrots and Spring Onions. Ready? Let’s go to the kitchen!

ROTINI WITH BRAISED FENNEL, CARROTS AND SPRING ONIONS

(Rotini integrali con finocchio e cipolline fresche)
A recipe by Chef Lorenzo Boni
(serves 4)

Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 25 min
Season: Spring/ Summer

INGREDIENTS

- 4 tablespoons, Academia Barilla Toscano extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Cloves, Garlic
- 2 Fennel bulbs with tops
- 1 medium carrot
- salt, black pepper, to taste
- 1 bunch, spring onions
- 1/2 cup, Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
- 1 tablespoon, Fennel frawns, chopped

PREPARATION

In a medium pan, sauté the minced garlic in the olive oil until it turns slightly yellow, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the fennel bulbs in half, then into thin slices.

Add the sliced fennel to the skillet, along with the carrot, sliced into roundels, about 1/8 inch thick. Braise the ingredients for about ten minutes over medium high heat, covered.

Season with salt and black pepper; cover with a lid and cook through stirring occasionally.

Slice the onions into 1/2 inch strips and stir them into the mixture and cook an additional three minutes.

Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Drain and toss with the sauce. Stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano and the fennel frawns before serving.

Thank you for sharing with us the recipe, Lorenzo. See you soon again on Italian Food Lovers!

Here we are finally with Barilla USA Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni, who we have called in at Italian Food Lovers by mistake a couple of days ago - sorry Lorenzo!

Chef Lorenzo Boni and his team have been the spine of the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series. Pictured here below, you can see Lorenzo in action during the cooking demo, surrounded by an attentive crowd and… the full range of Academia Barilla gourmet products, which are all available online at the Academia Barilla online store.

As “resident Chef” for Barilla USA Lorenzo proposed several recipes to the participants to the event, and we are glad to be able to share with you the first one today, an easy-to-prepare pasta salad: Farfalle Piccolini Pasta Salad.

FARFALLE PICCOLINI PASTA SALAD
A recipe by Chef Lorenzo Boni
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS

- Barilla Farfalle Piccolini pasta, 1 package
- Academia Barilla Monti Iblei extra virgin olive oil, 4 tablespoons
- 1 ripe avocado
- Cherry tomatoes, 2 pints
- Red onion, julienne, 1 cup
- Pine nuts, 1 tablespoon
- Academia Barilla Pecorino Sardo Gran Cru, grated, 1 cup
- Basil, 5 leaves
- Lemon juice from 1 lemon
- Salt, black pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

Cook pasta according to directions, drain one minute prior to the lowest cooking time; drizzle with a little oil in order to prevent the pasta from sticking together and allow it to cool down flat on a sheet tray.

Meanwhile, sauté the onion with 1 tablespoon of oil. Set aside.

Slice the tomatoes in half, season with salt and let drain in a colander.

Sauté the pine nuts over medium heat till lightly brown.

Dice the avocado. Combine all the ingredients with pasta, season with salt and pepper.

Allow the salad to rest for half hour at room temperature before serving.

Thank you Lorenzo for sharing with us your pasta salad recipe - we’ll publish more recipe of yours soon again!

As you know from our previous posts, Academia Barilla and Barilla USA brought the Italian cooking style to the Chicago Botanic Garden last week, participating to (and sponsoring) the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series with a full Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend.

As promised, we have plenty of recipes for you, shared with us by the Barilla Chefs and other Top Chefs participating to the Italian Cooking Weekend. Our first recipe from the event is from Barilla USA Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni, a quick and easy to prepare Sautéed Wild Mushroom Bruschetta.

For those who don’t know what a bruschetta is, here is a link to the Wikipedia, where you can discover more on this century-old dish. Bruschetta is a food whose origin dates to at least the 15th century from central Italy.

It consists of grilled or toasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Variations may include toppings of spicy red pepper, tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, and/or cheese; the most popular American recipe involves basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomato. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer.

As reported by the Wikipedia, the noun “bruschetta” is from the verb in the Roman dialect “bruscare,” meaning “to roast over coals”, and it is referred to the whole dish, not just to the topping as in the American current meaning.

In the Italian tradition, when olives are taken to the local mill for pressing in November or December, the olive producers typically take some country bread with them and, when the first oil emerges from the press, they toasts a bit of the bread on a grill to sample the oil with. The next step is rubbing the toasted bread with garlic and adding a pinch of salt.

Barilla USA Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni has some interesting suggestions for a gourmet twist in the traditional bruschetta, a version that has been deeply appreciated by the participants to the Barilla Italian Cooking weekend at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Ready? Let’s go to the kitchen!

SAUTEED WILD MUSHROOM BRUSCHETTA
A recipe by Chef Lorenzo Boni
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS

- 8 oz Wild Mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed of any fibrous ends
- 1/2 ea Medium sized sweet onion, julienne
- 3 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 2 fl oz Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 fl oz Sweet Marsala
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 ea Good quality Baguette
- Academia Barilla Pecorino Sardo, shaved
- 1 tub Truffle Spread
- Fresh thyme leaves for garnish
- Sea salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Pre-heat a 12” sauté pan over med high heat till hot. Add the cleaned mushrooms and tablespoon of the butter and cook till the mushrooms are soft and are starting to release their water. Cook for 3 minutes longer and then add the sliced onions.

Add the remaining tablespoon of butter, season with a little salt and pepper and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes over the med high heat and cook till the onions start to caramelize. Do not burn.

You want to cook the mushrooms and onions till the liquid is all most evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Marsala carefully as the alcohol will catch on fire when you return it to the stove.

Reduce the Marsala by 2/3 and then add the cream. Bring to a boil and reduce to a sauce consistency, about 2 to 3 minutes. Check the seasoning and remove from the heat keeping the sauce warm till ready to use.

Cut 8 pieces of bread from the baguette about 1/2 inch thick on a 45 degree bias.

Toss the bread with a little splash of olive oil, salt and pepper. You can toast the bread in a hot oven or grill for a couple of minutes to warm the bread.

Next smear some of the Pecorino Sardo cheese on each piece of bread and sprinkle a few fresh thyme leaves on top.

Arrange 2 pieces of bread per plate and divide the mushroom sauce over the four plates. Drizzle a small amount of the olive oil over each plate and few thyme leaves and serve immediately.

Thank you Lorenzo for this easy-to-prepare gourmet recipe. We will publish more of your recipes from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series soon!

This is definitely the best time of the year to visit the Chicago Botanic Garden. The mild climate, the summer light and the awesome settings of the garden’s landscapes surely invite for a day of nature exploration and discovery, long walks, bike rides, or to enjoy one of the many learning workshops and events offered by the Chicago Botanic Garden.

This is also the time of the year when, among the other events and attractions, the Botanic Garden also presents the Garden Chef Series, a lineup of top Chefs with a full calendar of cooking demos every Saturday and Sunday starting the last week of may, and closing the first week of October.

Barilla America, the presenting sponsor for the 2008 Garden Chef Series, will showcase the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend, a weekend of Italian cooking programs and special giveaways at the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden this Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27. Barilla USA and Academia Barilla sponsored also last year’s edition of the Garden Chef Series - you might remember our blog posts from last year’s edition.

This year, Barilla USA Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni, Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist Mario Rizzotti, the participating Chicago top Chefs and their respective teams, will give demonstrations using fresh Italian ingredients such as those found in the Fruit & Vegetable Garden.

Among the participating Chefs is Chef Doug D’Avico, who is already participating in our Italian Food Lovers Chef Network.

In addition to plant and recipe giveaways, the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend will offer family activities and tastings of gourmet olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pasta, traditional Italian cheeses and other Italian gastronomy delights.

The event is free but seating is limited, so please make sure to arrive early.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is easy to find, located approximately 20 miles north of Chicago at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Illinois. Google Map below for driving directions.

We have already received a number of gourmet recipes from the Chefs of the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend that we will be sure to share with you after the event.

So be ready for yummy dishes and top Chef tips for the preparation of Farfalle Piccolini Salad, Sautéed Wild Mushroom Bruschetta, Crescenza Ravioli with Parmigiano Reggiano and Truffle butter sauce, Lobster Bread Salad, Chicken Parmesan with Campanelle Pasta and more - all on our Italian Food Lovers blog, stay tuned!

As we announced earlier, Italian Chef and TV celebrity Giada De Laurentiis sent us a couple of recipes made using ingredients from her new Giada De Laurentiis Selected by Academia Barilla gourmet product line.

We remind you that the products from the Giada De Laurentiis Selected by Academia Barilla food line are now available nationwide in the United States at gourmet and specialty food stores as well as at some of the biggest food market chains - and of course at the Academia Barilla online store.

Here we go with the first one of Giada’s recipes: Giada’s Balsamic Chicken Drumettes. The recipe has been performed by Barilla USA Chef Assistant Yury Krasilovsky, which we thank also for sending us pictures of the preparation step!

GIADA’S BALSAMIC CHICKEN DRUMETTES
A recipe by Giada De Laurentiis
(makes 4 to 6 servings)

INGREDIENTS 

- 1/2 cup Giada’s Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 5 sprigs of rosemary
- 5 cloves garlic, halved
- 10 to 12 chicken drumsticks
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

PREPARATION

Combine the balsamic vinegar, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary sprigs, and garlic cloves in a large, re-sealable plastic bag.  Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar.  Add the chicken drumsticks to the bag and seal with as little air as possible in the bag.  Place in the refrigerator and marinate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the chicken drumsticks on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake until the skin is caramelized and very dark in spots, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the marinade in a small saucepan.  Bring the marinade to a boil (in order to kill bacteria).  Reduce the heat to simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes; reserve.  

Brush some of the cooked marinade on the cooked chicken.  Place the chicken on a serving platter.  Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and the chopped parsley.

NOTES AND CHEF TIPS FROM GIADA

I like the subtle rosemary and garlic flavors.  Brushing the cooked drumettes with the reduced marinade helps the flavors along.  Also, re-moistening helps the parsley and the seeds to adhere.

Thank you very much Giada for sharing with us this great recipe and your final Chef tips, and thanks also to Barilla US Chef Assistant Yury Krasilovsky for the exclusive cooking demo for our Italian Food Lovers blog!

We will meet again Chef Krasilovsky next week with another step-by-step preparation of another recipe from Giada De Laurentiis: Giada’s Parmesan Popovers.

Stay tuned!