Some Authentic Italian Recipes

Our chef Andrea was kind enough to send us the recipes from our cooking class so I thought I would pass them along as well.  As an important note he writes, "I've used measurements in cups and grams to make you all able to reproduce the recipes in both countries, in Italy and back home in the States! But remember, as soon as you will return back to the States, if you are using cups the flour you may find may be more dense than we used so you will have to sift it first before measuring it." Everything was beyond delicious, I promise. So enjoy!

1. Appetizer: Bruschetta al Pomodoro, Basilico e Mozzarella di Bufala (Bruschetta with tomato, basil and Buffalo Mozzarella)

 Ingredients (serving 4 people):

- 8 slices italian bread

- 4 tomatoes (the best kind you can get to make bruschetta this time of the year are called Pomodori a Grappolo or back in the US I suggest you to use the Roma Tomatoes type)

- 10 leaves fresh organic basil

- 1 bowl fresh Buffalo Mozzarella

- 1 clove garlic (remember to remove the heart of it, as it's heavy to digest when raw)

- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

- salt

- pepper

 Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F (or 200°C) and toast the bread until crisp and golden brown for about 5 minutes. Rub each slice of bread with half a clove of garlic, then drizzle with one table spoon of Extra Virgin olive oil (since now I'll call it E.V. olive oil) and season with salt. You can toast the bread in the toaster, but using the oven dries it out more, adding an authentic touch! Be sure to use only a good cold-pressed E.V. olive oil as the dish depends on the quality of the oil.

For your tomato and basil topping you have to chop the tomatoes in small cubes, chop Buffalo Mozzarella in small cubes as well, sprinkle with salt and black pepper and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Drizzle with few table spoons of E.V. olive oil and serve.

2. First Course - Fresh Homemade Tagliolini all'Amatriciana (Fresh Homemade Pasta with Bacon Sauce)

 Ingredients for the fresh pasta (serves 4 people):

- 4 cups/400gr all purpose flour 00 (remember if you're using all purpose flour 0 you have to sift it first)

- 4 eggs

Ingredients for the sauce (serves 4 people):

250gr / 8 oz guanciale diced (if you are not abe to find this ingredient back home, then just get pancetta)

1,5 kg / 3 lb can tomatoes, peeled and chopped (the best type is called San Marzano)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 carrot

1 stalk celery 

1 small red chilly pepper, seeded and chopped (I used chili flakes instead of the fresh one, as it's not so invasive)

salt and freshly ground pepper

100 gr / 1 cup pecorino cheese

2 leaves of bay leaves

 Instructions:

Sauté the guanciale in a large frying pan over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. In the meantime, in a large frying pan over low heat, stir in the "soffritto" made from carrots, celery and onion with E.V. olive oil and cook until it starts to brown. Turn on the heat over medium-high and if you want you can even stir in some dry white wine and cook it until it'll evaporate (please never use any sweet wine, it's disgusting!). Then you can add your chopped tomatoes and cook it for 15/30 minutes (depending on how much sauce you're cooking). Add the guanciale and bay leaves and chili pepper. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. 

For the pasta dough all you have to is mix 4 cups/400gr all purpose flour with 4 eggs. Then roll out the dough powerfully to a thin, almost transparent sheet (don’t forget to use flour on the marble surface). Now it's time to cut the pasta into the tagliolini shapes, long and thin, as thin as you possibly can. Let the pasta sit before cooking, then put a large pot of boiling water over high heat. When the water is boiling, toss in a tablespoon of salt with the tagliolini pasta. Stir to keep the pasta from sticking. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until a piece of pasta tastes cooked.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the frying pan with the amatriciana sauce and add freshly grated pecorino cheese, serve hot.

Note: by the time you'll get back home, if you want to follow the original recipe and cook Bucatini (dry pasta) instead of fresh noodles, remember that the best brand you can get at the supermarket is called De Cecco. Consider to use 500 gr / 1 lb of Bucatini for 4 people.

3. Second Course: Straccetti di Manzo con Funghi e Rughetta (beef "carpaccio" with mushrooms and arugola)

Ingredients (serving 4 people):

- 500 gr / 1/2 Lb beef carpaccio (at the market in Italy they are called "straccetti di manzo")

- 1 clove garlic

- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

- freshly chopped parsley

- salt

- 1 cup dry white wine (the one I used for you in the kitchen is called Frascati wine)

- 250 gr / 8.8 Oz Champinion mushrooms (they are the closest type of mushrooms to the Bottom ones you can find back home)

- 250 gr / 8.8 Oz Pletus mushrooms (they are the closest type of mushrooms to the Elephant ears you can find back home)

- 250 gr / 8.8 Oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese

- 2 bunch fresh arugola salad

Instructions:

Saute in a frying pan garlic smashed without peeling the skin (as it contains all the nutrients and it's good for the anti-oxidant nutrients) and the mushrooms, cover with a lid and wait until all the water will be released for about 8-10 minutes with a lid (timing will depend on the type of mushrooms you are using) and then add the white wine and wait until it will evaporate. 

In the same pan, heat up again and add more olive oil in case of need, and season the meat with salt and saute for few minutes. The outside should be nicely browned, but it should still be tender and soft overall. Adjust a bed of fresh bitter arugola salad at the bottom of your serving dish and spoon the mushrooms sauce over the beef, and add chopped parsley in the same pan to let it season with the rest of the ingredients.

In the end adjust the meat and mushrooms over and add freshly grated Parmesan cheese to coat the dish. Serve hot, and it will be delicious.

4. Side dish: Broccoli Romaneschi (Roman Style Broccoli)

 Ingredients for 4 servings:

- 1 clove garlic (don't forget to keep the skin of it while you're sauteing with extra virgin olive oil)

- 2 heads of roman broccoli (about 2lb/1kg)

- Salt

- Chili Flakes

 Instructions:

First clean and wash the broccoli removing the bottom of the plant and leaving the smaller leaves, cutting it into smaller pieces. Let the broccoli cook in salted boiling water for a few minutes, until each piace becomes tender and soft. Then in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, leave garlic to brown with extra virgin olive oil. Once the garlic is brown, toss in your boiled broccoli, leave to simmer with garlic until everything is nicely sauteed. Season your dish with salt and chili flakes if you'd like. Serve warm.

5. Dessert: Canestrelli alla Nutella (Nutella filled cookies)

To make the dough you have to mix 5 cups/500gr  of all purpose flour, 2 sticks/250gr of unsalted butter, 2,5 cups/250gr of granulated sugar and 2 eggs, a pinch of salt. Mix everything powerfully on a slightly floured marble surface, and leave in the fridge for min 2hrs to let your butter get less soft and the dough more suitable to stretch and easy to handle. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C for any italian oven that you have in your apartment).

Use a wax sheet paper to roll your dough. Then use round metal forms as the one I gave you and give the right shape to your cookies, (cut half quantity of the cookies with a a smaller hole in center, in the way that you can use it as the tops of the cookie sandwich) bake for 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Sprinkle with icing (powder) sugar all the tops, while spreading on the bottoms a light surface of Nutella to have the tops stick. Use a pastry bag for the toppings.