Italian Food Lovers

Merry Christmas from Academia Barilla, Italian Food Lovers and, of course, from our guest Chefs at the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network!

Yesterday we introduced a new entry for our Guest Chef Series, Chef John Franchetti, and today he is ready to share with us his first recipe: The Christmas Pizza!

This is a pretty simple recipe that everybody at your Christmas table will love. Chef Franchetti definitely loves pizza - look how happy he looks in the picture below, while he’s eating a pizza in the street of Naples on a Vespa! Forget gourmet! Just keep it simple, like today’s recipe!

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The Italian Food Lovers Chef Network keeps growing, and today we are proud to introduce a new Guest Chef: Chef John Franchetti from Rosso Pizzeria and Wine Bar in Santa Rosa, California.

We had an email chat with John in California and learned a few things about hisChef experience and insight, that started in 1981, when John met the American celebrity Chef, restaurateur, television personality and cookbook author Chef Emeril Lagasse, really liked what he was doing, and decided he was going to follow the same path into a gourmet Chef career.
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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!

More recipes from our Italian Food Lovers Chef Network. After yesterday’s wrongly attributed recipe, here is a new recipe from Chef Doug D’Avico of Trattoria N. 10 in Chicago.

Chef D’Avico today shares with us another recipe from the Chicago Botanic Garden show: Grilled Baby Octopus with Watercress Salad and Oranges. But since Chef D’Avico is also a Guest Chef participating to the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network, this time we file this post under the Chef Network category.

GRILLED BABY OCTOPUS WITH WATERCRESS SALAD AND ORANGES
A recipe by Chef Doug D’Avico
(serves 8)

INGREDIENTS

- 2 lb Tenderized baby octopus
- 4 limes, juiced
- 1 cup Academia Barilla Monti Iblei Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/8 tablespoon Crushed Red Chili Flake
- 2 tablespoon Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Rosemary, no stem, chopped
- Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
- 1 Bunch Hydro or Organic Watercress, Trimmed
- 1/2 Head washed Radicchio leaves
- 2 Oranges, segmented and juices saved
- 1/4 cup Toasted pine nuts
- Academia Barilla Sea Salt flavored with Blood Orange, to taste

PREPARATION

Remove the head and beak from the octopus and put into a metal bowl.

To make the dressing, take the juice from the limes, olive oil, chili flake and chopped parsley and rosemary, combine and season to taste. 

Pour one third over the octopus and cover. Refrigerate for a couple of hours. Before grilling, drain any liquid off the octopus so you don’t cause a flare up on the grill.

You can season the octopus before you grill it. Grill the octopus over a medium high heat and weight it down a little bit so it gets a little bit of char.

To serve, arrange the watercress and radicchio in the center of a serving platter. Cut the octopus up in small pieces and pile in the center of the greens. Garnish the plate with the pine nuts and orange segments. Drizzle the salad

With the rest of the dressing, add a little bit of the Monti Iblei olive oil and fresh ground pepper, and a pinch of Academia Barilla Sea Salt flavored with Blood Orange. Serve.

Thank you Chef D’Avico for this new recipe and sorry again for yesterday gaffe!

We look forward to having you again as guest at our Italian Food Lovers Chef Network!

Let’s welcome again Chef Tony Mantuano, Chef/Partner at Spiaggia restaurant in Chicago, and Guest Chef at the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network.

Chef Mantuano today proposes a great recipe from The Spiaggia Cookbook: Eleganza Italiana in Cucina, a cookbook co-written by Tony Mantuano and wife and wine expert Cathy Mantuano.

Today’s recipe is Ravioletti di Crescenza con Salsa di Parmigiano Reggiano e Burro al Tartufo (Crescenza Ravioli with Parmigiano Reggiano and Truffle Butter Sauce). Elegant and rich, this pasta dish is all about top-quality ingredients. Crescenza cheese (also know as Stracchino) is a soft, fresh creamy cheese from the North of Italy, and is ideal for these pasta pillows.

Are you ready? Let’s go to the kitchen.

CRESCENZA RAVIOLI WITH PARMIGIANO REGGIANO AND TRUFFLE BUTTER CHEESE
(Ravioletti di Crescenza con Salsa di Parmigiano Regiano e Burro al Tartufo)
A recipe by Chef Tony Mantuano
(serves 12)

INGREDIENTS (FOR PASTA DOUGH)

- 2 cups type 00 flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup water

FURTHER INGREDIENTS 

- 1 pound Crescenza cheese
- 1/2 stick cold butter, plus 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup truffle oil
- 1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan cheese
- 12 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, crisped in olive oil
- 12 small sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 cup edible flower petals (optional)

PREPARATION

Mound the flour on a pastry board or other wood or marble work surface. Make a well in the center and add the salt and the egg yolks. Using a fork, gradually fold the flour into the eggs, adding the water little by little until you have a soft dough. Knead a few times until smooth, then form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F

Roll out the pasta dough into thin sheets. Using a chef’s knife or pastry wheel, cut the pasta sheets into twenty-four 5-by-5-inch squares.

Place the squares on a lightly floured board or cloth until ready to cook. Cut out 24 rectangles of parchment paper, each 7- by 7 1/2 -inches. Grease each piece using the cold stick of butter, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border unbuttered.

Have ready a bowl of ice water. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta squares to the boiling water and cook until al dente (tender but firm to the bite), 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove the pasta squares with a slotted spoon, shaking to remove excess moisture, and transfer carefully to the ice water to stop the cooking. Working quickly, remove the pasta squares from the ice water one at a time, and lay flat on a cloth to dry. Do not overlap or the squares will stick together.

Cut the Crescenza cheese into 24 pieces, each about 2 inches wide, 2 inches long, and 1/4 inch thick. Place a piece of the cheese in the middle of each pasta square and fold the bottom and top flap of pasta over the middle, wrapping it around the cheese. Then fold the sides into the middle, burrito style.

Place the ravioletto, seam side down, in the middle of a buttered parchment piece and fold the parchment around the pasta, repeating the technique used to wrap the pasta around the cheese. Place the parchment packet, seam side down, on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pasta, cheese, and parchment.

Bake until the edges of the parchment paper are barely golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, melt the 1 1/2 cups butter. Cook to a nutty brown color, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the truffle oil.

To serve, place 1 tablespoon of the Parmigiano Reggiano in the center of each of 12 warmed plates. Carefully remove the parchment around a ravioletto and place it on the grated cheese.

Arrange a second ravioletto next to the first. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the truffle butter over the ravioletti. Sprinkle with another 1 tablespoon Parmigiano Reggiano.

Garnish with the garlic crisps, rosemary, and flower petals, if using. Repeat to make the remaining 11 servings. Serve immediately.

CHEF MANTUANO’S TIPS

Wrapped in the parchment and placed in an airtight container, the ravioletti freeze well for up to 1 month. Bake right from the freezer for 25 minutes, and continue as directed.

Thank you Chef Mantuano for this gourmet pasta recipe!

If you want to get more recipes from Chef Mantuano, you can buy the Spiaggia cookbook, or the previous cookbook Wine Bar Food. You can purchase them online at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. Wine Bar Food is also available at CrateandBarrel.com.

Or, you can subscribe to Academia Barilla’s newsletter, that delivers monthly exclusive content and latest news and culinary insight on the art of Italian gastronomy, including of course gourmet recipes. This month’s featured recipe is from Chef Tony Mantuano, a yummy Prosciutto with Parmigiano Reggiano, Shaved Artichokes, and Hearts of Palm Salad.

Chef Mantuano’s recipe is paired with a cocktail recipe by wine expert Cathy Mantuano: Negroni Sbagliato, a classic Italian cocktail. As Cathy Mantuano explains, Sbagliato means “mistake” in Italian. The mistake in this drink is that the bartender at Bar Basso in Milan grabbed a bottle of sparkling wine instead of a bottle of gin to make a Negroni. The customer loved it. The rest of course is history.

Do you want to get to this content and to receive it on regular basis? Easy, just register to Academia Barilla’s monthly newsletter! It’s free!