Eating Italy: A Chef's Culinary Adventure (28 page)

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter, divided

3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil, divided

10 ounces (283 g) fresh or frozen porcini mushroom pieces (3 cups), plus 4 fresh porcini caps

2 medium-size ribs celery, thinly sliced (1 cup)

1 large leek, cleaned and thinly sliced (1 cup)

1 quart (1 L) Chicken Stock (
page 279
)

1 sachet of 2 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 garlic clove, 4 peppercorns, and one 3-inch/7.5-cm Parmesan cheese rind (see
page 277
)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream

2 ounces (57 g) Bra cheese, grated (½ cup)

½ teaspoon (2 ml) white truffle paste (see Sources,
page 290
)

1 small garlic clove, minced

¼ cup (15 g) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat 2 tablespoons (28 g) of the butter and 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the 10 ounces (283 g) of mushroom pieces, toss to mix, and sear the mushrooms until lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes, stirring now and then.

Add the celery and leek, lower the heat to medium, and sweat the vegetables until tender but not browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock and submerge the sachet in the liquid. Bring to a simmer and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the sachet and then blend the soup in batches with a blender or stick blender until completely smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cover the soup in the pan to keep it warm. (Or let cool and refrigerate for up to 4 days; gently reheat the soup before serving.)

Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, and then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheese until smooth. Stir in the truffle paste and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm over very low heat to keep it from thickening too much.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon (14 g) of butter and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Slice the four fresh porcini caps and sauté them in the butter and oil until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and parsley, and cook for 1 minute (this is called
porcini trifolati
).

Divide the soup among warm bowls and spoon a couple of tablespoons of
porcini trifolati
over each bowl. Drizzle with a generous amount of fonduta.

POLENTA CARAMELLE
with
RASCHERA FONDUTA
and
BLACK TRUFFLE

Caramelle
means “candies,” and this ravioli is stuffed with polenta, then twisted like a candy wrapper. I got the stuffing idea from Claudio Sadler, a Michelin two-star chef in Milan. One of his cookbooks had a recipe for polenta ravioli, and I started playing around with polenta as a filling. After a few different tries, a simple mixture of cooked polenta, Parmesan, and a little egg turned out to be the best. The sauce is made with Raschera, a soft cow’s milk cheese I first discovered on one of my fall trips to Alba. It’s mild and creamy like formagella, which could stand in here. Or, in a pinch, use any other creamy melting cheese.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

1 cup (235 ml) cooked Polenta (
page 281
), cooled

1 large egg

1 ounce (28 g) Parmesan cheese, grated (¼ cup)

Freshly ground black pepper

12 ounces (340 g) Egg Pasta Dough (
page 282
), rolled into 3 sheets, each about
inch (0.8 mm) thick

Tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour, for dusting

1 cup (235 ml) whole milk

6 ounces (170 g) Raschera cheese

2 tablespoons (30 ml) black truffle paste

2 tablespoons (20 g) uncooked coarse yellow cornmeal (polenta)

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Combine the cooled polenta, egg, and Parmesan in a food processor. Season to taste with pepper and buzz until smooth, about 1 minute. Spoon into a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate until ready to use or up to 1 day.

Lay a pasta sheet on a lightly floured work surface and dust with flour. Trim the ends to make them square, then cut the dough into 2-inch (5-cm) squares and spritz with water to keep the dough from drying out. Cut a corner from the bag and squeeze the filling into ¾-inch (2-cm)-diameter balls in the center of each square. Wet your fingers and moisten the corners of a square. Fold the pasta so the edge just covers the filling, then continue folding so that the filling is enclosed and the pasta forms a small rectangle (see
page 162
). Gently twist the dough around the filling like a candy wrapper and pinch the edges to seal. Dust the ravioli with flour and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for up to 2 hours or freeze until solid, then transfer to a resealable plastic bag and freeze for up to 3 days. You should have about one hundred ravioli.

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and add the Raschera, whisking until melted and smooth. If the sauce is lumpy, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer into a small saucepan. Stir in the truffle paste and keep warm over very low heat.

Toast the uncooked polenta in a hot, dry skillet until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pan often. Remove from the heat.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop the pasta in the boiling water in batches, if necessary, to prevent overcrowding; quickly return the water to a boil, and cook until tender yet firm, 3 to 5 minutes.

Drain and divide among warm pasta plates. Spoon some fonduta over the pasta, scatter on some toasted polenta, and drizzle some olive oil around the plate.

POTATO GNOCCHI
with
CASTELMAGNO FONDUTA
and
WHITE TRUFFLE

Castelmagno is a Piedmont cow’s milk cheese aged for no less than sixty days. It’s crumbly, stinky, and full of rich flavor. The first time I had it was in Bra during the 2005 cheese festival. We had lunch at Boccondivino, a slow food restaurant in town, and our second course was a plate of light, fluffy pillows floating in creamy Castelmagno
fonduta
. The waiter came over and grated fresh white truffles over the top until I told him to stop. It was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever eaten.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 russet potatoes, scrubbed clean

¼ ounce (7 g) Parmesan cheese, grated (1 tablespoon)

Pinch of grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small egg, beaten

7 tablespoons (54 g)
tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour, sifted, plus a little more for dusting

½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream

1 tablespoon (15 ml) white rum

8 ounces (227 g) Castelmagno cheese, grated (about 2 cups)

2 tablespoons (30 ml) white truffle paste

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold salted water by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until a knife slides in and out of the potatoes easily, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes, discarding the skins. Pass the potatoes through a food mill or potato ricer into a medium bowl. Stir in the Parmesan and nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. Taste, adjust the seasonings, and then stir in the egg. Gently stir in the flour just until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead gently for 4 minutes. Using a floured bench knife or sharp knife, cut the dough in half and roll each piece on the floured surface into a long rope about ½ inch (1.25 cm) in diameter. Use the floured knife to cut the rope crosswise into ½-inch (1.25-cm) pieces, and dust the gnocchi with flour. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper and dust with flour. Transfer the gnocchi to the sheets, shake the pan to coat with flour, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Bring the cream and rum to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated Castelmagno until melted and smooth. Stir in the truffle paste and salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm over very low heat.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi in batches, if necessary, to prevent overcrowding; quickly return the water to a boil, and cook until the gnocchi float, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove with a spider strainer or slotted spoon and toss gently in the fondue.

Divide among plates and drizzle with olive oil.

COTECHINO-STUFFED QUAIL
with
WARM FIG SALAD

Walk around any Piedmont town in November, and you’ll eventually hear gunshots. It’s hunting season and they’re shooting pheasant, quail, squab, and boar. I thought about what else grows in the fall, and figs seemed like the perfect complement to quail. I stuff the birds with
cotechino
, a coarse northern Italian fresh sausage, pan-roast the birds, and then serve them with a warm salad of figs and shallots. For the stuffing, you can use the same cotechino described in the Ciareghi recipe (
page 244
). Or use another coarse fresh Italian sausage.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

4 whole quail, innards removed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 slices white bread

½
cup (120 ml) Chicken Stock (
page 279
)

6 ounces (170 g) Cotechino (
page 244
) or other Italian sausage

2 ounces (56 g) mortadella, ground in a food processor

1 large egg

1 ounce (28 g) Parmesan cheese, grated (¼ cup)

2 tablespoons (7 g) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter

5 tablespoons (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, divided

8 large fresh figs, quartered lengthwise

½ shallot, julienned

1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar

Rinse the quail, pat dry, and season inside and out with salt and pepper.

Soak the white bread in the stock in a medium bowl for 10 minutes. Drain off any excess stock, then break up the bread and mix in the sausage, mortadella, egg, Parmesan, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. To test the seasoning, pinch off a small piece of the stuffing mixture and fry it in a small sauté pan and then taste. Adjust the seasoning as necessary.