LA CROSTATA ALLA MARMELLATA

Ingredients For The Crust 

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons of Tapioca flour
• 1 stick of chilled unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (100 g) powder sugar
• 2 yolks
• 1 pinch of salt
• The grated zest of a lemon
• Vanilla
• Ice water

Preparation:Combine both flours, sugar, and salt in a processor; blend for 5 seconds. Add butter; pulse until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces. Whisk eggs, lemon zest and vanilla; add to processor and pulse until moist clumps form. Add iced water if the dough is too dry.

Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; chill at least 1 1/2 hours. 

DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C). Roll the dough out into not-too-thin sheet and use it to line a 10-inch or so pan and pour out a layer of jam over the dough. I used raspberry jam but you can use any jam you like. Form thin strips of dough and place them as seen in the picture above.

Bake it for at least 20 minutes.

We also made 2 heart shape cookies and a little "Nutella" crostatina with the left over dough from the raspberry jam crostata!

PANE DOLCE

Ingredients:

3 and 1/4 cups of flour 00
2/3 cups of of sugar
1/2 cup of warm milk
25 g of yeast

1/2 cup currants, soaked in warm water
3 eggs
1 pinch of salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened
Equipment:a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment

Directions:

In bowl of mixer, pour flour and sugar.
Make a fountain in the center and put in the yeast previously dissolved in freshly warmed milk (if yeast doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast).

Add 2 eggs and salt.
Beat at medium speed until combined. Increase speed to medium-high, then gradually beat in butter, a few pieces at a time, and continue to beat until dough is shiny and forms strands from paddle to bowl, 4 to 6 minutes.

Knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic.Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and sprinkle with the currants.

Let rise for about 2-3 hours, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Brush  with 1 beaten egg and bake in a preheated oven at 375 °F for 1/2 hour.

Risotto Fragole e Asparagi

http://community.marcatrevigiana.it/festa-fragola-asparago-risotto-asparagi-fragole/

• 1 pound (500 g) Asparagi (asparagus)
• 1/2 a small cipolla (onion), finely sliced
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) of Short-grained riso (rice) like Arborio 
• 2 tablespoons burro (butter) 
• 1/3 cup dry vino bianco (white wine)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese
• 8 cups of chicken or vegetable broth simmering
• 2 cups of Fragole (Strawberries) cut in little cubes soaked in Balsamic Vinegar
•  BalsamicVinegar
• Sale (salt) and pepe (pepper)
•  un po’ di (a little of) prezzemolo (parsley)

DIRECTIONS

Clean the asparagus .Trim the tips from the stalks and set them aside. Cut the remaining green part of the stalks into one-inch lengths and set them aside too. Put the white ends in along with the broth or bullion.
Sauté the onion in half the butter or the oil.
Next, stir in the rice and sauté, stirring, until the grains have turned translucent, 5-7 minutes.
Stir in the wine, and cook until it has evaporated. Then add the one-inch lengths of green asparagus stem to the rice, and begin stirring in the liquid, a ladle full at a time.
Continue adding broth, one cup at the time. Continue to cook and stir almost constantly. When the rice is almost done, stir in half the reserved tips. Check seasoning and continue cooking the rice till it's al dente, around 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining butter , half the grated cheese and strawberries.
Let the risotto stand covered for two minutes, then transfer it to a serving dish and garnish it with the remaining tips and the parsley. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over it and serve.

CALAMARI RIPIENI-STUFFED

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds fresh squid, cleaned
• 1 lemon 
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped 
• 4 salt-packed anchovies
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup of Parmigiano cheese grated
• 1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/2 glass of white wine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Remove tentacles and leave the body whole. Drizzle the squid bodies with the lemon juice and set aside.
2. Saute crushed garlic and anchovies (patted dry and finely chopped) in half the olive oil until anchovies are melted.
3. Chop the tentacles finely and add to pan. Add the wine and stir.
4. Add the parsley and  mix well.
5. Transfer everything in a bowl and add bread crumbs, egg and grated Parmigiano. 
6. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
7. Stuff the squid, but not too much, using a small spoon or a pastry bag and close the opening with a toothpick.They will shrink during the cooking and if stuffed too full they'll split open. 
8. Saute them in the bottom of a heavy pot in a little olive oil and a clove of garlic on all sides.

You can make this ahead and reheat it - it gets even better!

ARTICHOKES AND GOAT CHEESE BRUSCHETTA

INGREDIENTS 

• 3 artichokes 
• 10-15 black olives
• 1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
• Soft goat’s cheese
• Lemon
• Pine nuts
• Salt
• Olive oil
• 8 Slices of  pane (bread)

1. Trim the artichokes and slice them thinly length wise. 
2. When the pan is nice and hot, add the vegetables and sauté at high heat to quickly brown the outside. 
3. Once browned on the bottom, stir them around and let them brown some more.If needed you can add some a little lemon juice and some water.
4. While the artichokes are braising put the olives and the parsley into a blender and run it until it is chopped.
5. Slice the bread. On a baking sheet, arrange the slices in a single layer. Brown both sides of the bread slightly in the oven. Remove the slices from the oven. 

Spread the goat’s cheese on the toasted bread, sprinkle the olive-parsley mix over it, top with some slices of artichokes and, if you want, pine nuts!

BUONISSIMA...CON UN BICCHIERE DI VINO BIANCO!

The Kitchen calls for LOVE, TIME and PATIENCE

It was only after I moved to the US that I realized how lucky I was to have learned -without even realizing it- the art of Italian cooking! I really think that cooking is therapeutic. Nothing makes me happier now than to prepare delicious meals for my family and friends and also to teach my daughter Sofia.

Fresh herbs at my parent's house in Conegliano

I remember afternoons after school and long summers spent at my nonna's house.

The kitchen was my favorite place, and for a reason. 

Nonna loved to bake cakes, cookies - specially "brutti ma buoni"- and the most delicious donuts. She called them "krapfen" or sometimes "bomboloni". The krapfen were  filled with homemade "marmellata" or with pastry cream. 

All her grandchildren (11) were gathered around her..wonder why? 

This is my nonna Elena when she was 18 years old

My mamma Jones was also a great cook. 

This is my mamma when she was 18 years old

It seemed so easy and fast for her to make fresh pasta, tortellini, lasagna, tagliatelle, all kinds of gnocchi, colorful and tasty "zuppa di pesce"  (fish soup), delicious "contorni" (side dishes)! 

She could really put together amazing meals for her five children and "con amore". Everyday. 

Unfortunately I only realized this when I became a mother myself.

The love and passion of preparing food, to look carefully for the best ingredients at the open market, grow and collect fresh vegetables, fruits and aromatic herbs from the garden, is one of the greatest gift my mother and grandmother could offer to me. And one of the dearest memory.

I found this interesting and wise quote in an old cookbook that belonged to my grandmother. Here is the translation:

"The kitchen (or cooking) calls for love, time and patience. In these elements is contained the preciousness of the family table"

NOTE ABOUT THE COOKBOOK:In 1927 the Carli firm (Olive Oil) was appointed supplier to the Papal Establishment. In 1937 the equivalent honour was granted by the Royal Household. In the mid thirties, Mr. Amedeo Pettini, a former Head Chef of the Royal family was engaged by Carli to compile a book of recipes which became immensely popular. Since then Carli has distributed over two million copies to its customers. 

The war brought hard times; the plant was totally destroyed and, due to oil rationing before and after the reconstruction of production facilities, eight years passed before Carli customers could be served again.
(http://www.oliocarli.com/us/carl/carl2.htm)

Crema di funghi e marroni

Chestnut trees, a significant feature of the hill and mountain landscape around my hometown of Conegliano up to 2000-2300 ft, provide two types of fruit, the larger, more highly prized marroni and chestnuts.  Always popular in rural culture for their high nutritive and energy-giving value, they are still eaten here in the autumn, boiled or roasted and also used for sweets and honey; dried, they become the traditional "stracaganasse".  Every year in October,  Combai (a little village near Conegliano) is host to a very popular chestnut festival. Here is a simple recipe, perfect for the fall:

INGREDIENTS   

Extra vergine olive oil
sale e pepe (salt and pepper)
garlic
parsley
water
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 pound of fresh mushrooms
4 leeks
300 g of marroni (chestnuts)
100 g of chestnut's flower
1 glass di vino rosso (red wine)Parmesan cheese

PREPARATION 

Boil the chestnuts in salted water and take the shell off when they are cold. Proceed with preparing a base of thinly sliced ​​leeks, which will then gently fry in extra virgin olive oil. Chop the mushrooms and brown in the pan where you cooked the leeks with a clove of garlic and the parsley. Slice the peeled chestnuts and add to the mushrooms. Add now the previously toasted chestnut flour. Bring water to boil and add the cream. Finally, pour a glass of red wine, leaving everything to simmer with the lid on for a while. In the last few minutes you can add a handful of grated cheese, and more olive oil.

Note: Chestnut flour is a grayish-tan alternative to regular all-purpose flour made from ground chestnuts. Its sweet flavor makes it a favorite ingredient for recipes involving almonds,chocolate, honey, and hazelnuts. A gluten-free product, chestnut flour is a cooking option for people with celiac disease or other gluten intolerances or allergies.