Italian Food Lovers

Happy Thanksgiving from Academia Barilla and Italian Food Lovers! We wish you and your families a nice and warm family day around some of the best traditional and innovative culinary eats of the year (at least in the United States, as in Italy we have several occasions to indulge in gourmet food all along the year!).

As you have noticed, this week we celebrated Turkey Day proposing a lot of gourmet recipes from our Italian Food Lovers Chef Network, but none of them with turkey! Well, we published a recipe for the tratitional Thanksgiving roasted turkey, but we left our guest Chef free to propose alternative, innovative Thanksgiving recipes.

Today we have with us Chef Doug D’Avico of Trattoria n. 10 in Chicago with a new Thanksgiving gourmet creation: Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Cinnamon and Orange Zest. Ready? let’s go to the kitchen!

SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI WITH CINNAMON AND ORANGE ZEST
A recipe by Chef Doug D’Avico
(serves 4-6)

INGREDIENTS

- 3 lbs light fleshed Sweet Potatoes
- 1/8 cup good quality ricotta, drained
- 1/8 cup Academia Barilla Pecorino Gran Cru, grated
- 1 ea large egg
- 1/2 tablespoon Academia Barilla Sicilian Sea Salt with Orange Zest
- 1/4 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg
- 3-4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 orange
- 1 medium size leek, white part only
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon-sugar mixture
- 3 tablespoon european style butter
- 2-3 tablespoon Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- some fresh herbs for plate garnishing

PREPARATION

Take the 3 sweet potato, wash the outside well and bake in a 375 degree F oven till soft to the touch, remove from the oven and let cool. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle remove the skins and put the flesh though a potato ricer to break up any large clumps and place into a large enough bowl to mix all the ingredients in.

Mix all the ingredients, except for the flour, into the sweet potato and combine well with your hand.
Take 2 cups of the flour and fold into the sweet potato mix half a cup at a time, making sure the flour is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next 1/2 cup. Check the dough it should be a little sticky, if it is too wet add a 1/4 cup more flour and mix. Wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

After resting take the remaining flour and use some to dust the work surface. Take the dough out of the bowl and place on the floured surface, sprinkle a little more flour over top and knead a few times so you can handle the dough.

Flatten the dough out to about 3/4 of an inch and cut strips every 3/4 of an inch and then roll each strip a little bit to round out the corners, set a side and finish the rest of the dough. Use a little more flour if the dough starts to stick to the table. Use a damp towel to cover the dough strips while you work.

Have a corn meal coated tray ready to store the gnocchi’s on after they are cut. Using a small knife cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces and you can use either the back of a fork or a gnocchi board to roll the gnocchi off of or just take your finger and poke a little indentation into each one and then place on the corn meal coated tray.

Finish the batch and then freeze the gnocchi or cook and serve.

To serve bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. In the mean time while you are waiting for the water to boil, remove the root end of the leek and cut the leek on a bias about 1/4 of an inch thick until you get to the green part, discard or use for homemade stock. Separate the layers of the leek and wash under cold water to remove any sand set aside.

Using a zester, zest 1 orange and set a side. Preheat a 12 inch sauté pan and warm over medium heat, when hot add 1/2 the butter and add the washed leeks to the melted butter, do not let the butter burn, and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until the leeks are tender season with a little salt and pepper and remove from the pan set aside. Remove the pan from the heat.

Check the seasoning in the pot of boiling water and adjust with the salt to taste. When the water is at a rolling boil add the gnocchi and stir well so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. They will take about 5-8 minutes and are usually done about 30 seconds after they start floating. Just before they are done put the large sauté and back on the fire over medium high heat.

Drain the gnocchi and add to the sauté pan with the remaining butter. The pan should be nice and hot as you will want to add a little bit of color to the gnocchi. Cook for about 3 minutes then add the cooked leeks and cook for 2-4 more minutes and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and add the orange zest and mix well, pour into a serving bowl and garnish the plate with fresh herbs, just before serving drizzle the Academia Barilla olive oil over the whole dish. Serve immediately. You can serve some extra Academia Barilla Pecorino Gran Cru on the side.

Thank you Chef D’Avico for this yummy Thanksgiving recipe. Thanks again also to Chef Tony Mantuano and Chef Mark Grimes for the gourmet recipe shared with us this week. Thank you also to our friends at BIGAB, the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library, for providing us with the traditional Thanksgiving roasted turkey recipe!

And again, Happy Thanksgiving to all Italian food lovers from Academia Barilla and our Italian Food Lovers blog team!

More Thanksgiving recipes from the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network! Today we have with us Chef Mark Grimes from Pinstripes Restaurant, proposing a mouth-watering recipe for your Thanksgiving menu: Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli with Balsamic Brown Butter.

Be ready, this is not a very easy recipe, as there are several preparation steps and several items to assemble during the preparation of this gourmet recipe. Let’s see all all preparation steps one by one, as suggested by Chef Mark Grimes.

ROASTED PUMPKIN RAVIOLI WITH BALSAMIC BROWN BUTTER
A recipe by Chef Mark Grimes
(serves 6 to 8)

PASTA DOUGH - Ingredients

- 33.6 oz flour (Farina di grano tenero Tipo “00” if possible, or any type 00)
- 1 tablespoon Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Orange Zest
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 oz Academia Barilla Monti Iblei Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 7 oz water

PASTA DOUGH - Preparation

In your mixing bowl, combine flour and kosher salt and mix on speed #1 for 30 seconds. Add egg yolks, olive oil and water and continue to mix on speed #1 for approximately 4 minutes. As the dough begins to form, turn your mixer up to speed #2 and continue for an additional 5-7 minutes.

Once the dough has formed a ball and the inside of the mixing bowl is clean, the dough is ready. Remove the dough and wrap tightly in plastic and allow to rest 30-45 minutes at room temperature before use.

ROASTED PUMPKIN - Ingredients

- 6 pie pumpkins
- 4 oz butter
- 2 oz honey
- 1 oz maple syrup
- 1/4 tablespoon Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani Herb Mix
- 1/4 tablespoon nutmeg
- 1/4 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tablespoon Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Orange Zest
- 4 thyme sprig – fresh and cleaned
- 1 qt water

ROASTED PUMPKIN - Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Carefully split squash in half, end to end with a French knife. Remove meat and seeds from the insides and place in to water. Cube butter into 12 pieces and rub generously on the flesh side of the pumpkins and place any excess in the center (1 cube per half pumpkin).

In a small mixing bowl combine honey, maple syrup, herb mix, nutmeg, cinnamon, natural salt and thyme and mix together. Place pumpkins flesh side up on a sheet tray and with a large spoon, drizzle mixture evenly on each half pumpkin.

Roast the pumpkins at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until fork tender. While the pumpkins are roasting, separate the seeds from the meat of the pumpkin and lay out on a sheet tray to dry. Once the pumpkins are roasted let them cool for 15 minutes and then extract the pumpkin from the skins, process through a food mill, cool and reserve.

ROASTED PUMPKIN AN MASCARPONE FILLING - Ingredients

- 8 roasted pumpkin, pureed (or organic pumpkin filling)
- 1/2 pound mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 pound cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1/2 pound goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 tablespoon Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani Herb Mix
- 1/4 tablespoon nutmeg
- 1/4 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 tablespoon Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Orange Zest
- 4 thyme sprig – fresh and cleaned
- 1/2 pound honey
- 1/2 pound maple syrup

ROASTED PUMPKIN AN MASCARPONE FILLING - Preparation

Before you begin ensure that all components are room temperature. Combine all dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl. In a large mixing add the roasted pumpkin puree and gently fold in marscapone cheese, cream cheese, goat cheese and white balsamic vinegar, the maple syrup, the herb mix and the honey.

Add dry ingredients and mix until all is completely incorporated. Cover with plastic and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

EGG WASH - Ingredients and preparation

- 4 egg whites
- 4 oz heavy whipping cream
- 1 oz water

Whisk together in small mixing bowl and reserve until ready to assemble the ravioli.

SPICED PUMPKIN SEEDS - Preparation

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Lay out seeds from pumpkins on a sheet tray and place in the oven for 30 minutes. While the seeds dry, combine 1 tablespoon all spice, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon nutmeg, !/2 tablespoon Cayenne pepper and 3 tablespoon natural salt salt.

Once the seeds are out of the oven, heat oven to 375 F degrees, toss seeds with spice mixture and bake for 15-20 minutes.

ROASTED PUMPKIN RAVIOLI

Remove pasta dough from the plastic and cut in to 4 oz piece. Start at the biggest setting on your pasta roller and move the dough through 2 times. Now move down one setting and repeat the process.

Continue to roll out the dough until it is your desired thickness for the ravioli, however do not go past #3 or the dough will become too thin and tear as you assemble the ravioli. Roll out all the dough in to sheets and sprinkle each with a little bit of flour and spread so that as you stack the sheets they do not stick.

Remove your pumpkin marscapone filling from the refrigerator. Sprinkle and spread some flour on your work surface and lay down 1 sheet of pasta dough.

Place 1 oz of pumpkin marscapone filling on the sheet about 2 inches apart the entire length of the sheet. This will give you room to assemble and cut the ravioli. Brush each edge of the sheet with egg wash and fold the top over the filling to the bottom.

Cup your hands around each spoon of filling to rid the ravioli of air. This will eliminate tearing and splitting the dough while cooking. Once the dough is secure around the filling and the top and bottom together, cut your ravioli with desired shape cutter. Place the ravioli on a floured sheet tray and reserve until ready for cooking.

Bring 1 gallon of water and 2 tablespoon salt to a rolling boil. Only place as many ravioli in the boiling water as to not change the temperature and ensure even cooking speed. Once the ravioli have floated to the surface and remained there for 20-30 seconds they are ready to serve.

BALSAMIC BROWN BUTTER - Ingredents and preparation

- 1 oz butter
- 2 oz Academia Barilla Balsamic Must aged 8 year
- 2 oz honey
- 2 tablespoon fresh sage julienne
- 1 tablespoon Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Orange Zest

Cube butter in to 32 even pieces and place in a medium sized sauté pan on medium flame. Let the butter melt and skim impurities from the surface with a spoon. Once the butter has melted, continue to leave over medium heat while it begins to brown.

Add the balsamic, honey and kosher salt and whisk in to butter. Once the butter has the aroma of toasted nuts it is done. Remove from the heat and add fresh sage julienne. Be careful with the butter in that it is extremely hot. Reserve for service.

FINAL PREPARATION

Toss ravioli with balsamic brown butter. Garnish with shaved pecorino and spiced pumpkin seeds, micro arugula.

This has been easy but very long in terms of preparation, as all good things it took a lot of attention. Thank you Chef Mark Grimes for sharing with us this Thanksgiving pasta creation. More gourmet recipes for Turkey Day coming up tomorrow, stay tuned!

We run out of recipes from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series and the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend, at least for this year - next year we’ll make sure to have one of our bloggers from the Italian Food Lovers editorial team on site, so we can actually video the Chef demos and interview the Chefs (not while they demo, of course).

First of all, we would like to say thank you to Barilla USA’s Chef Lorenzo Boni, Trattoria N. 10’s Chef Doug D’Avico, Francesca Restaurants’ Executive Chef Laura Piper, Pinstripes’ Chef Mark Grimes and Mado’s Chef Rob Levitt for sharing their recipes with us. Thank you again, see you again on Italian Food Lovers!

Just to recap, this year we had the pleasure to publish on Italian Food Lovers recipes for 7 gourmet dishes. Did you try any of them at home? 

• Sautéed Wild Mushrooms Bruschetta
• Grilled Baby Octopus with Watercress Salad and Oranges
• Farfalle Piccolini Pasta Salad
• Linguine Fagottaro Pasta Salad
• Lobster Bread Salad
• Chicken Parmesan with Campanelle Pasta
• Grilled Peach and Prosciutto with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Bulsamic Must

Also, we have to say thank you to Stephanie Sette from the Academia Barilla USA Marketing Team (in the picture above) for getting all the content together for us (she does it all the time with the US events content, by the way) and of course also to Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist Mario Rizzotti, who has been conducing several rounds of educational and tasting demos during the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend.

In these pictures taken during the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend Mario Rizzotti shares his Italian culinary knowledge with the show participants, teaching them how to professionally taste some of the best Italian gourmet products, such Italian extra virgin olive oils and traditional Italian cheese specialties such as Parmigiano-Reggiano and the several varieties of Pecorino, from Sardinian Pecorino Dolce to Pecorino Toscano DOP and Pecorino Sardo Gran Cru. Follow the link to see more pictures of Mario Rizzotti’s tasting demos at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

A final thank you goes of course also to all the guests and visitors and participated to the Chicago’s Chef show. If you liked the Italian cooking and Italian food culture you experienced at the Chicago Botanic Garden, you now you can find it also here on Italian Food Lovers all year round!

Also remember that you can experience the flavor and taste of Academia Barilla’s Italian gourmet food specialties all year round too, they are all available at the Academia Barilla online store, where you can also find Italian cookbooks, Chef tools, Italian gastronomy gift boxes and gift certificates!

Yes, we still have a number of recipes for you from the Garden Chef Series. Today Chef Mark Grimes of Pinstripes Restaurant with a new exciting recipe, Chicken Parmesan with Campanelle Pasta.

Ready to cook? We are already heading to the kitchen… be prepared as the difficulty level of this recipe is medium, and there are several preparation steps.

CHICKEN PARMESAN WITH CAMPANELLE PASTA
A recipe by Chef Mark Grimes
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS

- 3 lbs chicken breast, 6 oz each pounded out 1/4 inch thick
- 10 oz ricotta filling
- 2.5 oz sun dried tomatoes
- bread crumbs
- white flour, seasoned
- egg wash

PREPARATION

Take 6 oz single lobe breasts and place in between saran wrap and gently pound out to 1/4 inch thick.

In three separate pans place flour, egg wash and bread crumbs in that order.

Dip each breast into flour and shake off excess egg wash and drain, next into the egg wash and drain, then into bread crumb mixture. Repeat this process with each piece.

Divide ricotta mixture into 2 oz balls and sun dried tomatoes into 0.5 oz portions.

Place cheese and tomatoes at the top third of chicken breast and roll to create an oval shape.

Heat a sauté pan with oil and brown on all sides and finish in oven until you get an internal temperature of 165 F degrees, then set aside while preparing the nutless pesto / herb oil.

INGREDIENTS FOR NUTLESS PESTO / HERB OIL

- 2 oz garlic, fresh
- 3 oz parsley
- 1 oz basil, fresh
- 1 tablespoon thyme, fresh
- 1 tablespoon oregano, fresh
- 1.5 cups Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

NUTLESS PESTO PREPARATION 

Place all ingredients in a container and puree until smooth with hand blender.

INGREDIENTS FOR RICOTTA MIXTURE

- 2.5 cups ricotta cheese, drained
- 3 cups Academia Barilla Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
- 3/4 cup gorgonzola cheese
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup nutless pesto
- 4 cups Italian unseasoned bread crumbs

RICOTTA MIXTURE PREPARATION

Mix all wet ingredients first and then add dry ingredients and mix well.

INGREDIENTS FOR MARINARA

- 3 large cans plum tomatoes
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 1/2 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 3 tablespoon garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh Thyme
- 1/4 cup white flour
- 2 cups red wine
- Kosher salt, to taste
- cracked black pepper, to taste

 MARINARA PREPARATION

Sauté onions, celery and carrots in olive oil for 20-30 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add garlic and cook 3-5 minutes, then add flour and cook out 3 minutes.

Deglaze with red wine and reduce by half and add canned tomatoes and let simmer for 60 minutes.

Puree until smooth and add extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs as you puree.

Season with salt and pepper.

FINAL PREPARATION STEP: ASSEMBLE

Take cooked chicken breast and top with mozzarella or provolone cheese slices to cover, place in oven until cheese is melted.

Slice into desired size and arrange on your plate.

Toss with Campanelle pasta or your favorite cooked Barilla pasta with the marinara and place on your plate.

Garnish with pesto oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and serve.

Thank you Chef Mark Grimes for sharing with us this yummy recipe! Buon Appetito from Academia Barilla!

Be ready, as we have a hot series of recipes from the Chicago Botanic Garden Chef Show to share with you this week.

Let’s welcome Chef Mark Grimes, Executive Chef at Pinstripes, an intriguing venue located in Northbrook, IL. Basically Pinstripes is an indoor bocce ball destination with bowling lanes and a top gourmet restaurant. Check out their website at www.pinstripes.com and also this restaurant review we found online.

Chef Mark Grimes is a celebrity Chef, with 25 years of culinary pedigree and Corporate Chef positions at RDGChicago/Restaurants America, Fox Sports Grill, ESPN Zone/Disney, and previous experience at The Windsor Court Hotel and The American Club resorts, among others. Here below Chef Grimes is pictured during his Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend cooking demo.

Today we will share with you a gourmet recipe by Chef Mark Grimes, Lobster Bread Salad, a dish he prepared at the Botanic Garden Chef show (sorry we don’t have a good picture of the final dish, but we got you a nice picture of lobsters!).

LOBSTER BREAD SALAD
A recipe by Chef Mark Grimes
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS FOR WHITE BALSAMIC DRESSING

- 1 oz shallots, chopped
- 1 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 3 cups Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
- Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

BALSAMIC DRESSING PREPARATION

Mix with hand blender the vinegar, mustard, shallots and honey, add an ice cube and slowly drizzle olive oil in to create an emulsion. Season with salt and pepper.

INGREDIENTS FOR BREAD SALAD MIXTURE

- 1 loaf of your favorite bread (brioche, sesame semolina), cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 cups heirloom tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cups fresh corn
- 1 cup of homemade pickles, chopped
- 1 pound of cooked lobster or shrimp, chopped
- 2 cups of white balsamic dressing
- 1 oz roasted garlic, chopped
- 2 oz caper berries, chopped
- Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- Academia Barilla Balsamic Must, to taste
- Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

BREAD SALAD MIXTURE PREPARATION 

Mix all ingredients well and serve immediately as a salad or place on plastic wrap and mold into a roulade and let it sit 24 hours for Hor D’Oeuvres and then slice into rounds.

FINAL PREPARATION: ASSEMBLE

Take bread salad rounds and place on small plate or platter and garnish with crispy Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive, Academia Barilla Balsamic Must and micro arugula.

Thank you Chef Mark Grimes and Pinstripes for sharing with us this recipe - you Italian foodies stay tuned, more gourmet recipes to come in the next days!