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!

As we announced yesterday, we have a full schedule of gourmet recipes for your Thanksgiving meal, provided by the great Chefs who joined our Italian Food Lovers Chef Network. Today we start the series of blog posts with a delicious recipe by Chef Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia Restaurant in Chicago: Cappellacci di Zucca con Salvia (Pasta Hats with Pumpkin and Sage).

The recipe is included in Tony and Cathy Mantuano’s cookbook “The Spiaggia Cookbook – Eleganza Italiana in Cucina“, which is available online at Amazon and Barnes&Noble. Chef Mantuano customized this recipe for us adding a few gourmet products from the Academia Barilla Italian food specialty collection, as you can see from the ingredients’ list below.

As described by Chef Mantuano in the Spiaggia cookbook:

This dish may well become a family favorite, especially at Thanksgiving, when pumpkins are in season. The filling has a sweet-and-savory flavor that pairs well with turkey, goose, or duck. Whenever we serve this dish to customers and friends who have never tried it, the raves are loud and clear. This stuffed pasta yields hearty portions, and we suggest serving it with a robust red wine.

CAPPELLACCI DI ZUCCA CON SALVIA – PASTA HATS WITH PUMPKIN AND SAGE
A recipe by Chef Tony Mantuano
(serves 6 to 8)

INGREDIENTS

- 1 pie pumpkin, about 2 pounds (about 2 cups purée after roasting)
- 1/3 cup mostarda, coarsely chopped (see notes)
- 1 1/4 cups dried bread crumbs
- 1 1/4 cups grated Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 cup amaretti cookies, finely ground
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Academia Barilla Natural Sicilian Sea Salt with Orange Zest and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- basic pasta dough (you can also use premade pasta sheets from your local grocery store)
- 2 cups unsalted butter
- 16 fresh sage leaves
- more grated Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano, for serving

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. To make the filling: Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds.

Arrange, cut sides down, on an aluminum foil-lined or nonstick baking sheet roast until very tender, 20 to 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and place in a blender or food processor. Add the mostarda and process to a purée.

Transfer to a bowl and add the bread crumbs, cheese, cookie crumbs, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Roll out the pasta dough into thin sheets. Working with one sheet at a time, cut the pasta into 3-inch squares. Place each square on a lightly floured board or cloth and let dry 5 minutes.

To fill, place a dough square in front of you on the diagonal, so you are facing a diamond shape. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the diamond. Lightly spray the pasta with water and bring the bottom point of the diamond to the top point.

Press the pasta together to form a triangle, working out from the filling. Trim the 2 unfolded sides of the pasta triangle with a crimped pastry wheel, and then fold the side points of the pasta forward and press to join them together in a “bishop’s hat” shape. Repeat with the remaining dough and filing.

Stand the finished cappellacci to dry for about 5 minutes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dusted with flour.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat; do not let the butter brown. Stir in the sage leaves. Set aside and keep warm over very low heat.

Add the cappellacci to the boiling water and cook until al dente (tender but firm to the bite), 3 to 5 minutes after they rise to the top.

Remove with a slotted spoon and carefully transfer to the warm butter and sage sauce. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes to allow the pasta to marry with the sauce and absorb some of it.

To serve, divide the cappellacci among 8 warmed plates and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve immediately.

CHEF TIPS

Mostarda is a candied fruit, such as pears, apricots, and cherries, mixed with white mustard and sugar syrup. More sweet than piquant, mostarda adds dimension to the pumpkin filling. It is also used with boiled meats and in confections. You can find mostarda in Italian specialty stores or online.

The cappellacci can be assembled in advance and frozen. Arrange them, not touching, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dusted with flour. Freeze until hard, about 20 minutes. Transfer to zippered plastic bag and freeze for up to 1 month.

Thank you Chef Mantuano for your delicious recipe and for the precious Chef tips. We know Chef Tony Mantuano is getting a Christmas recipe ready to be served to our Italian food lovers next month, and we look forward to it!

Don’t forget to stay with us all week for daily gourmet Thanksgiving recipes from our Chef Network!

Today we have again with us Chef Tony Mantuano from Spiaggia Restaurant in Chicago sharing with us an end-of-summer recipe for the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network: Warm Berry Soup with Mint Gelato (Macedonia ai Frutti di Bosco con Gelato alla Menta).

This recipe is featured, alongside with other dozen yummy recipes, cocktails and Chef tips, on The Spiaggia Cookbook, Eleganza Italiana in Cucina, co-authored by Chef Tony Mantuano and his wife and wine expert Cathy Mantuano. Follow the links to get the book online at Amazon or Barnes&Noble.

WARM BERRY SOUP WITH MINT GELATO
A recipe by Chef Tony Mantuano
(serves 8)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MINT GELATO

- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups loosely packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 1 cup liquid pasteurized egg yolks (8 egg yolks)
- 2 teaspoons green crème de menthe

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MACEDONIA

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cups mixed fresh berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup raspberry sauce
- Leaves from 8 sprigs fresh mint for garnish

PREPARATION

In a saucepan, combine the milk, half-and-half, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and the chopped mint and bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine-mesh sieve, and return to the saucepan. Keep warm over low heat. Discard the mint.

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until combined, about 2 minutes. Gradually add half of the hot milk mixture to the egg-yolk mixture and whisk vigorously to combine. 

Return the egg-yolk mixture to the pan with the remaining milk mixture. Return to medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 4 to 6 minutes. Do not let it boil; overheating will break the custard. Remove from the heat and continue to stir for a few seconds to keep the mixture from overcooking.

Stir in the crème de menthe. Let cool, cover, and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.  Pour the custard into an ice-cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Add the berries and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, water, and raspberry sauce and bring to a simmer over low heat.

Remove from the heat and ladle into 8 warmed bowls. Top each serving with a scoop of the gelato and garnish with mint leaves. Serve immediately.

CHEF MANTUANO’S TIPS

This soup warms both body and soul, and is easy and quick to prepare. You can substitute purchased mint gelato or ice cream for the homemade. You can prepare this recipe to serve 4, by halving the ingredient measures for the berry soup. Make the gelato as directed and serve generous portions.

Thank you Chef Mantuano for sharing this recipe with us, we look forward to having you as a guest again at Italian Food Lovers!

The perfect companion drink for the crispy Parmigiano Flatbread just introduced by Chef Tony Mantuano? According to wine expert Cathy Mantuano, Tony’s wife and also co-author of the cookbook Wine Bar Food, is the Bellini Cocktail, an Italian classic.

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.