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ITALIAN RECIPES

Blackberries Season

Blackberry Crostata

Ingredients:

For The Pasta Frolla Crust
2 1/2 cups (300 g) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
One egg and one yolk
The grated zest of half a lemon
For the Filling
1 2/3 pounds (750 g) freshly picked blackberries, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
Begin by making the pasta frolla crust: Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the sugar, eggs, and lemon zest, and cut the butter into the mixture, using a pastry cutter or two knives so as to avoid heating the butter with your fingers. Use the dough to line a 9-inch (23 cm) round pan about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) deep.

Gently mix the flour and sugar into the blackberries and spread them over the pasta frolla in the pan. Bake the crostata for about a half hour, glancing at it after about 20 minutes. The pasta frolla should become a light tan, but not really brown, because if it does it will overbake and harden.

When the pasta frolla is tan -- the color here or a little tanner -- remove the crostata from the oven, let it cool, and serve it.
In theory this blackberry crostata will serve 6-8, but people will ask for seconds, so it may serve fewer than you expect.

Note: The four added to the berries will absorb moisture if the berries give off juice as they cook, and thus keep the crust from becoming soggy. With fresh-picked berries it may not be necessary.

Berry Fruit Meringue

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
2/3 cup (125 g) granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar, of the kind without vanilla added
1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
1/2 pound (225 g) fresh raspberries
1/4 pound (100 g) wild strawberries, hulled
1/4 pound black currants

Preparation:

Combine the granulated sugar and a cup and a quarter of the powdered sugar. Add half the mixture to the egg whites, and beat them to very firm peaks with an electric mixer. When the sugar/whites mixture is firm and shiny, slowly beat in the remaining mixed sugars.

While you are doing this, heat your oven to 212 F (100 C). Also, take a cookie pan and line it with oven parchment.
Fill a pastry bag with a smooth nozzle with the meringue mixture, and use it to make two 8-inch (20 cm) diameter disks, and one 1-inch wide ring that is 8 inches in diameter; dot the ring with dots of meringue (if you switch to a star-shaped nozzle you will obtain a pretty decorative effect).

Cook the meringue in the oven, leaving the door partially open, for three hours.
While the meringue is cooking, see to the filling: Blend half the raspberries. Beat the cream with the remaining sugar, and when it is soft and fluffy incorporate the blended berries.

Put one of the disks on a serving dish and spread a third of the cream over it, dotting it with the fruit, especially around the edges.
Set the second ring over the first, spread another third of the cream over it, and dot it with more of the fruit. Put the ring atop the disks, put the remaining fruit in the center, and use a pastry bag to add the ring the fruit with the remaining cream.
Chill the meringue in the refrigerator until it comes time to serve it.

Blackberry Syrup

Ingredients:

4 1/2 pounds (2 k) fresh, not overly ripe but blemish-free blackberries
4 1/2 pounds (2 k) powdered sugar (the kind that does not contain starch)

Preparation:

You'll need 4 1/2 pounds fresh, not overly ripe but blemish-free blackberries, and 4 1/2 pounds powdered sugar (the kind that does not contain starch, and feel free to adjust quantities if need be).

Place everything in a pot, taking care not to crush the fruit, and set it over the fire. The heat will make the berry skins split and their juices will run clear without the least hint of cloudiness (which you would have seen had you crushed them).
Once the sugar has dissolved, cook just a few minutes longer as the syrup will be ready quickly.

Strain the syrup through an extremely fine strainer, without pressing the fruit that gets caught, and you won't have to clarify it.
Use it to flavor ice water or Italian ices, serve it over ice cream, or use it as a pancake syrup.

Blackberry Panna Cotta

Ingredients:

1 1/8 pounds (500 g) blueberries
1 1/8 pounds (500 g) blackberries
The juice of a lemon
1 2/3 pound (750 g, or about 3 1/8 cups) sugar

Preparation:

Wash the fruit, drain it, and put it in a bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice and the sugar over it, and let it rest for 24 hours.
When it has rested, transfer it to a pot and simmer it over a gentle flame until a drop of jam on an inclined plate doesn't run.
Transfer the jam into sterile jars, seal them, sterilize them, and put them in your pantry when they have cooled.

Blueberry-Blackberry Jam Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/8 pounds (500 g) blueberries
1 1/8 pounds (500 g) blackberries
The juice of a lemon
1 2/3 pound (750 g, or about 3 1/8 cups) sugar

Preparation:

Wash the fruit, drain it, and put it in a bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice and the sugar over it, and let it rest for 24 hours.
When it has rested, transfer it to a pot and simmer it over a gentle flame until a drop of jam on an inclined plate doesn't run. Transfer the jam into sterile jars, seal them, sterilize them, and put them in your pantry when they have cooled.

Buon appetito!

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