LIMONCELLO
1 cup Everclear
peel of 2 organic lemons
1 cup water
1 scant cup sugar
Procedure:
Put the Everclear in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add the lemon peel. Let sit for 7-10 days, shaking once daily. Dissolve the sugar in water over a medium flame. Cool to room temperature. Strain the Everclear and add the sugar syrup. Store in a cool, dark, place for one month prior to use.
TORTA AL LIMONCELLO
Ingredients (sponge cake):
450 g (3 cups) flour
5-1/2 tsp. baking powder
a pinch of salt
675 g (3-1/3 cups) sugar
225 g (apprx. 11) egg yolks
155 g (3/4 c) boiling water
3 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tsp. almond extract
minced zest of 3 lemons
450 g (apprx. 13) egg whites
For assembly:
1-1/2 cups freshly squeezed pineapple juice
1-1/2 cups limoncello
For garnish:
10 amaretti cookies
minced zest of 1 lemon
edible flowers or thinly-sliced strawberries, peaches, or other fruit
Procedure (pan di Spagna):
Line two baking sheets with raised edges with parchment paper. Pre-heat oven to 350°.
Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Beat egg yolks and sugar on high speed till thick and yellow, at least 20 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and slowly add the water, extracts and lemon rind. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Return to high speed and continue beating for about 5 minutes, till mixture is again thick and ribbony.
Beat egg whites on high speed till soft peaks form. Set aside.
Fold the dry ingredients into the egg-sugar mixture. Fold the whipped egg whites into the batter in two batches.
Divide batter equally between the two sheets. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, then remove from baking sheets. Peel paper off. If necessary, trim sides so the two layers are exactly the same size.
Ingredients (lemon cream):
160 g (8 egg) yolks
200 g (1 cup) sugar
zest of 1 lemon, minced
200 g (8 ounces) Philadelphia cream cheese (or mascarpone)
600 g (3 cups) whipping cream
1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
Procedure (lemon cream):
Make zabaione with the egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest by whisking over boiling water till thick and light yellow. Remove from heat. Whisk in softened cream cheese and let cool 10 minutes. Whip cream till stiff peaks form, adding powdered sugar toward the end. Fold into zabaione.
Assembly:
Mix limoncello with pineapple juice and divide in two parts. Place one sheet of pan di Spagna face down on serving dish and soak with half the liquid. Spread a little less than half the cream over the top. Place the second sheet of pan di Spagna on top and soak with the remaining half of the liquid. Spread remaining cream over top and sides of cake. Chill 6 hours or overnight. Just before serving, crush 10 amaretti cookies and use them to cover the sides of the cake. Decorate top edge with minced lemon zest and place an edible flower, thin slices of strawberries or other fruit decoration in the center of each slice.
CHERRY SAUCE AND CREAMY SWEET CHEESE
This is the most recent seasonal addition to Piccolo Lago’s dessert menu.
CREAMY SWEET CHEESE:
Ingredients:
300 g (10.5 oz) Philadelphia cream cheese
250 g (8 oz) semi-whipped cream
150 g (3/4 c) sugar
1 vanilla bean
Pinch of salt
Procedure:
Beat the cream cheese with the sugar. Fold in the semi-whipped cream, salt and vanilla bean.
CHERRY SAUCE:
Ingredients:
500 g (1 lb) cherries, washed and pitted
100 g (1/2 c) cane sugar
1/2 lt (1/2 qt) vin brulè
40 g (scant ¼ c) butter
.5 dl (1-1/2 oz) Grand Marnier
Procedure:
Melt the butter and sugar in a pan. When it starts to boil, add the cherries. Cook a few minutes, then flambé with the Grand Marnier and finish cooking with the vin brulè 4-5 minutes until the sauce is syrupy.
OTHER:
Spun sugar
ASSEMBLY:
Serve the sauce warm with a quenelle of creamy sweet cheese. Decorate with spun sugar.
CASONSEI DE BERGHEM (CASONCELLI from Bergamo)
–Number of servings varies depending on size
There are many variations on these ravioli from the province of Bergamo. One of the most traditional recipes includes sausage meat, a few amaretti cookies, raisins and half a fresh pear. They are invariably present at local harvest festivals or historical commemorations, such as the annual reunion of the Alpini, the elite military corps specialized in extreme mountain conditions. Casoncelli can be purchased in stores, but often their preparation by hand is an important part of the festivities. Casoncelli even sent my favorite student to study in the Tuscan town of San Giovanni Valdarno–with the help of many hands, I made them at a cooking demonstration for a fund raiser held at Ledson winery. This recipe comes from Il Libro della Cucina Bergamasca (The Cuisine of Bergamo) published in 1979, a collection of traditional recipes by Mario Ronzoni.
FILLING
Ingredients:
200 g (7 oz) bread crumbs
300 g (10-1/2 oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
large bunch of Italian parsley
1 clove garlic
100 g (1/4 lb) mortadella
50 g (1/8 lb) pancetta
—
50 g (1/4 c) butter
50 g (1/8 lb) pancetta
1 whole clove garlic
one large slice onion
—
2 eggs
freshly ground nutmeg
freshly ground pepper
Preparation:
Mix the bread crumbs and cheese. Mince the garlic and parsley together and add to the cheese/bread crumb mixture. Mince the mortadella and 50 g (1/8 lb) of pancetta and add. Mix thoroughly.
Mince the other 50 g (1/8 lb) of pancetta. Heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium flame. Add the whole clove of garlic, whole slice of onion and the minced pancetta. When the pancetta is browned, remove the garlic and onion. Add the pancetta and butter to the crumb mixture. Add nutmeg and pepper and blend well. Stir in the eggs. Mix with hands till filling is well blended and holds together.
PASTA
Ingredients:
700 g (1-1/2 lb) flour
7 eggs
1 Tblsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. salt
water (if necessary)
Procedure:
Knead all ingredients together into a smooth ball. Cover and let rest 15 minutes. Using a pasta machine, roll fist-sized amounts of pasta through machine at largest thickness into a smooth sheet, coating the surface with flour as necessary. Continue rolling, changing the setting a couple of notches at a time, down to the thinnest (or next-to-thinnest) setting.
Cut discs about 3 inches in diameter and brush half the surface with water. Place a teaspoonful of filling on the disc, fold over and seal carefully. Place on floured tray. The casoncelli can be cooked fresh or frozen on trays and then placed in plastic bags and kept in the freezer till needed. (If frozen, do not thaw before putting into boiling water.)
Bring water to boil. Add salt, add casoncelli and cook till done (cooking time will vary depending on size and thickness of pasta). Brown sage leaves (whole or chopped) in butter till crisp. Pour the browned butter and sage over the casoncelli and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
STRASCINATE CON CIME DI RAPE, ACCIUGHE, AGLIO E PANE CROCCANTE
(FRESH STRASCINATE* WITH BROCCOLI RAPE, ANCHOVIES, GARLIC AND TOASTED BREAD CRUMBS)
Serves 4
This recipe was contributed by Francesco Paldera, Executive Chef of the Villa Romanazzi/Carducci Hotel in Bari, during a presentation of traditional cuisine from Puglia at Applewood Inn, California, in April of 2009. Chef Paldera even taught the art of making strascinate (which can be substituted with orecchiette), a painstaking procedure that ladies do while sitting outside their homes chatting with their neighbors. Although you may prefer to use purchased pasta, this traditional pasta is made by rolling out pencil-thin cylinders, cutting off half-inch sections, and dragging the blade of a serrated knife across each piece, which is then uncurled and left flat (hence the name of the pasta, from the verb strascinare, to drag).
Ingredients:
250 g (1/2 lb.) fresh strascinate* pasta
1 k (2.2 lbs.) broccoli rape
1 clove garlic, slightly crushed
5 filets of boned, salt-cured anchovies
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and hot pepper to taste
100 g (1/4 lb.) cherry tomatoes
coarse dried bread crumbs
Procedure:
Wash the broccoli rape and remove any imperfections. Heat olive oil in a pan and brown the garlic and a pinch of hot pepper flakes. Add the anchovies and tomatoes cut in quarters. Let cook a few minutes and turn off flame. In another pan, toast the bread crumbs in abundant olive oil.
Bring a pot of water to boil, salt, add the broccoli rape and return to a boil. After 5 minutes, add the pasta. Adjust salt and check the greens and pasta. As soon as they’re done, drain and sauté in the pan with the anchovies and tomatoes.
Sprinkle with toasted bread crumbs and serve with a little extra-virgin olive oil.
(*)A non-domed version of orecchiette
MERLUZZO CON LEGGERA BAGNA CAÔDA ALLA BANANA
(COD WITH LIGHT BANANA BAGNA CAÔDA SAUCE)
–Serves 12
This is an antipasto served at Piccolo Lago. The idea came to Chef Sacco when he and his wife were on vacation in Africa. They arrived in Namanga, a military outpost between Kenya and Tanzania, late at night after a 7-hour jeep ride. Exhausted, filthy and famished, there was no water to be found. A woman was selling bananas, so they bought a bunch for their dinner, which they ate in their “hotel” room by flashlight. The sweetness was nauseating, and as he ate, Chef Sacco dreamed of a terra cotta pot full of bagna caôda, a traditional dipping sauce from Piemonte made with garlic, oil, milk (or cream) and anchovies, to dip the bananas in. This experience inspired him to create the dish that follows.
COD
Ingredients:
12 filets of black-skinned cod
Procedure:
Steam the cod for 3 minutes.
BAGNA CAÔDA SAUCE
Ingredients:
3 salt-cured anchovies
6 cloves of garlic
2 Colombian bananas
250 g (1-1/4 c) sour cream
20 g (2 Tblsp) oil
Procedure:
Skin the garlic and remove the core. Chop the garlic with the anchovies. Cook the garlic and the anchovies in the oil over a low flame until the anchovies dissolve. Add the cream, bring to a boil and let simmer over a low flame for 30 minutes. Mix in a blender with the bananas.
RED ONION
Ingredients:
1 bermuda onion
20 g (2 Tblsp) red wine vinegar
Procedure:
Cut the onion into four wedges. Add red wine vinegar and salt to one liter of water and bring to a boil. Cook the onion for 6-7 minutes, drain and grill.
OTHER
1/2 grilled Colombian banana
dried flowers
green pepper
ASSEMBLY
Place a spoonful of sauce on a plate and lay the cod on it.
Add the banana and onion and garnish with the dried flowers and ground pepper.