SPQR MODERN ITALIAN FOOD AND WINE
SHELLEY LINDGREN and MATTHEW ACCARRINO with KATE LEAHY Photography by Sara Remington
TEN SPEED PRESS Berkeley
CONTENTS
Introduction Ancient Information Highways • 1 La Strada del Vino • 2 La Strada della Cucina • 5
Roman Roads Via A ppia—L azio azi o • 11 Via Salar S alaria—L ia—L e Marche March e • 45 Via F laminia— Umbria • 69 Via Postumia—Vene Po stumia—Vene to and Friuli-Venezia Friuli -Venezia Giulia • 105 Via Claudia C laudia Augusta A ugusta—T —Trent rentino–A ino–A lto Adige Adi ge • 139 Via Aemilia— A emilia— Emilia-Romagna Emilia-R omagna and Lombardia Lombard ia • 161 161 Via Fr ancigena—Pie ancige na—Pie monte and a nd Valle d’Aosta • 197 Via Aur elia— Ligur ia and Toscana Tosca na • 235
Resources Kitchen Road Map: Fundamental Techniques • 271 Basic Recipes, and Ingredients • 275
Acknowledgments Index 287 •
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Recipes Via Appia—L azio • 11 Spiced Ricotta Fritters with Smoked Maple Syrup • 17 Fried Rabbit Livers with Pickled Vegetables and Spicy Mayonnaise • 19 Crispy Pig Ears with Pick led Green Tomatoes, Jalapeño, and Radish • 20 Spring Vegetable Vignarola Salad • 22 Bucatini with Nettles, Pancetta, and Black Pepper • 24 Whole Wheat Fet tuccine tuccin e with wit h Funghi Trif olati and Spring Garlic • 26 Braised Oxtail in Cabbage Leaves with Cranberry Beans • 29 Goat Cheese and Ricotta Crespelle with Orange-Caramel Sauce • 31 SPRING LAMB • 33
Lamb Ragù with Semolina Gnocchi and Pecorino Pepato • 34 Lamb Belly • 35 Lamb Loin and Rack with Gaeta Olive Sauce • 36 Leg of Lamb Wrapped in L amb Mousse and Swiss Chard • 36 Steamed Artichokes • 41
Via Flam F lamini inia—Umbri a—Umbriaa • 69 Smoked Trout with Warm Potato Salad and Horseradish Gelatina • 75 Chopped Chicken Livers with Wine Gelatina, Carrot Marmellata, and Grilled Bread • 78 Fava Bean Agnolotti w ith Mashed Black Truffle • 80 Tagliatelle Tagliatell e d’Oro with Chicken C hicken L iver s, Mushrooms, Mushro oms, and Black Truffle • 84 Linguine al Cocoa with Venison Ragù • 85 Farro-Stuffed Quail with Chestnuts, Persimmons, and Dandelion Greens • 86 Pistachio Torta with Meyer Lemon Curd, Pistachio Crema, and Brown Butter • 89 SUCKLING PIG • 91
Crocchette with Pickled Green Rhubarb and Apricots • 95 Legs and Belly with Thyme, Lemon, and Fennel Pollen • 96 Chops with Prosciutto Sauce • 97 Blécs with Suckling Pig Ragù and Rapini • 98 Pickled Rhubarb and Dried Apricots • 101 Prosciutto Sauce • 101
Pickled Swiss Chard Stems • 41
Via Postumia—Veneto Postumia—Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia Giulia • 105 Via Sa lar laria—Le ia—Le Marche • 45 Spaghetti with Shr imp and Tomato Tomato Passatina • 120 Fluke Crudo, Sausage-Stuffed Olives, and Citrus • 52
Sardines in Saor with Peperonata Jam • 122
Fried Surf Clams with Agrodolce and Onion, Fennel, and Cherry Pepper Salad • 54
Asparagus with Lar do-Wrapped Rye Dumplings, Goat Cheese, and Sprouting Greens • 124
Baked Anchovies • 55
Squid Ink Linguine with Braised Squid, Sea Urchin, Broccoli Crema, and Pan Grattato • 127
Passatelli en Brodo • 56 Lasagna Vincisgrassi • 58
Farro Pasta with Speck, Green Onions, and Poppy Seeds • 130
Rabbit a la Villa Bucci • 63
Duck Ravioli with Sour Cherries and Candied Pecans • 132 132
Dried Fruit and Nut Biscotti with Sweet Wine Granita • 64
Chocolate Torta with Vanilla Mascar pone • 134
Via Claudia Cl audia August Augusta—T a—Trentino rentino–Alto –Alto Ad ige • 139
Via Francigena—P Fra ncigena—Piemonte iemonte and Valle Val le d’Aosta • 197
Chilled Asparagus Soup with Meyer Le mon Yogurt and Fish Roe • 146
Egg “in the Hole” with Mushrooms and Miner’s Lettuce • 215
Mustard Spaetzle with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Stridoli • 148
Bone Marrow Sformato with Stuffed Baby Artichokes • 216
Rye Gnocchi with Savoy Cabbage, Potatoes, and Crispy Speck • 149
Fontina and Mushroom Tortelli with Black Truffle Fonduta • 218
Mushroom Risotto • 150
Risotto with Crayfish and Sweetbreads • 220
Beer-Braised Pork Cheeks with Escarole • 152
Savoy Cabbage with Mushrooms, Lardo, and Crispy Prosciutto • 221
Venison Loin L oin with wit h Parsnips Par snips and an d Huckleber Huckl eberry ry Vinaigret Vinai gret te • 153 Ricotta Bavarese with Verjus-Poached Rhubarb, Orange Confitura, and Powdered Olive Oil • 156
Chestnut-Stuffed Veal Breast with Orzotto • 225 Baked Polenta with Beef Cheek Ragù, Eggs, and Fontina • 226 Barolo Beef with Carrots and New Potatoes • 228
Via Aemili Aem ilia—Emil a—Emil ia-Rom ia-Romagna agna a nd Lombardia Lomba rdia • 161 Fritto Misto • 170 Chestnut-Filled Pasta with Broccoli di Cicco, Guanciale, and Burnt-Orange Sauce • 172 Squash Cappellacci with Medjool Dates, Rosemary Brown Butter, and Saba • 176 176 Ricotta and Quail Egg Ravioli with Wild Greens and Fontina • 179 Veal and Mort adella adell a Tortellini Tortel lini en e n Consommé • 182 Bolognese with Egg Noodles • 184
Chocolate Soufflés with Milk Chocolate Gelato • 231
Via Aurelia—L Aur elia—Ligur iguria ia and Toscan oscanaa • 235 Baked Ricotta with Cherry Tomatoes, Saba, and Pignoli Granola • 253 Scallop Crudo with Sunchokes, Hibiscus Agrodolce, Almonds, and Cherries • 254 Albacore Tuna Confitura with Panzanella Salad and Anchovies • 256 Beet and Ricotta Pansotti with Walnuts and Ricotta Salata • 258
Erbazzone Torta with Braised Greens, Prosciutto Cotto, and Eggs • 187
Tomato-Br aised Abalone Abalon e with wit h Farinata Far inata • 260
Pork Milanese, Pickled Cabbage Salad, Anchovy, and Lemon Brown Butter • 189
Smoked Linguine with Clams, Cher ry Tomatoes, and Basil Pesto • 262
Buckwheat Polenta Taragna, Rabbit Stufato, Cherry Tomato, and Mimol ette ett e • 190
Ramp Spaghetti with Crab and Sea Urchin Butter • 264
Fried Quince Pies with Truffle Honey and Aged Balsamic • 191
Saffron Trofie with Veal Ragù • 265 Passion Fruit Panna Cotta with Coconut Spuma • 269
BAKED BA KED A NC NCHO HOVI VIES ES In nearly every re gion in Italy, anchovies find their way to the table. Piemontese cooks may infuse salted anchovies in butter for bagna cauda, cauda, while in Le Marche they serve them roasted. Baking is one of the best ways to prepare this small, immensely flavorful fish. If you are new to cleaning whole fish, this is a forgiving place to start. (The technique given here also works with sardines.) If you have a batch of garlic confitura (page 279), pour off some of t he oil and use it instead of the olive oil called for in this recipe.
the anchovies crosswise into the casserole and spr inkle with more breadcrumbs to barely cover. Nestle the lemon rounds and bay leaves in among the fish. Drizzle with additional oil and bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown brown and crisp and the fish is cooked through. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.
serves 4 to 6
680 grams • grams • 11/2 pounds whole fresh anchovies extra virgin olive oil kosher salt and black pepper 2 lemons about 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs 10 bay leaves
Clean each fish under cold running water: run a small spoon from the tail end toward the head to gently scrape away the scales. Rinse well. Using kitchen shears, make a cut behind the head and gills, stopping just short of cutting all the way through t hrough the belly. belly. Let the head fall away and gently pull the innards out. Rinse the t he anchovy well and place on a bed of ice while you clean the remaining fish. Using kitchen shears, gently cut through the belly from the head toward the tail. With the shears, snip the spine just before the tail (leave the tail intact). With your fingers, open the anchovy up like a book. Gently pull out the backbone and pinbones. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Oil a 9 by 13-inch casserole. Slice one of the lemons crosswise into rounds. Cut the other lemon into wedges for serving. Spread the cleaned fish out on a baking sheet or platter and season with salt and pepper. pepper. Drizzle the fish with enough olive oil to coat, then sprinkle with about 1 /4 cup of the breadcrumbs or enough to coat them lightly. Tuck
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V I A P O S T UM UM I A — VENETO AND FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA
vi a postumia—v eneto and fr iul i-venezia g iul ia Veneto V eneto It was early Saturday morning and already the Autogrill off the autostrada to Verona was jammed with travelers waiting for espresso. Yet when a short, graying man in a sweater vest ordered a glass of Prosecco, the overworked barista didn’t miss a beat, pouring out a tall glass before pivoting back to the endless stream of cappuccino orders. A glass of Prosecco served before ten in the morning in the Veneto barely raises an eyebrow. Verona Verona is the hub of the Veneto’s Veneto’s prolific prolific wine region. When the city hosts hosts Vinitaly, Vinitaly, the largest largest annual trade show dedicated to Italian wine, it also becomes the acting capital of t he Italian wine industry. Vinitaly started in the 1960s, as a show for farming and cellar equipment. Now Now it’s a weeklong event in which winemakers and distillers from every corner of Italy showcase showcase their wares and mingle with importers, journalists, equipment equipment manufacturers, manufacturers, sommeliers, and salespeople. If there’s any place where you can get a sense of the concerns and aspirations aspirations within the t he entire Italian wine community, it’s here. Verona Verona is a forward-thinking city that embraces innovation, a characteristic of the Veneto as a whole and of the region’s winemaking styles. Unlike areas that relied on the quality in their native fr uit to make good wine, vintners in the Veneto have always had a knack for manipulating local grapes to sur pass expectations. Prosecco, for instance, emerged as a way to leverage the acidity in the Glera grape, while appassimento, the practice of drying grapes g rapes before making voluptuous voluptuous wines like Amarone, raised raised the profile of a motley motley assortment of red grapes. In between easygoing Prosecco and meditative Amarone, the Veneto has become adept at producing wines with attractive price-value ratios, such as Soave and Valpolicella. Valpolicella. But sometimes, grape manipulation and value pricing go too far. With about 220 million gallons of wine made annually, the Veneto is the most productive region in Italy, a distinction that elicits grumbles from its artisan winemakers. Some winemakers winemakers in the t he Veneto have become serious about defining their wine, using the region’s significant clout to rack up several new DOCG
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zones: these now number in the dozens. While some of the newer appointments have been controversial controversial,, the overall message message seems to be a call for quality in a zone where quality hasn’t always come first. Part of the reason for the region’s high yields is its terrain. With the exception of the prealpine slopes of classic Prosecco growing areas in the Treviso province, most of the Veneto’s growing regions are flat or gently hilly. The Po River valley, which covers nearly half of the region, provides a fertile blanket of soil for ag riculture. In the humid weather of the plains, grapes grow easily in high pergola trellises that accommodate mechanical harvesting. While the Veneto’s top Valpolicella and Soave vineyards surrounding surrounding Verona Verona and up-and-coming up-and-coming areas like Colli Euganei near Padova are hilly, gallons of nondescript wines flow from the plains. Wine has played an important role in the economy of northeastern Italy since Roman times. The name Valpolicella Valpolicella comes from from vallis polis cellae, Latin for the valley with many cellars. cellars. Grapes were were dried before before being pressed into a sweet, concentrated wine capable of
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withstanding shipping without spoiling. This ancient sweet style was the precursor to Port-like Recioto, which in turn led to Amarone. While wine production declined in post-Roman times, it picked up in the late Middle Ages, when making wine wine became an aristocratic aristocratic and ecclesiastic endeavor. By its peak in the sixteenth century, the Venetian Republic brought ample wealth to the region. Spices flowed into Venice from the eastern Mediterranean and wealthy families moved west toward Padua and set up farming estates and hunting lodges. Venice itself was a big market for local wines. During the Venetian Republic, vendors would set up stalls in the shadow of the Campanile, earning the nickname ombra, meaning shadow or shade. In Venice today, ombra also means “glass of wine.” The wine consumed in Venice was made with local grapes until Napoleon conquered the area in the late eighteenth century, bringing Merlot and Cabernet vines with him. Today producers in central and eastern Veneto make convincing wines with Bordeaux varieties. But the biggest story in the Veneto hinges on native grapes—and their manipulation, for better and for worse. For white grapes, the most striking examples reside with Prosecco and Soave. In the case of Prosecco, human intervention has been a good thing. While frizzante field wines had always been made in the Treviso province, Prosecco’s modern modern incarnation started in the nineteenth century when Antonio Carpenè and his partners founded the Carpenè Malvolti firm with the aim to bring sparkling wine production to the region. Instead of using the classic method employed in Champagne production, in which wines carry out their secondary fermentation in the bottle, Carpenè made wine that passed through its second fermentation in pressurized tanks before being bottled under pressure. (The same method is used to make Asti Spumante.) For Glera, the grape used in Prosecco, tank fermentation captured its fleeting stonefruit aromatics and crisp acidity, allowing the grape’s best qualities to shine through. The Charmat method, as the technique is now called, was embraced as the ideal method for making wine with this grape. It’s been a good couple of decades for Prosecco producers. producers. Prosecco is effortlessly cool, and its appealing price tag has turned it into an international star. Today Today
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the area between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, a dramatic series of slopes covered covered in vines, has changed from a chain of farming communities into a wealthy enclave. enclave. Within this area, Cartizze, with wit h its moraine, sandstone, and clay soils, is considered the top vineyard for Prosecco. Sparkling wines made from Cartizze fruit carry a distinct mineral backbone with a delicate nose of peaches and cream. But with one hectare valued at 2.5 million euros in 2011—one of the highest for vineyard land in Italy—Cartizze’s prestige raises the question of just how easygoing easygoing Prosecco can afford to stay. The wine’s global success also has led to a host of imitators. Because Prosecco was once the name of both the grape and the wine, anyone using the grape could call his sparkling wine Prosecco. Producers from Treviso, including Conegliano, Valdobbiadene, Valdobbiadene, and Asolo, another classic area of Prosecco production, production, lobbied to restrict the use of the label Prosecco to wines made in the classic zones and succeeded. Now wines made with Glera grapes grown outside classic Prosecco areas cannot be called Prosecco. In Soave, winemakers also have struggled to defend the quality of their wine brand. When Garganega, the main grape in Soave, is planted on the stony terraced hillsides of Soave Classico near Verona, it turns ripe and slightly savory with a nutty, lemony flavor. flavor. The same grape, however, however, becomes lean and bland when planted in the fertile plains, where the zone’s boundaries were inexplicably extended. As volumes rose, quality became diluted and the mix of grapes changed to include more Trebbiano Toscano and less Garganega. The best bet when buying Soave is to look for names of makers that have focused on Garganega. In 1971, Leonildo Pieropan released Il Calvarino, the first single-vineyard Soave, soon followed by a more steely single-vineyard single-vineyard wine, La Rocca. Both wines remain top performers in the region. Graziano Prà, a gentleman farmer and local winemaking hero, produces complex, well-structured Soaves as well, especially his Monte Grande bottling. Aged in its lees in thirty-hectoliter casks, this Soave Classico brings out the natural luster of Garganega with accents of lemon peel, wax bean, and stone fruit. The region’s other white wines are a similar mix of grapes found in Soave. Made in Vincenza, Gambellara
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is Soave’s lesser-known twin. On the southern shores of Lake Garda on the border of Lombardia, Trebbiano di Soave is the main grape of Lugana, a flinty, aromatic wine. While more than 60 percent of the wine produced in the Veneto is white, red wine production remains significant, nearing 70 million gallons in 2010. The main red wines come from western Verona, a temperate region insulated by Lake Garda and the Adige River and the cooling alpine breezes from the Lessinia Mountains. Rather than being famous for certain grapes, however, the red wines made around Verona are known for their style, from bright, medium-bodied Bardolino, refreshing Chiaretto, and black cherry–hued Valpolicella to inmitable Amarone and sweet, Port-like Recioto. Most of these wines are a near-endless combination of local grapes. Valpolicella, Valpolicella, the Veneto’s Veneto’s most important important red wine area, is an extremely profitable place for vintners, mainly because of one wine: Amarone. This wine enchants me in the glass, offering intense fruit and acidity curbed by the idea of sweetness; it also takes a romantic to make it. While most vintners can stop worrying about grape quality after harvest, makers of Amarone (and Recioto, the sweet passito wine made from the same blend of grapes, and Amarone’s predecessor) monitor grape quality for several more months while the bunches dry and the grapes raisin. During this lengthy appassimento process , which typically takes place in temperaturetemperature- and humiditycontrolled drying rooms, bunches are monitored for broken berries and mold growth. By the time the grapes are crushed (anywhere between sixty to a hundred days after harvest), they have lost nearly half of their weight. Between harvest and the time the grapes g rapes are ready to be crushed, winemakers walk a fine line between dried grapes and those that are on the verge of spoiling. The first Amarone likely emerged from a barrel of Recioto that somehow fermented itself dry. Until fairly recently, Recioto was more esteemed than Amarone. For this reason, Amarone once was called Recioto Amaro, or bitter Recioto. In the 1950s, the Bolla family began bottling this dry wine as Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone, Amarone, but the wine was not a commercial success until recently. recently. Until 1996, barely 1.5 million bottles of Amarone were made each year. By 2005, production surpassed 5 million, and estimates for the future are more than double
those of 2005. The affect of the Amarone boom on the Valpolicella Valpolicella growing region region has been significant. significant. In 1997, 8.2 million kilograms of Valpolicella-grown Valpolicella-grown grapes were used for appassimento wines. By 2007, the amount of grapes had ballooned to 25.7 million kilograms. The growth in Amarone production has popularized ripasso-style wines, which are made by filtering Valpolicella Valpolicella wine through the pressed pressed skins of Amarone Amarone grapes, imparting the wine with the t he sugars and yeast remaining from Amarone. At their best, ripasso wines are stronger and weightier wines than Valpolicella made with fresh grapes alone. On the label, they are distinguished from other Valpolicella wines as Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso. A favorite of mine is Tommaso Bussola’s Ca’ del Laito, a ripasso wine imbued with dark cherry fruit balanced by acidity. Like Prosecco and Soave, Amarone’s international popularity, coupled with a huge leap in output, has vintners worried that the wine may become become a victim of its its own success. Some winemakers winemakers fear that the light, cherry style of regular Valpolicella could be eclipsed by ripasso wines. Others are frustrated with the lack of definitive style for Amarone: no one seems to know exactly what it is supposed to taste like. But when you think about how young the wine is compared to other classic Italian wines such as Chianti or Barolo, it’s clear that it’s still figuring out what it needs to be. Like sipping Moscato d’Asti after a day of tasting Barolo, the intensity of Amarone requires relief with a low-alcohol sparkler. My favorite selection is Fior d’Arancio Spumante from La Montecchia, a winery owned by Count Giordano Emo Capodilista. I have been pouring this elegant, sweet, and uplifting wine made with an aromatic variety of Moscato for years, and I especially like serving it with goat cheese. The easygoing nature of Fior d’Arancio d’Arancio is an extension of Giordano, who instantly makes guests feel comfortable with his warm handshake and occasional invitation to a round of karaoke. This perspective is reflected in his wines. While Giordano feels that special-occasion wines have their place, he prefers making wines that can be enjoyed with less ceremony. ceremony. If we’re lucky, Giordano—and the Veneto as a whole—will never lose the ability to delight us with a bright, breezy sparkler or two. —sl
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Place a food mill fitted with a coarse plate over a clean pot. In batches, pass the shrimp and broth through the food mill. You You will have a coarse paste. (If it’s it ’s too dry to go through the food mill, stir in more water). Taste the shrimp paste and season with salt and pepper.
SPAGHETTI with Shrimp Tomato Passatina Passati na and Tomato This is a pasta born from my experience of con niente, niente, a meal created from nothing more than the few ingredients we managed to find around us. With this pasta, I’ve striven to recreate the simplicity of the meal we made at Roberto’s casone on casone on the lagoon. The shrimp— gamberetti gamberetti—were —were simply cooked with tomato, then sent through a food mill, shells and all. This rich, pink sauce became the condimento for condimento for the store-bought spaghetti that Roberto had on hand.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti for 4 minutes if using fresh, and as directed on the package if using dry. Drain the spaghetti, reserving a cup of pasta water, and return the spaghetti to the pasta pot. Stir spoonfuls of the shrimp paste into the spaghetti until evenly coated, adding a few spoonfuls of water if the pasta looks dry, and simmer for one more minute before serving.
serves 4 to 6 extra virgin olive oil 150 grams • grams • 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced 12 grams • grams • 3 garlic cloves, minced 150 grams • grams • 1 carrot, cut into 1/4-inch pieces 454 grams • grams • 1 pound shell-on raw baby shrimp kosher salt and black pepper a pinch of dried red pepper flakes 115 grams • grams • 1/2 cup white wine 240 grams • grams • 11/2 cups canned tomatoes 50 grams • grams • 4 breadsticks, like grissini, broken up 2 grams • grams • 2 teaspoons chopped parsley 340 grams • grams • 12 ounces fresh spaghetti (page 264) or dried
Heat a thin film of olive oil in a large, wide pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and sweat until softened, 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sweat 1 to 2 minutes more until aromatic. Add the carrot and sweat until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium-high, stir in the shrimp, and season with salt, pepper, pepper, and pepper flakes. Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Stir in the tomato and return to a simmer. Pour in 1 cup of water, lower the heat, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the shrimp are soft enough to break up with a wooden spoon if pressed. Stir the broken grissini pieces into the pot, remove from the heat, and stir in the t he parsley.
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Unwrap Unwrap the dough and roll it out following the instructions for laminated pasta on page 273. Cut the pasta into 10-inch sheets and dust with flour. Lay the sheets on a work surface and, using a fluted pasta cutter or a knife, cut them into 1 /2-inch-wide ribbons, and place on a lightly floured baking sheet until ready to cook.
FARRO PASTA with Speck, Green Onions, Poppy Seeds and Poppy The menu at Valter Scarbolo’s La Frasca, an always-busy osteria in osteria in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, offers a quick study of the region’s cultural cu ltural influences. Poppy seeds, an ingredient used more often in Austria than in Italy, accent plates of pasta while sauerkraut is as natural on t he menu as tagliatelle. Yet the ingredients are wholly local, down to the wheel of Montasio cheese used in frico in frico,, the everpresent crisps of cheese served in Friuli, and the platters of speck and prosciutto. In this Friuli-inspired dish, ridged noodles made with ground farro are a hearty backdrop for slices of speck and green onions in a buttery sauce.
With the butter and 2 tablespoons of water, make burro fuso according to the instructions on page 276; keep warm. In a large sauté pan with straight sides, bring the wine to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce until almost dry, then pour in the cream and reduce until the pan is nearly dry again. Mix in the burro fuso and keep warm. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the noodles for 5 to 6 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta, return it to the pot, and pour in the sauce. Sprinkle with poppy seeds, green onions, and speck, and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and grate cheese over the top. Divide the pasta among 6 warm plates and finish with more grated cheese over the top.
serves 6 Pasta
300 grams • grams • 21/3 cups 00 flour 200 grams • grams • 13/4 cups farro flour or whole wheat flour 2 grams • grams • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 200 grams • grams • 4 eggs
115 grams • grams • 1/2 cup butter 57 grams • grams • 1/4 cup white wine 115 grams • grams • 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 gram • gram • 11/2 teaspoons poppy seeds 40 grams • grams • 2 green onions, sliced thinly on an angle 83 grams • grams • 3 ounces (1/2 cup) thinly sliced speck kosher salt and black pepper a block of grana padano for grating
To make the pasta: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the flours and salt on low speed. Drizzle in the eggs and mix the dough for 2 to 3 minutes, then turn it onto the counter and knead for several minutes by hand; it will feel dry and firm. Flatten the dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap, and leave on the counter for 30 minutes to soften and hydrate.
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PASSION FRUIT PANNA COTTA with Coconut Spuma It goes against the hyper-local ethos, but nearly every fine dining restaurant I’ve visited in Italy appears to be in love with jet-fresh fruit. Da Vittorio, a three-star Michelin restaurant in Lombardia, offers a tropical fruit plate laden with mangosteens, rambutans, and dragon fruit for dessert. Composed of cream, sugar, and gelatin, panna cotta is one of Italy’s most flexible desserts. I love the tropical sweetness of passion fruit, which, lucky for me, does g row in California, and find it refreshing at the end of a meal. This dessert combines three of my favorite sweet flavors: Caramel, passion fruit, and coconut. For a bit of crunch, I serve the panna cottas with small coconut macaroons. The coconut spuma, or foam, is aerated with a whipper or isi gun, a canister often used for whipped cream. Its lightness balances the richness of the panna cotta, but it is optional. serves 6
Coconut Macaroons 200 grams • grams • 2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut 200 grams • grams • 3/4 cup condensed milk 1 gram • gram • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 20 grams • grams • 1 egg white, at room temperature 1 gram • gram • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Panna Cotta 9 grams • grams • 3 sheets gelatin 175 grams • grams • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
To make the macaroons: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick silicone baking liners. In a large bowl, mix the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla together. together. In a separate separate bowl, whisk the egg egg white until it holds medium peaks when the whisk is lifted from the bowl. Fold the egg white into the coconut mixture. Form 1 tablespoon balls of batter and place them on a baking sheet. Flatten the balls to 1 /8 -inch thick disks and bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are light golden brown. To make the panna cotta: Soak the gelatin sheets in ice water for about 2 minutes. In a small pot over medium heat, bring the sugar and the milk to a simmer to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat. Squeeze excess water from the gelatin sheets and dissolve it in the milk. Once the gelatin has dissolved, stir in the cream. Stir in the purée and salt, then t hen strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any remaining bits of gelatin. Pour the panna cotta into six 1-cup 1- cup glasses. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, about 4 to 6 hours. To make the spuma: In a small pot over medium heat, bring the cream and the sugar to a simmer to dissolve the sugar. Remove Remove from the heat and add the gelatin. Once the gelatin has dissolved, pour in the coconut milk and mix well. You will have just over 1 cup. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any remaining bits of gelatin, then pour into the container of a whipper. Charge the whipper with its nitrous-oxide charger, charger, then shake well. Place in the refrigerator refrigerator until needed. To serve: Unwrap each glass. Place the tip of the whipper into each glass and top with the t he coconut spuma. Serve with a few macaroons.
240 grams • grams • 1 cup whole milk 230 grams • grams • 1 cup heavy cream 250 grams • grams • 1 cup passion fruit purée 1 gram • gram • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Coconut Spuma 70 grams • grams • scant 1/3 cup heavy cream 25 grams • grams • 1/8 cup sugar 1 to 2 grams • grams • 1/2 sheet gelatin 200 grams • grams • 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
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Copyright © 2012 by 7 Hills Restaurant, LLC Photographs copyright © 2012 by Sara Remington All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.crownpublishing.com www.tenspeed.com Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-inPublication Data
Printed in China ISBN: 978-1-60774-052978-1-60774-052-0 0
Lindgren, Shelley. SPQR : modern Italian food and wine / by Shelley Lindgren and Matthew Accarrino with Kate Leahy. p. cm. 1. Cooking, Italian. I. Accarrino, Matthew. Matthew. II. Leahy, Kate. III. Title. TX723.L548 2012 641.5945—dc23 2012014120
Cover and text design by Toni Tajima Food styling for pages 18, 21, 53, 76, 79, 99, 126, 131, 173, 177, 180, 185, 252 by Robyn Valarik Prop styling by Ethel Brennan Printed in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
