I hope it’s been long enough since rhubarb week that you won’t mind if I post another rhubarb recipe – because this one is really, really good. It’s from the SPQR cookbook, in which everything is fancy and inspiring and makes me want to go back to Italy, stat.

I’m going to be up front here – this is one of those recipes that you should only attempt if you really enjoy cooking. It’s complicated. It has about a billion parts. Nothing is particularly difficult (perhaps with the exception of frothing an egg over a double boiler, I mess that one up sometimes), but you’ll need patience, and someone to help with the dishes. All of the components can be made a few days in advance, so if you do one part at a time it might not seem so bad. But regardless of how you choose to make it (if you choose to make it), the result is so, so worth it. Unmolding the frozen bavarese, spooning the brilliantly colored red and orange fruits over the top, and crumbling the addictively nutty biscotti crisp over the whole thing, you’ll be impressed with yourself. And when you take a bite, you’ll be even more impressed. The flavors work wonderfully together, it’s all sweet and juicy and creamy and crumbly and completely worthy of your finest company. Those folks over at SPQR really know what they’re doing.

A few notes: one, the butter, brown sugar, and biscotti crisp is so good that you will not be able to stop eating the leftovers. Consider yourself warned. Two, I actually prefer the bavarese at fridge temperature as opposed to freezer temperature, but experiment with the degree of frozenness that you like. Three, the red wine poached rhubarb, which in the original recipe was verjus poached rhubarb, is amazing as is, and would be good on other creamy things, like your morning yogurt (I won’t judge). Four, this whole thing was supposed to have powdered olive oil on top. I tried to make it. I even ordered the special tapioca maltodextrin powder online. But it didn’t work. Honestly, I don’t think this dessert needs any more elements. It’s ready to go.

Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb

Recipe adapted slightly from SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine. Serves 6-8.

For the bavarese:

• 2 c. drained ricotta
• 3/4 c. sour cream
• 1 sheet gelatin
• 1/4 c. orange juice
• 1 lemon (juice and zest)
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 6 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg

1. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer over medium-low heat. In a large, heatproof bowl (big enough to place over the simmering water without touching the water itself), whisk together the ricotta and the sour cream. Place the bowl over the water and whisk until the ricotta curds are broken up and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl and set aside.
2. Soak the gelatin in ice water until softened. Place a new bowl over the simmering water and add the orange juice and 1 TBS of the lemon juice. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatin sheet and add it to the juices. Stir over the simmering water until dissolved, then remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream and 4 TBS of the sugar until the cream holds medium peaks. Stir in the vanilla extract. Stir the orange juice mixture into the ricotta, then fold the ricotta into the whipped cream. Set aside.
4. In a third heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg and remaining 2 TBS of sugar. Place over the simmering water and whisk vigorously until the egg is pale yellow and frothy. Remove from the heat and turn the pot of water off.
5. Immediately fold the whipped egg into the ricotta-cream mixture. Grate lemon zest directly over the bowl and stir to combine. Pour the ricotta-cream into 8 4-oz ramekins or 8 large silicone muffin cups, cover tightly, and freeze until ready to serve.

For the rhubarb:

• 1/4 c. red wine
• 1/2 c. water
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 7 oz. rhubarb, trimmed and cut on an angle into 1/4 inch pieces (about 2 cups total)

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together red wine, water, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved, lower heat and add the rhubarb. Poach the rhubarb for 3 minutes, just until rhubarb starts to soften. Remove the rhubarb with a slotted spoon and set aside. Return the syrup left in the pot to a boil and boil until syrupy about 7-10 minutes. Pour the syrup over the rhubarb and refrigerate until needed.

For the biscotti crumble:

• 1 c. crushed biscotti (150 grams)
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. melted salted butter (1 stick)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pulse the biscotti and the brown sugar in a food processor until mixture is finely ground. Drizzle in butter and pulse to combine. Spread thinly on the lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until mixture is firm and beginning to crisp around the edges. Let cool completely then break into chunks.

For the orange confitura:

• 1 orange
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Use a vegetable peeler to cut the peel away from the orange in long strips. Slice into thin lengths, then add to the boiling water. Blanch for two minutes, then drain and run under cold water until cool. Pat dry.
2. Bring the sugar and the water to a simmer over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the blanched orange peel and simmer until lightly candied, about 6-8 minutes. Cool the peel in the syrup and refrigerate until needed.
3. Cut the orange away from the pith into supremes, and set aside.

To serve:

1. Unmold the bavarese into bowls (you may need to soften them for 15 seconds in the microwave for them to pop out of their bowls, a hot knife run around the edges can help too). Spoon the chilled rhubarb over the top. Place a few slices of candied orange zest, some crumbled biscotti, and a few segments of fresh orange on top. Serve immediately. You may also serve the bavarese slightly defrosted – they will still taste wonderful but won’t look as smooth.

The post Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind. A stressful whirlwind. Work was busy enough that by the time I got home every night, I wasn’t good for much beyond pouring myself a glass of wine and zoning out in front of the TV, so I didn’t do a lot of cooking, or, needless to say, blogging. Next week promises to be equally as busy, but for now I’m checking out to enjoy the weekend. And a stressful week, while not conducive to blogging, is certainly ripe for reminiscing about a recent vacation, so I’m here (finally!) with pictures and stories from the second half of our trip to Italy in April. (For the first part, click here.)

1) Poppies near our B&B; 2) The abandoned abbey at San Galgano

Although I very much enjoyed wandering the streets of Florence and Rome, the part of our trip I was most looking forward to were the four days we had planned in a rural region of Tuscany called the Maremma. In general, I’m more of a wilderness lover than an urbanite, and the same holds true when I’m traveling. What initially attracted me to the Maremma was a big green spot on google maps – the Maremma Regional Park. A little internet digging and I was sold on the lush, green region, located halfway between Rome and Florence, with its promise of beautiful coastline, natural hot springs, agriturismos, wild horses, and plenty of open spaces to explore.

1) A view from the road leading to our B&B; 2) Trevor napping outside our apartment; 3) One of Norbert and Grazia’s chickens, whose eggs we enjoyed every morning

There are a lot of small inns, agriturismos, and B&Bs in the region, but I couldn’t have been happier with the one we chose – B&B At Home In Maremma, located centrally in the region only a 20 minute drive from the coast. We were the only guests, and our hosts, Norbert and Grazia, were immensely helpful and friendly. As soon as we pulled into the driveway and stepped outside, after 15 glorious minutes driving through rain-drenched fields of poppies and olive groves, they both welcomed us with a cold beer, stories about their time in Grosetto, and suggestions for our stay. We chose to stay in our own stand-alone apartment, with a private patio and it’s own fig and olive trees – although we didn’t spend much time actually in the apartment, it was a perfect home base. And the breakfasts that Grazia made for us each morning were amazing – on the first night, when she suggested that we might be tired of sweet Italian breakfasts and offered to make us bacon and eggs, we jumped at the chance to eat farm fresh eggs every morning. By the third morning of sunny side-up eggs cooked in a cup of prosciutto, served with fresh juice, rolls, chocolate cake, and espresso, we were pretty much the fattest, happiest little travelers. Although I did need to take a few weeks off prosciutto after this trip.

1) The natural hot springs at Petriolo; 2) Trevor standing beside the abandoned abbey of San Galgano; 3) The sun finally comes out while walking the wall at Massa Marittima; 3) An olive grove surrounded church at Massa Marittima

Our first morning we were disappointed to awake to rain, but decided to make the most of the day anyway and marked out a loop on our map. The first stop were the Terme di Petriolo, natural hot spring pools formed beside a river. We spent a relaxing hour lying in the steaming springs, plunging into the icy cold river from time to time, sitting side by side with some Italians who seemed to have nothing better to do on a rainy Thursday. (The Italians made me feel transparently white. Trevor confirmed this to be true). Sitting in the hot water while the cold rain plodded down around us was a wonderful way to spend a rainy morning – and free, too! After we were adequately soaked, we got back in the car and headed to San Galgano, an abandoned abbey, where there was also circular chapel where San Galgano used to live. And get this – there was a real-life sword in the stone there. Very cool. Or “a very mystic place” as Norbert told us. Our last stop of the day was the city of Massa Marittima, where we enjoyed a late lunch with a lot of German tourists, did some souvenir shopping, and walked the path along the city wall just as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. I love walking along city walls – they’re always so beautiful and wild. Dinner that night was at an amazing place called Chicco Magico – and it was the highlight of the entire trip for me – but it’s such a good story, I’m saving it for it’s own blog post. Just to be a tease.

1) The view from our hike; 2) The ruined medieval abbey in the middle of the trail; 3) Trevor enjoying the beach; 4) The Mediterranean sea

 Our second full day we had reserved for a trip to the Maremma Regional Park. It was a bit complicated to get inside, but we eventually made it to the trailhead and started a pretty, but steep hike up the coastal hills. There were only a handful of views, but looking out across the treetops to see ruined towers hovering above the sea was a pretty unique experience. Half way through the hike, we reached a ruined medieval abbey in the middle of the trail, and spent some time poking around that before forging on to the beach. After a crowded bus ride (that also included about 50 German retirees decked out in full mountaineering gear), we made our way a few minutes down the road to the beach that is located within the park. Although there were a few moments of panic as we frantically tried to communicate to the parking guard that we didn’t know how to get a parking ticket, we eventually figured it out and found a spot on the sand. Trevor relaxed and I dove into the water. I was probably the only person above the age of 6 who was swimming, but to someone from New England it was so amazingly warm, even in early May. I love the ocean. I could swim and bob and body surf all day, and I’m so glad I got to go in at least once so far this summer! That night we were pretty beat, so we picked up some bread to go with the last of our venison prosciutto and ate on our patio – where we were joined by every cat within a mile, all very keen to get in on the feast.

1) Horses on the way out of the regional park; 2) A wild fig growing on the wall at Massa Marittima; 3) Me standing outside the wall of Porto Ercole

On our last day we had to drive back to Rome, but didn’t need to return the car until 6pm, so we decided to take it slow and stop in Monte Argentario. I was initially unimpressed with the somewhat touristy town of Porto Ercole, but we followed our instinct and walked up a crumbling staircase to find ourselves hiking on a cliff around the old fort. The views were amazing, and as we continued down, we spotted a few rocky beaches that it looked like we could get access to. And we could. They were very neat – lots of pockmarked igneous boulders to climb on – but neither of us felt like getting salty before our drive back to Rome, so we stayed out of the water. After a quick (overpriced) lunch in a pirate themed restaurant (well, actually, everything in the town seemed to be pirate themed) we hit the road back to Rome.

And that was our trip to Italy! But most of you probably didn’t come here to read all about my vacation – you came because you saw a picture of that pizza. Carbonara pizza was the first thing I ate upon arriving in the Maremma, so that’s what I’ve recreated here. As soon as we arrived, Norbert and Grazia made reservations for us at this little pizza place in the tiny town of Istia d’Ombrone for dinner that night. We were both quite tired, but this pizza hit the spot after a day of public transportation, waiting around the rental car lot, and driving in the rain. After dinner we walked around the tiny walled town in the glow of the lamplight, only passing two other people as we walked.

I wasn’t sure exactly how to go about making a carbonara pizza, but I knew it had to have prosciutto (rather than bacon or pancetta), since we ate so much of it during our trip, and I knew I wanted the base sauce itself to be as close to a true carbonara sauce as possible. I have to say, I like my version of this pizza even better than the one we had on our trip – the sauce came out perfect, packed with oniony, cheesy, prosciutto-y, garlicky flavor, and with the extra strips of crisped prosciutto and a just-set egg on top of the bubbly, chewy crust, I couldn’t stop myself from eating a third slice even after I was full.

Carbonara Pizza

Serves 4.

• 1 TBS butter
• 1/2 c. finely minced onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
• 1/4 lb. thinly sliced prosciutto, divided (about 8-10 slices total)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 4 eggs, divided
• 1 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided
• cornmeal (for dusting pan)
• 1/2 recipe pizza dough
• 1/3 c. freshly grated pecorino romano
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 TBS finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add diced onion and stir to coat with butter. Finely dice half of the prosciutto (about 4 slices) and add to the pan with the onions and butter. Saute, stirring occasionally, until prosciutto is crisp and onions are golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. Add minced garlic and saute 1 minute longer, then stir in heavy cream. Cook for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
3. In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together 2 of the eggs and 1/2 cup of the grated parmesan. Slowly pour the hot cream sauce into the eggs, whisking the eggs vigorously as you do so to prevent scrambling. Once all the cream has been added, whisk the mixture for 30 seconds, then set aside.
4. Sprinkle a small amount of cornmeal on 2 baking sheets. Flour your work surface and a rolling pin and roll out the pizza dough into two small (or one large) crusts. Place one on each baking sheet. Spread the cream sauce on top of the crusts up to 1/2 an inch from the edge. Don’t spread the sauce so thickly that it runs over the edge – you may have a few tablespoons left over.
5. Mix together the remaining 1/2 c. parmesan cheese and the pecorino cheese. Sprinkle half of the mixture over each crust. Layer a few strips of the remaining prosciutto on top of the cheese. Carefully crack one egg into the center of each pizza. Bake the pizzas for 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden brown and egg is set. Sprinkle the hot pizzas with freshly ground black pepper and the parsley.

The post Italy Part 2: The Maremma // Carbonara Pizza appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

We’ve been back from Italy for about two weeks, and I’ve finally made it through the first half of my pictures and thoughts about the trip to share with you here. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking, but I have a few notes about where we stayed and ate and adventured, in case you’re interested (or lucky enough to be going to Rome or Florence in the near future).

We spent the first two nights of our trip in Rome, then after a quick (and slightly nauseating) train ride, we spent two nights in Florence. In both cities, what we did the most was walk. We’d wake up, open up the map, circle the places we wanted to see, then set out for the day until it was time for our 4PM siesta. After siesta, we’d go back out in search of dinner. A pretty good daily routine; I’d happily live every day that way.

Rome was a bit of a jet-lagged whirlwind, but I liked the city much more than I remembered. The last time I was there, I was 14, and Rome seemed far too loud, overwhelming, and dirty. This time, for the most part we stayed away from some of the main sights, and even after two days I was starting to get the sense of the thriving city underneath the throngs of tourists. We stayed at the perfect inn/apartment, La Finestra Sul Colosseo, which checked off everything on my list – it was spotlessly clean, spacious, quiet, comfortable, and modern. We slept like rocks. A highlight of our trip was spending Sunday morning on a food tour with Irene from Vino Roma. It was a bit of a splurge for us, but great to wander more pointedly and have Irene there to teach us about local food culture, both past and present. She took us to a truly local farmer’s market, where I was thrilled that no one spoke English, meaning we had to stock up on fresh fava beans, bread, truffled sausage, cheese, and the tiniest, sweetest strawberries of all time using our terrible Italian and a lot of pointing. We ate porchetta sandwiches and drank local beer, then meandered through the Jewish Quarter where we tried a truly remarkable “burnt” sweet bread from a tiny store with no name and an incredibly long line. We wrapped up with a cheese and wine tasting for a memorably tasty morning. Two other highlights from Rome: one, dinner at Cuoco & Camicia, where everything was delicious, but the carbonara-stuffed tortelli and the fillet of beef with foie gras and pumpkin cream were astounding. Two, our Sunday evening stroll/marathon – we walked from our hotel near the Colosseum, to Piazza Venezia, to St. Peter’s, and finally to the hill above the Piazza del Popolo where we soaked in the view and picnicked on our market finds. It was a solid 5 mile walk, and it felt good to see so much of the city before moving on to Florence.

I was less enamored with Florence, perhaps as predicted by Steve and Michelle. Given the small size of the city, and the large number of visitors, every corner we visited felt overrun with tourists. With this came an abundance of overpriced food, tacky “authentic” stores, and a lack of real charm. So, I didn’t love it, but we still had some great moments. Walking up the hill behind the Giardini di Bardini and finding ourselves in the midst of an olive grove felt kind of magical, as did being in the city for the Bianca Notte festival, during which all of the major museums were open for free all night, and bands and performers roamed the streets into the wee hours – it was a huge party, and the only time it felt like a living city. While walking through the Palazzo Vecchio that night, we happened to walk through an upper corridor as a horn concert began below us, and we watched/listened to the entire performance while standing in the center of that majestic building – that was a once in a lifetime experience, and it was incredible. We also ate at one good restaurant, Il Santo Bevitore, where dinner was delicious, if slightly dampened by the incredibly loud and rude Texans sitting next to us. (No offense meant to Texans in general, just these two in particular). And we found venison prosciutto and wild boar speck in the Central Market! So, so tasty. We might try and make some ourselves, just a warning.

So maybe I lied about the pictures doing most of the talking – I guess I had more to say than I thought! It’s fun reliving our adventures. It may be another week or so before I get my act together on the second half of our trip, but the last four days, which we spent in the Maremman countryside, were easily my favorite, so hopefully it’s worth the wait! In the meantime, I cooked up some Cacio e Pepe with English Peas for you. Cacio e Pepe is a classic and delicious spaghetti dish coated with a rich cheese sauce and a healthy sprinkling of black pepper – it tastes like what I always want mac’n’cheese to taste like. I had a version in Florence served on a black bean puree, which I re-imagined here using a spring pea puree instead. Buon appetito!

Cacio e Pepe with English Peas

Serves 3-4.

• 1 1/2 c. fresh English peas
• salt to taste
• 1/2 pound spaghetti or bucatini
• 2 TBS butter
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more for garnish
• reserved pasta water
• 3/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
• 3/4 c. freshly grated Pecorino Romano
• 2 TBS sour cream

1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water, and set aside. When the water is boiling, add the peas to the water and boil for 1-2 minutes, until bright green and floating at the top. Use a skimmer to remove the peas and immediately plunge into the ice water to stop the peas from cooking. Set aside.
2. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. When the pasta is done, remove to a bowl with tongs and set the pasta water aside.
3. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the black pepper and stir until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add 3/4 c. of the reserved pasta water to the pan and bring to a boil, then add the cooked pasta and all of the cheese. Stir to melt the cheese until the pasta is evenly coated with a creamy sauce, adding more pasta water if necessary.
4. Take 1 c. of the cooked peas and place in a blender with the sour cream and 1/4 c. of the pasta water. Blend until smooth, then season to taste with salt. Mix the remaining 1/2 c. of peas into the pasta.
5. Place a circle of the pea puree on each plate. Top with a pile of spaghetti. Finish with freshly ground pepper and freshly grated cheese.

The post Italy Part 1: Rome and Florence // Cacio e Pepe with English Peas appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Florentine failure begets brilliant bollito baguette

Overall, Gourmandistan did not have very good luck with Florence. Our misfortune may have started with breaking Rule #1 of the Gourmandistani Guide for Going Places: “Food comes first.” (Rule #2: “Always pack a spare corkscrew.”) Seeking a side trip from our month-long stay a few years ago in the Colli Euganei outside Padua, Michelle booked a spur-of-the-moment overnight visit to Florence. For reasons that remain unclear to this day, she skipped her usual intensive research and ignored the conspicuous lack of Michelin-starred restaurants, thinking for once in our lives we’d just wing it. After all, how bad could the birthplace of the Renaissance be?

A lovely drive from the Veneto, through Tuscan hillsides thick with cedar trees and sienna rooftops, had us looking forward the city of the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio and more. And throughout our stay, we did find ourselves in the midst of mounds of art and architecture. Unfortunately, most of it seemed covered in touts, tat and street-wide phalanxes of Chinese and American tourist groups battling for prime spots under the frenzied direction of flag-bearing guides. Our dreams of dashing through the Uffizi late in the afternoon? Trampled under a long, long line of people with reservations (!) who were still praying to get in before closing time. We settled for the simulated version of Michelangelo’s David stuck outside the museum, while we struggled to capture views that did not contain squinting/squatting photographers and/or garish souvenirs more tacky than the stuff found across the street from Elvis Presley’s Graceland.

The food choices Florence presented on our first day were so frustratingly bad we seriously considered eating sketchy Italian sushi, since we had failed to realize many Florentine restaurants take Sunday off. Our concierge recommended a place promising “authentic food to real Tuscans” in a residential area that was a fair walk from our hotel. We arrived to find its garage-type door bafflingly half open, the tables set but no one in sight. After hanging around for 30 minutes or so, we turned about and walked back to the city center, grabbing some so-so pizza and passable osso buco from a touristy trattoria for lunch. That night, thinking we’d misread the restaurant’s website, we decided to hike back to the “real Tuscan” place. Once again, the restaurant gate was half open, and there seemed to be someone lurking in the back. However, no dinner was served. As a cold rain fell, we retreated to our hotel room in defeat, dining on convenience store snacks and cheap wine while watching the “Miss Italia” pageant on TV.

We awoke the next morning irritable, hungry and increasingly convinced we were “Patient Zero” of anti-Stendhal syndrome. Grimly facing our final hours in Florence, we decided to bag the beautiful buildings and do what we like best—go to a market. Dodging more tourists and tat, we walked to the Mercato Centrale. There, we found Nerbone and its wonderful boiled beef (bollito) and tripe (lampredotto) sandwiches, and Florence redeemed itself. (Drinking red wine with breakfast didn’t hurt, either.)

Because our hotel had a ludicrously early checkout time and the staff seemed disinclined to store our bags and car beyond it, we had to eat quickly and hurry back.  Sadly, our favorite part of Florence was also one of our fastest.

On the way back to our Veneto home, cheered by the comfort of boiled beef and tripe, we stopped in Fiesole hoping for one last view of the city. We found ourselves in a freak hilltop hailstorm. Obviously, Tuscany was not very “us-cany”—but we did, at least, have those sandwiches. (The next year, though, we returned to our beloved France for our annual fall vacation.)

In honor of Katie’s vacation, we decided to recreate one of our favorite Florentine dishes.

Finding a non-industrial source of tripe in our current locale proved impossible. (Thanks for the advice, friends, but we’re not shopping at Walmart.) We did, though, find a recipe for bollito misto in Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. While we didn’t have the called-for tongue, veal breast, cochino sausage or a chicken (neither, we should point out, did Nerbone), using a local veal brisket by itself still produced a rich beefy broth along with soft, sweetly-flavored meat. Hazan also came through with recipes for accompanying green and red sauces, which Michelle zested up with chili and garlic. We couldn’t find a suitable recipe for the Kaiser-like rolls, but a split baguette from a wonderful local bakery worked just as well, especially when drenched with extra broth. Bollito is the way Gourmandistan prefers to remember Florence—but we certainly hope Katie returns with even better experiences. (She’ll undoubtedly have better pictures.)

Have fun in Firenze, Katie!

PANINO CON BOLLITO

(adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking)

BOLLITO

• 1 veal (or beef) brisket
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 onion, peeled
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs parsley
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 c. canned crushed tomatoes
• Red pepper flakes
• Salt & pepper

Put all ingredients together in a Dutch oven or large pot.  Bring to a simmer. Skim, if needed.  Cook for several hours over low heat, until meat is very soft. Remove meat to a cutting board to cool.  Strain broth and set aside. Slice meat across grain. Chop slices into small pieces.

SALSA VERDE (Green Sauce):

• 1 c. parsley leaves
• 3 TB capers (rinsed, if using salted capers)
• 6 anchovy filets
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 t. grainy mustard
• 1 t. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process, stopping and using a spatula to push down sides as necessary.  Taste for seasoning.

SALSA ROSSA (Red Sauce):

• 2 red bell peppers
• 2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 TB olive oil
• Red pepper flakes
• 1/2 – 3/4 c. canned chopped or crushed tomatoes
• Salt & pepper

Skin peppers with a vegetable peeler. Then split them lengthwise and remove core and seeds. Cut pepper flesh into thin slices.

Cook onions in olive oil, stirring occasionally, until soft. Add peppers and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until reduced by about half.

Add pepper flakes, tomato, salt and pepper. Continue cooking at a simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

SANDWICH ASSEMBLY:

Toast a baguette or (more authentically) a Kaiser roll, sliced in half horizontally.  Mound some meat on top of bottom half of bread. Pour some of the reserved broth over. Top, first with red sauce, then with green sauce.

The post Guest Post from Gourmandistan: Florentine failure begets brilliant bollito baguette appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

At the end of April, Trevor and I are headed to Italy for a ten day vacation. I am beyond excited. It will be my first time abroad since returning from Prague in 2009 (unless you count two whirlwind days in Madrid for work last summer), and I’ve been daydreaming about the trip since we booked the tickets in January. I’ve also been practicing my Italian, drooling over hotels in Rome and Florence, and thinking about what, exactly, I want to eat and drink while I’m there. So the arrival of these two regional Italian cookbooks – Venezia in Cucina: The Flavors of Venice and Sicilia in Cucina: The Flavors of Sicily – could not have been more timely for me.

I have to start off by telling you: the pictures in these books are incredible. Not just pretty, stunning. Many times while reading these books I’ve stopped to linger for several minutes over one image or another – an explosion of red and green paper confetti in front of an ornate church; a man mid-jump off a cliff into a serene ocean, the sky pink and a smoking volcano in the background; an earthenware bowl of spaghetti on a sun-dappled table. These books are full of art, and it’s art that brings another culture to life on the page. Although I received review copies, I would have bought them for the photography inspiration alone.

As for the food, the recipes are authentic and the instructions are simple – oftentimes, there are no ingredient amounts listed for anything that could be considered seasoning. It will simply say “season with lemon, salt, parsley” or “dissolve 3 TBS tomato paste in hot water.” While I could imagine this being a deterrent for an inexperienced cook (how much lemon? how much hot water?), I felt that it added to the over all… Italianness of the books. I like that it gives you the freedom to add flavor as you go and taste for seasoning, and I also like the feeling that that’s how an Italian grandmother might tell you to do it – “you know, add parsley until there is enough parsley. Bene, basta.” The recipes from Venice focus heavily on seafood, with only a few non-fish dishes to be found. You’ll find plenty of pasta – tagiolini pasta with spider crab and cherry tomatoes – antipasti – scallops au gratin with tomato – and mains – baked turbot with summer vegetables. The recipes from Sicily are still influenced by the sea, but there’s more variety. High on my list are the fried cheese balls with chili-honey sauce, lamb stuffed with potatoes and pistachio pesto, and spaghetti with ricotta and fresh pecorino. Both books also have dessert chapters, as well as sections spotlighting local wines and unique regional ingredients.

A final point – I love that everything, from the section intros to the ingredients to the cooking instructions, is in both English and Italian – it totally indulges my inner language-learning nerdiness.

These books are like a travel advertisement in the best way possible. But they are also useful in the kitchen, as a cookbook should be. To test out the two books, I made three recipes for a large and indulgent Saturday lunch/ as food to welcome Trevor back from his week-long business trip. I’m sharing the first two recipes today – spaghetti in a tomato-anchovy sauce with breadcrumbs, from Sicilia in Cucina, and mini Parmesan meatballs, breaded and fried in olive oil to make them extra savory and crunchy, from Venezia in Cucina. Both recipes were simple, tasty, and filling, in a rustic sort of way. I’d make them both again for a quick dinner any night. The third recipe was an apple-custard tart which I could have eaten all of in one sitting – but you’ll have to wait a few days for that recipe.

The bottom line: These two books – Venezia in Cucina and Sicilia in Cucina – are a beautiful glimpse into the food and culture of two specific areas of Italy. I would happily have bought them for the photographs alone, as they depict far more than just beautiful food and create a gorgeous visual tale of life in another place. The recipes are simple, regional, and authentic, although in some cases the lack of specificity in the instructions may be a deterrent to a beginner cook. The fact that these are dual language books in both English and Italian was icing on the cake for me – now on my upcoming trip, I’ll be ordering dinner like a pro. I’d recommend these two books for anyone who daydreams about Italy, foodie or not.

Disclaimer: Ammo Books, the U.S. distributor of these books, sent me free review copies of both Venezia in Cucina and Sicilia in Cucina. I was not otherwise compensated for writing this review, and all opinions are my own.

Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs

Adapted from Sicilia in Cucina. Serves 4-6.

• 1 lb. dried thick spaghetti or bucatini
• 3 TBS olive oil, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 anchovies
• 4 TBS tomato paste
• 1 c. hot water
• 1 c. fresh breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions, until just barely al dente.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 1/2 TBS of the olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and anchovies and saute for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant, breaking up the anchovies with the back of a wooden spoon so they dissolve. Mix the tomato paste with the hot water in a small bowl until they have an even texture, then add to the anchovies and garlic. Let simmer on low, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.
3. In a separate pan, heat the remaining 1 1/2 TBS of olive oil. Toast the breadcrumbs in the oil until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, then sprinkle with salt to taste.
4. Remove the spaghetti from the pot as soon as it is al dente and drop straight into the simmering sauce. Turn off the heat and toss the spaghetti with the sauce. Add about half the breadcrumbs and stir to coat. Divide the spaghetti between bowls and top each with a handful of the remaining breadcrumbs

Fried Mini Meatballs with Parmesan

Adapted from Venezia in Cucina. Makes 25 1-inch meatballs.

• 1/2 lb of ground pork
• 1/2 lb of ground beef
• 1/2 c. of grated parmesan cheese (about 40g)
• 2 TBS of flour
• 1/4 c. of finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 c. breadcrumbs plus more for frying
• 2 large eggs
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

1. In a large bowl, mix together the pork, beef, cheese, flour, parsley, 1/4 c. of breadcrumbs, and eggs until they form a smooth mixture. Season generously with salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Cover, and let stand for 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld. If it’s going to be any longer than 1 hour, refrigerate while you wait.
2. Heat 1/2 inch of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Form the beef-pork mixture into meatballs about 1 inch in diameter. Spread a generous amount of breadcrumbs on a plate, and roll the meatballs in the breadcrumbs to coat. Test the temperature of the oil by adding a few breadcrumbs to it – if they sizzle and fry up quickly, the oil is hot enough. Fry the meatballs in batches, using tongs to rotate every few minutes to ensure that they cook on all sides. When they are browned all over, check inside to ensure they have cooked all the way through. If they have, remove to a plate covered with a paper towel to drain. Serve hot, with tomato sauce for dipping.

The post Book Club: Sicilia in Cucina, Venezia in Cucina // Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs and Parmesan Meatballs appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.