ITALIAN RECIPES
To Recover From the Festivities... Soup
Rice and Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients:
A medium-sized cauliflower (3/4 pound to a pound, 3-400 g)
3/4 cup (150 g) short grained rice, ideally Vialone Nano
1 1/2 quarts (1.5 liters) meat both or bouillon
1 tablespoon each unsalted butter and olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano
Salt and pepper to tastePreparation:
Begin by cutting the florets away from the cauliflower stock, washing them, and patting them dry. Heat the oil and half the butter in a broad skillet and gently sauté the florets until they are gilded; season them with salt and pepper, sprinkle them with a couple of tablespoons of broth, cover them, and simmer them for about 10 minutes more.
In the meantime, bring the broth to a boil. When it is boils, add the rice and the cauliflower, mix well, and cook over a gentle flame until the rice is done. Transfer the soup to a tureen, stir the remaining butter into it, season it with the Parmigiano, and serve.
Cheesy Milanese Onion Soup
Ingredients:
3 1/3 pounds (1.5 k) onions
1/4 pound Taleggo (a soft, mild creamy cheese that in some ways resembles Brie)
1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter
1 1/2 quarts (1.5 l) beef broth
Sufficient slices of toasted day old bread to make up two layers in your soup pot
Freshly grated Grana Padano or ParmigianoPreparation:
First, A couple of words about onions: Onions contain a volatile oil, sugars with laxative properties, and a substance that stimulates the kidneys. Onions are diuretic, but only when raw. They are also antidiabetic.
In Lombardia the best onions come from Sermide, in the Province of Mantova, and Mantova also hosts the Cipolla d'Oro, an annual cookoff dedicated to the noble bulb. The ingredients above will serve 4.
Peel the onions and slice them, though not too finely. Heat the butter in a casserole and sauté the onions for about an hour, letting them wilt and gild, and then adding a bit of boiling broth to keep them from browning as they cook.
By the end of an hour the onions should have fallen apart; at this point add the remaining broth. Let the soup sit for an hour and put it through a strainer (or blend it).
Spread the cheese evenly over the slices of toasted bread and heat them gently in the oven to melt the cheese.Line your soup pot with a first layer of bread, pour half the soup over it, put down the second layer of bread and the remaining soup, and dust the ruface with a goodly layer of freshly grated Grana Padana or Parmigiano.
Increase the heat of the oven to about 300 F (150 C), and heat the soup through for 15 minutes before serving it.Soup with Midolline and Radicchio Rosso
Ingredients:
6 ounces (150 g) midolline
10 ounces (250 g) red radicchio
1 potato
A celery rib
An onion
1 quart (1 liter) broth, hot
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup unsalted butterPreparation:
Dice the potato, celery, and onion, and sauté them in the butter until the onion had become translucent. Shred the radicchio and add it, together with the broth. Check seasoning and cook ten minutes, then stir in the pasta and continue cooking until it is done, adding more broth if the soup becomes too thick.
Pasta Stars in an Asparagus and Mint Soup
Ingredients:
8 ounces (200 g) stelline
1 pound asparagus
2 potatoes
A spring of fresh mint
1 quart (1 l) broth
A chunk of unsalted butter the size of a walnut
Half a medium onion, minced
Salt and pepper to taste.Preparation:
Wash the asparagus spears and cut the green parts into rounds, keeping the tips as individual inch-long pieces and setting them aside. Peel and dice the potatoes.
Mince the onion and sauté it in the butter with the asparagus rounds, potato, and mint. Check seasoning, add some of the broth, and cook the mixture for 20 minutes or so.During this time boil the asparagus tips for a few minutes in a little more of the broth.
When the 20 minutes are up, blend the mixture containing the potatoes and stir it into the main broth pot together with the broth containing the tips, bring everything to a boil, and cook the stelline. Serve.Roman Egg Drop Soup
Ingredients:
About 2 quarts (liters) broth
4 eggs
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano
1 tablespoon very finely minced parsley (optional)
3-4 tablespoons semolina (optional, some recipes call for it)
A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg (optional)Preparation:
Eggs and broth -- hard to devise a better match! In the past custom dictated it be eaten at least once a week, but now its popularity has declined. However, it remains in the archives of authentic Roman cuisine, always ready to reemerge if needed.
In a bowl, combine the eggs, semolina (If you're including it), grated cheese, and, if you're using them, nutmeg and parsley. Add a ladle of cold broth and beat the mixture lightly with a fork or whisk.Bring the remainder of the broth to a boil. Add the egg mixture in one fell swoop, stirring vigorously with a whisk or fork so as to break up the egg, which will form fine light flakes, minute rags (straccetti, in Italian) that give the soup its name.
Simmer for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, and serve, with a little more grated Parmigiano on the side.Farfalline in Tomato and Robiola Soup
Ingredients:
6 ounces (150 g) farfalline (small butterfly shaped pasta)
1 pint (500 ml) milk
12 ounces (300 g) robiola (a smooth, mild-flavored creamy cheese)
2 plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup dried porcini
Salt & Pepper to taste
A ladle of hot broth or bullionPreparation:
Soak the mushrooms in lukewarm water to cover for 15 minutes or so, then chop them and filter the liquid they soaked in, setting it aside.
Crumble the robiola into the milk and heat it over a low flame, stirring constantly.
Add the broth, chopped mushrooms, filtered soaking liquid, and tomatoes. Check seasoning and cook five minutes, then add the pasta, cook, stirring often until it's done, and serve.
Buon appetito!
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