Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This creamy chicken ragù is easy to make and boasts remarkable depth thanks to the flavors of an Italian-style soffritto made with onions, carrots, celery, and parsley.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This creamy chicken ragù is easy to make and boasts remarkable depth thanks to the flavors of an Italian-style soffritto made with onions, carrots, celery, and parsley.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. Add pancetta; cook, stirring often, until fat has rendered, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to a plate, reserving drippings in Dutch oven. Add garlic to Dutch oven; increase heat to medium-high. Sprinkle chicken all over with salt and pepper. Working in batches if needed, add chicken, skin side down, to Dutch oven. Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer chicken thighs to a plate.
Reserve garlic and 2 tablespoons drippings in Dutch oven; discard remaining drippings. Add sofrito and wine; bring to a simmer over medium. Cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits, until mixture is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to Dutch oven in a snug single layer; add stock, ensuring chicken is barely covered. Return mixture to a simmer over medium. While mixture comes to a simmer, bundle together leek leaves, rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf; secure with kitchen twine, and add to Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until chicken is tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove Dutch oven from heat. Transfer chicken to a cutting board; partially cover Dutch oven. Let chicken and sauce stand 10 minutes. Skim and discard fat from sauce; remove and discard garlic cloves and leek-herb bundle. Stir reserved pancetta into sauce. Remove and discard skin and bones from chicken; finely shred chicken meat.
Stir cream into sauce. Cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced by nearly half and has slightly thickened, 8 to 12 minutes. Stir peas and shredded chicken into sauce; cook until peas are just tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, and cover to keep warm.
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
Add pasta, Parmesan, butter, and lemon zest to sauce. Stir to combine, adding splashes of reserved cooking liquid as needed to form a creamy sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve in large bowls.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini—Zucchini and speck are the stars of the show in this easy to put together pasta. The original recipe was passed down to me by my Mother in Law and it's very dear to me. Speck is a type of cured lightly smoked ham made in South Tyrol, a province in northeast Italy known for its snow-capped Dolomite. It’s a relative to prosciutto but leaner and more flavorful. A dollop of fresh Robiola adds creaminess and a mild tang, but if you cannot find fresh Robiola at your local store use cream cheese or a table spoon of heavy cream.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini—Zucchini and speck are the stars of the show in this easy to put together pasta. The original recipe was passed down to me by my Mother in Law and it's very dear to me. Speck is a type of cured lightly smoked ham made in South Tyrol, a province in northeast Italy known for its snow-capped Dolomite. It’s a relative to prosciutto but leaner and more flavorful. A dollop of fresh Robiola adds creaminess and a mild tang, but if you cannot find fresh Robiola at your local store use cream cheese or a table spoon of heavy cream.
4tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons (or more) for finishing
1largegarlic clove, peeled
¾cupspeck, cut into small ¼-inch cubes
4mediumzucchinis, cut into small about ¼-inch`
2teaspoonslemon zest
½cupfresh mint leaves, thorned
½cupcreamy robiola cheese or cream cheese
12ozshort pasta penne or any spiral shape
½cupgrated parmesan
Servings: people
Instructions
Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until golden, then add the speck, cooking for several more minutes until the fat starts to render. Add zucchini and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until cooked but still a little crunchy in the center. Remove the garlic and set aside.
Add the lemon zest and mint to a large serving bowl.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente, following package directions for cooking times.
Reserve a cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.. Return the pasta to the cooking pot and dress with olive oil and a several generous grindings of black pepper.
Add the Robiola cheese and melt it by mixing with the pasta on a very low flame for a few minutes. You may need to add some or all of the reserved cooking liquid, a little bit at the time, to get a creamy consistency.
Transfer the pasta to the serving bowl on top of the lemon zest and mint, adding the speck and zucchini, and toss. Add parmesan and serve.
Recipe Notes
Ask your your deli person to cut you a ¼ inch thick slice of Speck and then dice it before cooking the pasta. You can also use pre-sliced and packaged Speck and slice it into thin ribbons.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— A couple of days after I got married in Tulum, Mexico, my new husband and I ate a late lunch on the beach with our families. We sat right by the ocean at a tiny restaurant called Hemingway. The owner, a lovely woman of Roman descent, fed us gorgeous creamy pasta, infused with curry and topped with fresh lobster and shrimp. It was a completely new dish to us and we became forever devoted to it. Once back in my own kitchen I recreated the recipe. This pasta is not only dear to me for sentimental reasons, but it’s also a truly magnificent and no-fail recipe, loved by everyone that tries it. The shrimp and lobster meat make the dish luxurious, but feel free to omit the seafood completely and enjoy the bright and spicy curry noodles as a weeknight quick-wander pantry meal.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— A couple of days after I got married in Tulum, Mexico, my new husband and I ate a late lunch on the beach with our families. We sat right by the ocean at a tiny restaurant called Hemingway. The owner, a lovely woman of Roman descent, fed us gorgeous creamy pasta, infused with curry and topped with fresh lobster and shrimp. It was a completely new dish to us and we became forever devoted to it. Once back in my own kitchen I recreated the recipe. This pasta is not only dear to me for sentimental reasons, but it’s also a truly magnificent and no-fail recipe, loved by everyone that tries it. The shrimp and lobster meat make the dish luxurious, but feel free to omit the seafood completely and enjoy the bright and spicy curry noodles as a weeknight quick-wander pantry meal.
Fill a large pot of water and put over high heat to bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, warm the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When the butter is melted and begins to sizzle, stir in the onion. Cook, stirring often, for about 7 minutes or until the onion is softened but not browned. Stir in the curry powder, salt, and a generous grinding of pepper. Add the lemon juice, raise the heat to medium-high. Let the sauce simmer for about 3 minutes, until slightly thickened. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the cream. Bring the sauce back to a gentle simmer. Set aside.
Generously salt the boiling water. Cook the spaghetti in the salted water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, even slightly underdone. Once the pasta is in the water, proceed with finishing the sauce.
Add the shrimp to the sauce, cover, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until pink but still translucent. Add the lobster meat and cook for an extra couple of minutes. Do not overcook.
Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta, and transfer it to the frying pan with the sauce. Toss to combine thoroughly, and add a splash of pasta water, if necessary, to loosen the sauce. Cook for a minute or so to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Transfer to a serving bowl or individual bowls and serve, portioning out the seafood along with the sauce. Sprinkle generously with parsley.
Recipe Notes
Frozen and defrosted lobster meat can be used
Omit the lobster and shrimps for a vegan option
I use Madras curry powder, but any curry powder you have in you pantry will work well
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This is my basic homemade pasta dough recipe. It requires 4 simple ingredients. Flour, eggs, water and a little olive oil. I always prefer 00 flour, which is traditionally used in Italy because it renders a smooth, silky and tender dough. 00 flour is lower in gluten than an All Purpose American flour and it is grounded finer, hence it has a more powdery consistency and the pasta gets a nice tender bite and not as much chew. The eggs need to be fresh and with a bright yellow or orange yolk to achieve the characteristic warm and inviting color of homemade pasta. I use as little water as I can, just enough to get the right wet texture and a little olive oil to help with the consistency. I really don't like to use salt in the dough because I think pasta should be a blank canvas to which the flavors are added and layered later on when cooking. Finally, I suggest you always finish your dough by hand and not in a mixer to make sure you attained the right texture. Making the dough is easy, it just takes a little practice and the proportion are more or less 3/4 of a cup of 00 flour to one large egg per portion or even better, if you own a scale, 100g of flours to one egg.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This is my basic homemade pasta dough recipe. It requires 4 simple ingredients. Flour, eggs, water and a little olive oil. I always prefer 00 flour, which is traditionally used in Italy because it renders a smooth, silky and tender dough. 00 flour is lower in gluten than an All Purpose American flour and it is grounded finer, hence it has a more powdery consistency and the pasta gets a nice tender bite and not as much chew. The eggs need to be fresh and with a bright yellow or orange yolk to achieve the characteristic warm and inviting color of homemade pasta. I use as little water as I can, just enough to get the right wet texture and a little olive oil to help with the consistency. I really don't like to use salt in the dough because I think pasta should be a blank canvas to which the flavors are added and layered later on when cooking. Finally, I suggest you always finish your dough by hand and not in a mixer to make sure you attained the right texture. Making the dough is easy, it just takes a little practice and the proportion are more or less 3/4 of a cup of 00 flour to one large egg per portion or even better, if you own a scale, 100g of flours to one egg.
Place the sifted 00 flour onto a clean work surface, preferably a large wood board and make a well in the center.
Break the eggs into the well and gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using your fingers or a fork, add the oil then combine the ingredients together into a firm dough. If the dough feels too dry, add a few drops of water at time until the dough feels smooth and silky, I like to wet my fingers with the water so I can control the moisture; if the dough feels too wet, add a little more flour. After you’ve made the dough a few times, you will get the hang of it and understand the consistency. You can you use a stand in mixer fitted with a hook, but I highly recommend you finish the dough by hand.
Knead the pasta dough until it’s smooth, 5 to 10 minutes. Lightly coat it with a little amount of olive oil, wrap the dough in Saran wrap, and let it rest at room temperature in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. The pasta will become much more relaxed and elastic after resting. I like to make my dough the day before and rest it in the fridge till I need it.
Pasta Rolling and Shaping
Cut small section— about 2 to 3 inches thick— of the rested pasta and feed them one at time through a pasta machine set on the widest setting. As the sheet of pasta dough comes out of the machine, fold it into thirds and then feed it through the rollers again, still on the widest setting. Pass the pasta through this same setting a total of 4 or 5 times. This kneads the pasta dough and ensures the resulting pasta is silky smooth.
Pass the sheet of pasta dough through the machine again, gradually reducing the settings, one pass at a time, until the pasta achieves the desired thickness. The sheet of pasta dough will become quite long— cut the sheet of dough in half and feed each half through separately. I suggest you use the second-from-last setting for tagliatelle, pappardelle and tagliolini and the last setting for other shapes that are to be filled.
After the sheet of pasta dough has reached the liked thickness, hang it over a drying rack or do like I used to do at home and hang it over a broom handle or the large handle of your oven door. Dust with flour to prevent sticking.
Shape the pasta through the chosen cutters of your machine and then drape the cut pasta again to dry just a little, until ready to cook. You can also shape the pasta by hand with a cutter. I like to lightly dust the finished pasta with fine semolina flour.
Cook the pasta in plenty salted boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes or freeze for up to six months.
Recipe Notes
You can color your pasta by adding tomato paste, cooked spinach, squid ink, beet juice or saffron threads. I like to add my coloring ingredients at the beginning of the process with the fresh eggs.
Gluten Free Fresh Pasta:
1 1/4 Gluten Free Flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
4 large egg yolks
1 large egg
2 to 4 tablespoons water
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino is what Italians cook after a night out and it's a must when a bit of late night sustenance is required. It's astonishingly full of flavor and it takes literally 10 minutes or less to fix, plus it will cure any incumbent hangover. Every one I know makes a variation of this staple dish, I personally take the garlic out after I infuse it with the oil and chili flakes and I always discard it. Most italian, contrary to what you might have heard, don't like to bite in to a large piece of garlic. Plus if you are back from a night out you might be sharing this pasta dish with someone of importance and you might not have a tooth brush handy.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino is what Italians cook after a night out and it's a must when a bit of late night sustenance is required. It's astonishingly full of flavor and it takes literally 10 minutes or less to fix, plus it will cure any incumbent hangover. Every one I know makes a variation of this staple dish, I personally take the garlic out after I infuse it with the oil and chili flakes and I always discard it. Most italian, contrary to what you might have heard, don't like to bite in to a large piece of garlic. Plus if you are back from a night out you might be sharing this pasta dish with someone of importance and you might not have a tooth brush handy.
1/2teaspooncrushed hot chili flakesadd more chili flakes for extra heat
3tablespoonsflat italian parsley chopped
1/2cupgrated parmesan
1 1/2tablespoonssea salt for boiling water
Servings: people
Instructions
Bring water to the boil in a large pot, add sea salt and cook spaghetti al dente, according to packaging instruction.
Meanwhile heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté peeled garlic cloves and chopped hot red pepper. Cook until the garlic is golden. Make sure not to burn the garlic. Set aside and let the oil infuse.
Drain the pasta, remove the garlic cloves from the oil and toss the pasta with the oil and red chili flakes then add the chopped parsley and the parmesan.
My favorite under 20 minutes summer pasta is a bowl of fresh chopped tomatoes, diced mozzarella, basil and garlic oil tossed with a short cooked noodle, then sprinkled with parmesan. It’s very easy to prepare and it taste better at room temperature or cold. Make sure your tomatoes are ripe and local and choose good quality mozzarella. This is a simple and humble dish but it’s packed with flavor and the whole process is ridiculously easy.
Boil a large pot of water, add sea salt and cook your pasta according to the directions. Drain, quickly rinse under cold water and place in a large bowl. Toss with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, toss the tomatoes and mozzarella in a bowl with the basil leaves. I like to rip the basil leaves by hand in small pieces. Season with salt and pepper and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Set aside.
In a small pan add the olive oil and the slivers of garlic. Cook on low until the garlic is golden then remove from the heat and set aside.
With a slotted spoon remove the garlic and place on paper towel to drain. Reserve the garlic oil and the slivers for later use.
Toss the tomatoes mixture with the pasta. Add the some of the garlic oil and the parmesan. Add a touch of black pepper and toss well. Serve at room temperature with extra parmesan and the garlic slivers on the side.
Recipe Notes
You can make the garlic oil in advance and keep in a glass container at room temperature for up to three weeks. I like to substitute pecorino cheese to the parmesan. Burrata is a delicious and creamy alternative to regular mozzarella.
One peeled and smashed clove of garlic gently cooked – never burned – in two or three tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil and then chili flakes – as much as your mouth can take. Spaghetti cooked in aboundantly salted water and then drained. Loads of green fresh spinach, a couple of spoons of grated Parmesan and fresh ground pepper all tossed directly in to the cooking pot. Comfort, loads of flavor and an iron clad, no fuss meal. It’s trumpfort food(yes there is an ashtag for that) and good for you. #resist
Boil the water with the salt. When the water is boiling add the spaghetti and cook al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, warm the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.
Add the anchovy paste and mash in to a paste. Add the garlic cloves, stir in the crumbs and cook until browned and dark brown. Discard the garlic cloves.
Drain the pasta, toss in a bowl with the bread crumbs and anchovies mixture, sprinkle with the chopped parsley and if desired some chili flakes. Enjoy with a cold beer and good friends!
Combine pasta, tomatoes, garlic, red-pepper flakes, basil, oil, salt, pepper, and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil mixture, stirring and turning pasta frequently with tongs, until pasta is al dente and water has nearly evaporated, about 9 to 10 minutes or according to direction on the box
Season to taste with salt and pepper, divide among 4 bowls, and garnish with basil. Serve with oil and Parmesan.
Recipe Notes
sliced white or yellow onion, black olives can be added
My favorite time of the day is undoubtedly dinner time. That’s when I sit down, together with my family, to share a meal, a laugh, a cry, and at times a squabble.
Family meals are precious, indispensable and untouchable. They are about good food, nourishment, but also about helpful bonding.
Family meals are used to discuss daily events, school, work, ideas. A sense of humor is required, good manners are requested, some culinary experimentation is necessary. Incidentally, I’m ferocious about no technology at the table.
No phones. No Ipads. No TV.
Family meals are chaos, they can turn in to a circus if not a zoo, but most of the times they are pure joy. Selected family members are more adventurous eater than others, but generally, as long as I don’t sneak in mushrooms, I get happy costumers, clean plates, and useful information about every ones life endeavors.
In the spirit of full disclosure, good manners are not always a guarantee, i.e. my son’s ability to burp the whole alphabet in one go and my daughter Houdini’s talent for making all her vegetables disappear and re-appear in the garbage; however, while Downton Abbey we are not, I do hope for resolution of the above malfunctions in the not so distant future.
Sharing meals has always been party of my upbringing and I’m holding to this tradition for dear life, because, I truly believe, connecting with my children and my husband, even if only for 20 minutes a day, it’s the key to a healthy family. To be clear, I’m not the only to believe in this.
The Family Dinner Project, a non profit organization dedicated to support families to come together and share their experiences and insights to help each other realize the benefits of family dinners has a phenomenal website loaded with evidence and studies supporting what parents have know for a long time:
“Sharing a fun family meal is good for the spirit, brain and health of all family members. Recent studies link regular family meals with the kinds of behaviors that parents want for their children: higher grade-point averages, resilience and self-esteem. Additionally, family meals are linked to lower rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, eating disorders and depression. We also believe in the power of family dinners to nourish ethical thinking.”
Harvard Medical School professor and family therapist Dr. Anne Fishel, co-founder of the Family dinner Project, says research shows how children benefit from eating dinner together as a family at home: healthier eating habits, reduced obesity and stronger vocabulary skills as a result of dinnertime conversations.
I encourage you to visit The Family Dinner Project for some invaluable insights and I urge you to try adding some family dinners to your schedule, or breakfasts or suppers.
To make your life easier enlist family members to participate, cook together, set the table, and clean up. Kids love to peel, cut, mash, pick herbs, wash, rinse and squeeze. My husband is terrific at rearranging the dishwasher; you can read about power struggle and dishwashers in this recent WSJ article.
No need to over-complicate. The meals can be very simple. It takes 3 minutes to boil a 3 minute egg and 1 minute to wrap some prosciutto on bread sticks. 6 minutes to steam vegetables in the microwave. 30 seconds to scoop some ice cream in a bowl.
Big PBJ & Jelly Jar – 2011 by Mary Hellen Johnson
If you have 30 minutes check this fab recipes from the genius at Leite’s Culinaria, if you have 15 minutes follow this fun recipe for one pot pasta by Martha Stewart, if you have 45 minutes on a weekend make my lemon, sage fontina meat loaf, it’s divine. You can prep it, freeze it and pop it in the oven when you feel like having a treat. It makes great sandwiches the day after. If it’s cold outside, make my coconut, ginger squash soup. PBJ sandwiches are a cupboard away. In the end, if you panic email me, I’ll gladly share some ideas with you, together with my mother in law’s mom words of wisdom: Chi canta a tavola o a letto e’ un matto perfetto.
Sweat the onions with the parsley until soft but not colored. Meanwhile in a mixer bowl add the beef, pork, veal, egg, grated parmesan,cumin powder, nutmeg, ricotta, bread crumbs, salt and pepper.
Mix well until all is combined. Add the onions and parsley mixture, cognac and mix again.
Cover a cutting board with a rectangular piece of saran wrap. Scoop the meatloaf mixture in the middle of the board and with wet hands form an even rectangle about 10x15 inches. Layer the sage, fontina and lemon peel, forming a strip in the center.
Using the saran wrap to help you, roll the meatloaf and seal all the edges forming a cylinder.
Discard the saran wrap. Place the meatloaf in lined oven dish and cover with the pancetta slices overlapping them slightly. Cook in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes.
Recipe Notes
You can make the meatloaf and freeze it before cooking it.
Heat about half the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the squash, broth and spices. Bring to a steady simmer, then cover and simmer gently until the apples are tender, about 25 minutes.
Transfer the solids to a food processor with a slotted spoon, in batches if need be, and process until smoothly pureed, then transfer back to the soup pot. Or better yet, simply insert an immersion blender into the pot and process until smoothly pureed.
Stir in the coconut milk and return the soup to a gentle simmer. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until well heated through. Season with salt and pepper. If time allows, let the soup stand off the heat for an hour or two, then heat through as needed before serving.
To serve, ladle soup into each bowl, then place a small mound macadamia basil pesto in the center.
Macadamia, basil pesto
Toast the macadamia nuts in the oven. Put in a mortar with the basil, salt pepper and lemon juice. Work in to a paste. You can also use small blender. Add the olive oil and mix well.
Halve the tomatoes and arrange them in an oven proof dish lined with parchment. I like them tightly packed but not on top of each other.
Season with the salt, drizzle the olive oil evenly. Scatter the garlic and basil on the tomatoes.
Roast for 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and lightly charred. Pass through a sieve or a food mill and discard the seeds and the skins. Use immediately as a great pasta sauce or preserve in zip lock bags and freeze.
Recipe Notes
The seeds and skin of the tomatoes are best removed as they can cause allergies and irritate the stomach.
Tomatoes cook and taste better if the pepper is added after cooking.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — I make meat sauce every week. It's our to-go meal. We use it on pasta, veggies, polenta and mashed potatoes. I like to mix veal, pork and beef and I slow cook it for a couple of hours.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — I make meat sauce every week. It's our to-go meal. We use it on pasta, veggies, polenta and mashed potatoes. I like to mix veal, pork and beef and I slow cook it for a couple of hours.
1 bouquet garnitie bay leaves, parsley, rosemary, basil, thyme together
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil
Servings: people
Instructions
Warm a couple of table spoon of olive oil in a large heavy bottom pan. Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until soft but not browned. Add prosciutto/mortadella and keep cooking for an extra 10 minutes on a low flame. Rise the heat to medium high add veal, pork and beef. Cook stirring occasionally until browned.
Add wine, cook the alcohol out for a couple of minutes on a low the flame.
Season with a sprinkle of nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper. Add tomato concentrate and cook for a couple of minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, stock and the bouquet garni.
Cook on slow heat for at a couple of hours or until the sauce is nicely reduced and compact. Taste for seasoning and discard the herbs before serving or freezing.
Forget Chopped, Bologna, Italy is were the real war is. Every year, my mother in law Betta and her Sister Giorgia have a food competition. Betta takes on Easter lunch and Giorgia rebuttals with the Christmas meal. I don’t know how far back this tradition dates, but I can assure you , the competition is brutal.
Months before the meals, family recipes are sourced out from books, secret phone calls are made, and long consultations with other close family members and sometimes Guido, the local butcher and known gourmand, take place behind closed doors. Food creativity, presentation, and table settings are taken in consideration. No detail is overlooked.
Me, I stay out of it. If consulted I just make up an excuse and change the subject. I have learn not to come between the sisters. But I reap the benefits. I, in fact, have had the pleasure to attend Betta’s Easter feast for 2 years now, and enjoy the creations while sinfully indulge in the verbal banter between the sisters.
And let me tell you, Betta didn’t disappoint this year. The spread was spectacular, each dish was designed with a nod to local ingredients and family recipes. Some of my favorite dishes were: buttery and flaky parmigianini, handmade sting nettle tortelloni, inspired by a recipe from signora Patrizia’s arsenal, stuffed guinea hen, veal mosaic, and a stunning fruit aspic.
Betta also scored extra points not only with the menu design, that with the help of my brother in law, his girlfriends and pinerest, was designed to resemble a cootie catcher, but also with the place settings, which were hand carved by my father in law Gigi, from local walnut trees and esquisitely hand painted with everybody’s first names.
Menu by Francesco and Irene
Place Setting by Gigi
Augusto and Valentina settings
Parmigianini are a tradition at Betta’s table. They are small, buttery, flaky, loaded with parmigian, crunchy biscuits. They are served as an aperitif. Once I locate them, I cannot stop eating them. They are evil and addictive. This time, they were accompanied by Crodino’s and Aperol. These are bitter orange drinks meant to stimulate the appetite at the beginning of the meal.
Parmigianini
Crodini and Aperol
I was told the sting nettles for the tortelloni were picked in the fall and frozen especially for this meal. They are mixed in, while making the dough, lending not only a beautiful green hue to the tortelloni, but also a very distinctive aromatic flavor, reminiscing of mint and spinach. The tortelloni were a work of art. The dough was thin, slippery and encasing fresh, just made, salty ricotta and chopped sting nettles. Dressed in a creamy sauce reduced with parmigiano, these tortelloni are possibly one of the more remarkable pasta dish I have ever had. I could taste the love, the passion and the patience of the experienced hands of Betta and Patrizia in each one of them.
Sting Nettles
Dough
Betta’s tortelloni
I loved the stuffed guinea hen. It’s a beautiful and decadent dish, perfect for company. The veal mosaic was silky and tender, I would say it is the elegant cousin of the meatloaf. It came at the table all dressed up and studded with emerald green pistachios and specks of delicate pink prosciutto.
Veal Mosaico
There were many other side dishes, salads and desserts served. This was not a meal for the faint of heart. Once it was time for the grand finale, the fruit aspic, took the cake. Aspic is an old fashion and sentimental dish in Italy. Every family has a recipe and it appears at times, at the end of the meal in all it’s trembling glory. Some people might over look the aspic and go for the creamy and more chocolaty contenders, but, I just love the refreshing qualities of it. Betta aspic is loaded with berries, fruit and encased by a delicate sweet but tangy gelatin. Of course to be fair, I also tried the famous chocolate sandwich cookies and all the other dessert. and enjoyed all of them, but the aspic is were my heart and taste buds were at.
Aspic
Filling the chocolate cookies
I cannot wait to go back next year. I can not even imagine how Betta will top her self. Truth is, I cannot imagine what her sister Giorgia will do at Christmas. She sure has a tough act to fall. Although I have heard through the grapevine, she has already started looking trough the books, and I can hear her wheels turning from here.
The sting nettel tortelloni, courtesy of Patrizia is posted below.
Betta and Gigi, the hosts and winner of this year feast. For now.