Tuesday 28 September 2010

Breaded Lamb Cutlet, Involtini Messinesi, Potato Croquet, Fried Zucchini Flower and Bunker Sorrate

Ciao ragazzi!!! This week I have a few pictures from last weekend and four recipes!

First, I visited bunkers from Mussolini and the Cold War era. Very interesting....












My clients...

Potato Croquet

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes

1 egg yolk

smoked mozarella

breadcrumbs

1/3 c olive oil


Directions:

Clean the potatoes, scrubbing the skin well. Boil them in salted water until they are soft – you can check with the tip of the knife. Drain the potatoes then cool them for 10 minutes. Remove the skin. Mash the potatoes, not in a food processor but with the hand tool then mix them together with the egg yolk. Once you’ve reached the right consistency, form a small ball then place a mozzarella cube in the middle of the potato ball. Roll the potato croquet in homemade breadcrumb mixture (see recipe) and fry in the olive oil, turning frequently until you reach a consistent golden brown color.





Fried Zucchini Flower

Ingredients:

5 zucchini flowers

flour as needed

1 c ice cold sparkling water

¼ c parmesan

1 pinch of salt

1/3 c olive oil


Directions:

Combine the salt, ice cold sparkling water and parmesan in a bowl and mix well. Add some flour and mix well, keep adding until you feel you’ve reached the right consistency for the batter mixture. Clean and slice the zucchini flowers. Dip each slice into the batter and place in a pan with a few table spoons of olive oil over medium heat and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until the batter turns a golden brown color. Remove from the heat and place on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.



Involtini Messinesi

Breadcrumbs

Ingredients:

2 c left over (or even stale) bread
1 c grated pecorino cheese
Fresh herbs from the garden
2 cloves of garlic


Directions:

Use 3 cups of leftover bread. If the bread is too soft you can bake in the oven until it
becomes hard. Place the bread, pecorino herbs and garlic into a food processor and
blend.


Involtini

Ingredients:

Your choice of melting cheese – I used smoked mozzarella

7 ozs beef

Additional water for the consistency for the filling


Directions:

Trim the fat from the meat then use a meat pounder on the meat to pound it thin. Place some of the breadcrumb mixture in a small bowl and add a little bit of water to make it the right consistency for the involtini filling. Add a spoonful of the mixture on top of the meat then add a small cube of smoked mozzarella. Fold the sides of the meat in to make a secure pocket and squeeze to help seal it. Roll the involtini in the homemade breadcrumbs with no added water, place them on the skewer stick, then put them on a cookie sheet in the pre-heated oven. Cook for 15 minutes at 212 °F.










Breaded Lamb Cutlet

Breadcrumbs

Ingredients:

2 c left over (or even stale) bread
1 c grated pecorino cheese
Fresh herbs from the garden
2 cloves of garlic


Directions:

Use 3 cups of leftover bread. If the bread is too soft you can bake in the oven until it
becomes hard. Place the bread, pecorino herbs and garlic into a food processor and
blend.


Involtini

Ingredients:

7 ozs lamb cutlet

1 egg scrambled

Flour for dipping the Lamb

¼ c olive oil


Directions:

Dip the leg of lamb in the flour, then the egg mixture, then finally roll the lamb in the homemade breadcrumbs. Place in a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil and fry on each side for 5 minutes over medium heat.








See you guys next week for Fabiolous Tuesday!
Your Chef,
Fabio

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Raddichio Tortelloni with Gorgonzola and Walnuts

On Sunday, Rome turned 140 years old! I captured a few pictures and thought I'd share them with you! "Rome by night"









Raddichio Tortelloni with Gorgonzola and Walnuts


for pasta:

3 eggs

10 1/2 ozs of flour


1/3 c olive oil

1 clove of garlic

1 c white onion

3 c raddichio


for filling:

1/3 c parmesan

7 ozs ricotta

1 egg yolk


4 tablespoons of butter

1/4 c of gorgonzola

1/2 c of walnuts

parmesan for garnishing


Clean and chop the raddichio, then fry in a pan with olive oil and a clove of garlic. Mix the cooked raddichio in a bowl with ricotta, egg yolk and parmesan. Cool in the fridge while you prepare your pasta.


Pour flour on working surface and make a fountain with a hole in the middle of the flour. Break the eggs into the middle of the fountain. Gently beat the eggs inside to absorb the flour. While beating the eggs, add a little flour at a time with the tip of the fork. When all the flour is mixed and you have a dough consistency, knead the dough by pressing and folding gently with your hands. Now, work the dough with palm of your hands – holding with the left hand and pressing with the right, then fold the dough over and turn. Repeat this process for 5 minutes. Let the ball of dough sit for 30 minutes in the fridge. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin into a long rectangular shape, careful not to roll to wide for the pasta machine. If you do not have a pasta machine, continue to roll with the rolling pin until you reach the desired thickness. Don’t rush the process in the pasta machine – start on the thicker pasta setting and put the dough through the machine numerous times (changing the setting each pass), patiently reaching the desired thickness. Each time you will need to sprinkle flour on the pasta to keep it from sticking to the machine. Cut the dough into circles about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Place the filling in the circle. Brush the pasta with egg white to hold the dough together. Fold the dough over to make edges meet. (See picture) From there, wrap the dough around your pinky making a tortelloni shape. Sprinkle some flour on the surface and remove the tortelloni using a spatula so they don’t stick.


While the tortelloni are boiling, melt the butter in a frying pan. When the ravioli float they are ready. Add the cooked ravioli to the frying pan then add about half a ladel full of the pasta water you boiled the ravioli in, and the gorgonzola. Hover the pan over the heat moving the pasta continuously until the sauce becomes thick. For finishing touches on the serving plate, add the crushed walnuts and serve.
















See you next week for Fabiolous Tuesday!
Your chef, Fabio

For some reason it won't allow me to comment. So I will paste my comment here.
You all have such wonderful comments, grazie mille!! Rome was founded in 753BC but became the capital of Italy, 140 years ago. Sorry for the confusion!