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ITALIAN RECIPES

An Italian Meal for the Week

Piemontese Garlic Dipping Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

5 heads garlic
3 cups good extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound salted anchovies
1 quart fresh whole milk
The vegetables:
What ever is in season and suits your fancy; traditionally one would expect:
Raw, cut into strips or bite-sized pieces:
2 cardoons (if these are not available where you live substitute 3-4 sticks white celery)
2 yellow bell peppers
A head of Savoy cabbage
Cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces:
2 baked beets
2 roasted bell peppers
A head of cauliflower, steamed
6 potatoes, steamed
6 carrots, steamed

Preparation:

Begin by peeling the heads of garlic. Set the cloves in a pot with the milk, and simmer them for an hour.
While the garlic is simmering hold the anchovies by their tails and run your fingers down their sides to eliminate most of the salt that's sticking to them, then split, scale, and bone them.

Next, prepare the vegetables, and arrange them on a serving dish.
After the garlic has simmered discard the milk and crush the cloves with a fork in a bowl. Work the olive oil into the garlic together with the anchovy filets, and stir the mixture over a gentle flame until the fish filets have come apart and the sauce is uniformly creamy.
The Bagna Caoda is now ready; divvy it out into 6 bowls, and serve it with the vegetables and freshly baked bread.

Beef Braised in Barolo Wine

Ingredients:

3 pounds beef, either rump roast or a similar cut, not too lean or it will be dry
A bottle of Barolo or similar full bodied tannic red wine
A large onion, or 2 if you prefer.
A large carrot
A stalk of celery
A bay leaf
Peppercorns to taste
Butcher's twine
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cognac (optional)
Salt to taste.

Preparation:

Begin the day before you plan to cook the meat. Slice the onion, celery, and carrot, and put them in a bowl with the meat, bay leaf, and peppercorns.
Pour the wine over the mixture and marinate it until the next day, turning the meat occasionally.

Remove the meat, reserving the marinade, and pat the meat dry. Strain the marinade, bring it to a boil, and cook it until it's reduced by half.
In the meantime, tie the meat with string so it keeps its shape and brown it in a pot with the butter and prosciutto fat. Once it's well browned on all sides, sprinkle the cognac over the meat, if you're using it, and light it.

When the flames have gone out, season the meat with salt, pour the reduced marinade over it, add the vegetables that it marinated with, cover everything, and simmer over a low flame until the meat is done, about two hours.
When the meat is done remove it to a platter and remove the string. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and either put them through a food mill or blend them.

Degrease the sauce, stir the blended vegetables back into it, pour it over the meat, and serve. The meat should be so tender it could be carved with a spoon.
Serve it with mashed potatoes or a steaming polenta. And, of course, a bottle of Barolo.

Pan-Sauteed Spinach

Ingredients:

Two pounds fresh spinach, washed well
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium cloves garlic, halved and crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Preparation:

Pick over the spinach, removing and discarding tough ribs, and coarsely chop the leaves. Heat it in a pot until it has wilted and drain it well, squeezing it to remove most of the water.
Heat the oil in a pan with the garlic, and once it begins to crackle, add the spinach in one fell swoop. Stir vigorously, season with salt and pepper to taste, and when it is heated through it is done.

Piemontese Chocolate Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

2 quarts (2 liters) whole milk
5 whole eggs
10 egg yolks
2 1/4 cups (600 g) sugar
1 pound (450 g) amaretti (dry almond macaroons)
A glass of rum
2 ounces (60 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
The grated zest of a lemon
A vanilla bean (optional)
A pudding mold large enough to contain the ingredients

Preparation:

Whir the amaretti in a blender to reduce them to a powder -- you will obtain about 3 cups.
Stir the lemon zest into the milk and bring the milk to a boil; if you're using the vanilla bean add it too, and remove it when the milk starts to boil.
In the meantime, beat the eggs and yolks in a bowl with a scant pound (400 g) of the sugar. Add the rum, powdered amaretti, and cocoa, and mix until the mixture is uniformly creamy.

Stir the mixture into the hot milk and cook everything a very gentle flame for a half hour.
In the meantime, preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
While it's heating, put the remaining sugar in a mold and heat it over the flame to caramelize it; turn the mold this way and that to coat the insides of the mold with the caramelized sugar.

Fill the mold with the pudding, and bake it in the oven, in a pan of water (a bagno Maria, or bain marie) , for about an hour. Remove the Bonèt from the oven, let it cool, unmold it onto a serving dish, and serve.

Buon appetito!

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