To be sure, it was pretty memorable given that we were in
Rome on Easter weekend, a time when tens of thousands of people flock to the city
for both religious and tourist attractions.
As luck, or rather our ignorance, would have it, on Good
Friday evening after dinner, we found ourselves walking back to our hotel near the
Colosseum wading against the crowd of thousands of Christian pilgrims who were
following the Pope in a candlelit procession from the Colosseum to the
Palentine Hill to enact the Stations of the Cross, or Via Crucis.
Maybe that is part of the reason that I think Italian when I plan a special spring meal. So for this dinner party, held on the second day of spring,
Italian food was in order with “vernal” hits of herbs, fresh asparagus and
lemons.
Since I was trying out several new recipes, including 4
originals, I did call upon some old favorites as well. Enjoy!
Caprese Skewers, Melon & Prosciutto Skewers, Rosemary Cashews
My Insalate Mista
Sunday Sauce with Sausage and Braciole
Green Beans with Red Peppers & Prosciutto
Lemon Torta
Limoncello
Caprese Skewers
Who doesn’t like a
caprese salad, the wonderful combination of sweet-tart tomatoes, creamy
mozzarella, and the herby, licorice flavor of basil? These bight-size versions
explode in the mouth!
Source: original recipe
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
¼ c. purchased pesto
¼ c. white wine vinegar
Salt & pepper to
taste
¼ c. olive oil
8 oz. ciliegi
mozzarella balls (If ciliegi aren’t available, buy the smallest you can and cut
into cherry-sized pieces)
10.5 oz. cherry
tomatoes, halved
5-6 basil leaves, cut
in a chiffonade
“nice” toothpicks or
short skewers
Process:
In a medium plastic
container, whisk together the peso and vinegar.
Pour in the olive oil in a slow drizzle, whisking continuously. Add salt & pepper. (A few “shakes” of crushed red pepper flakes
would be fine, too). Stir the mozzarella
balls into the pesto mixture. Marinade,
covered, for at least 2 hours. About an
hour before serving, add the halved cherry tomatoes to the mozzarella-pesto
mixture. Before serving, thread a tomato
half (cut side toward the top of the skewer), a mozzarella ball, and another
tomato half (cut side toward the bottom of the skewer). Place skewers on serving plate. Sprinkle with basil before serving.
Melon Ball &
Prosciutto Skewers
Source: original recipe
Yield: 6 servings
The combination of melon and prosciutto is a well-loved Italian
classic. My husband suggested a splash
of balsamic to finish, but I thought a balsamic syrup would present more of a
concentrated flavor.
Ingredients:
1 cantaloupe or
honeydew melon
1 4-oz. of prosciutto
½ c. balsamic vinegar
“nice” toothpicks or
short skewers
Process:
For the balsamic
syrup: In a small sauce pan, simmer the
vinegar until reduced by at least half.
Cool. (This can be done a few
hours ahead of time.) Half the melon and
clean out seeds from each half. Scoop
out the melon using the larger end of a melon baller. (This can be done a few hours ahead of
time.)
Refrigerate melon balls in a covered container.) Cut each slice of prosciutto (can be stacked) in thirds lengthwise. Wrap one strip of prosciutto around a melon ball and secure on a skewer. (These can be prepared an hour or two before serving, but cover tightly with plastic wrap.) Before serving drizzle the balsamic syrup over the skewers. (I used a plastic squeeze bottle.)
Refrigerate melon balls in a covered container.) Cut each slice of prosciutto (can be stacked) in thirds lengthwise. Wrap one strip of prosciutto around a melon ball and secure on a skewer. (These can be prepared an hour or two before serving, but cover tightly with plastic wrap.) Before serving drizzle the balsamic syrup over the skewers. (I used a plastic squeeze bottle.)
My Insalate Mista
This might have been the hit of the evening. The combination of flavors was great, and the
fresh, raw asparagus was particularly spring-like.
Source: original recipe
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
Mixed greens for 6
servings (I used half baby arugula and
half Boston lettuce torn into bite-size pieces.)
1 bundle asparagus,
trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (If
the asparagus is thin and tender, no cooking is necessary. If it’s thicker, you can cook or steam the
asparagus until crisp-tender, refresh in cold water, drain and pat dry.)
2-oz. sun-dried
tomatoes, diced (I used packaged, not in
oil and not the kind you have to reconstitute, but oil-packed drained well on
paper towels would be fine.)
1 c. pine nuts, lightly
toasted in a dry frying pan
1 small wedge of Asagio
cheese
Process:
Lightly wash greens and
dry in a salad spinner or by rolling in a clean dish towel. Place greens in a large serving bowl. Lightly dress the greens with some of the
vinaigrette. Place greens on each
serving plate. Sprinkle with asparagus,
tomatoes, pine nuts. Garnish with
shavings of cheese.
Sunday Sauce with Sausage and Braciole
I’ll be honest, this was pretty labor intensive and the results were mixed. First, I didn’t add the pork ribs—a little too much meat for a small dinner party. Second, while the sauce was wonderful, the meat rolls weren’t much more than, uh, meat rolls. Worried that they might be a little bland, I did “smear” each meat piece with some pesto, but that didn’t quite do the trick. The breadcrumb mixture did have a good kick on the pasta, due to the smoked paprika, but it was hard to get very much of the mixture in each roulade without it “oozing” out in the rolling process. If I made this again, I think I would skip the sausage links and instead spread a light layer of bulk Italian sausage on each piece of meat. However, I will say the meat rolls did pick up a lot of flavor when we ate the leftovers the second day, and the sauce was outstanding!
Source: Bon Appetit, March 2014
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
2 c. fresh breadcrumbs
½ c. finely grated Pecorino
⅓ c. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
¼ tsp. hot smoked Spanish paprika
7 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
4 T. olive oil, divided
2 pounds beef top round, thinly sliced by a butcher for braciole (¼ inch or less
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 pounds hot or sweet Italian sausage, halved crosswise
1 pound baby back pork ribs, cut into 3- to 4-rib pieces, or pork spare ribs, cut into individual ribs
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained
¼ c. tomato paste
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 ½ pounds large tubular pasta (The recipe recommended rigatoni or tortiglioni; I used penne.)
Process:
Spread out breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and let sit uncovered at room temperature until dried out, about 12 hours.
Combine breadcrumbs, Pecorino, parsley, red pepper flakes, paprika, 1 chopped garlic clove, and 2 tablespoons oil in a medium bowl.
Trim beef slices into 6 X 2-inch pieces. (I thought 2 inches was oddly narrow. The pieces I used were more like 6 X 4). Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each slice with about 2 tablespoons breadcrumb mixture, roll up, and secure with a toothpick or twine; set braciole aside. Set remaining breadcrumb mixture aside.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat and cook sausage, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 5–8 minutes. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet.
Season ribs with salt and pepper; cook in same pot until browned on all sides, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet with sausage. Cook reserved braciole in pot, turning occasionally, until browned, 5–8 minutes; transfer to same baking sheet.
Source: original recipe
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs. green beans (about a handful per person, plus one for the pot)
2 red peppers
2 T. olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, very thinly slice
1 shake or two, crushed red pepper flakes
1 4-oz. package prosciutto, cut into ½-inch pieces
Process:
Trim the ends of green beans. Cook green beans in salted, boiling water until crisp-tender. Place the beans in an ice water bath to refresh. (Can be held, refrigerated for a few hours.)
Cut the red peppers in fourths lengthwise. Trim the tops and white ribs and remove the seeds. Place the pepper pieces, cut side down, on a piece of aluminum foil on top of the broiler pans. Broil peppers until the skin blackens and blisters. Remove the peppers from the broiler and wrap and crimp the foil around the peppers. Let the peppers steam for at least 15 minutes, then gently peel the charred skins from the peppers with your fingers. Cut the peppers crosswise into matchstick pieces. Set aside.
In a medium to large frying pan, sauté the prosciutto until crispy and the fat is translucent. Drain on a paper-towel lined plate.
In a large frying pan on medium low heat, sauté the garlic (and pepper flakes if using) VERY slowly until the garlic is almost translucent, but not browned. Remove the garlic from the pan with a slotted spoon.
(The beans, peppers and garlic oil can be prepared a few hours before serving.)
To prepare for serving, drain the beans and lightly pat dry with paper towels. Heat the garlic oil until sizzling and stir fry the beans and peppers until heated through. Place in a serving bowl and sprinkle with the reserved prosciutto.
Lemon Torta (See It's Greek to Me!)
Limoncello (See Drinking Italy)
I gave our dinner guests small cruets filled with limoncello, each tied with a sprig of rosemary. (See photo at top of blog.)
⅓ c. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
¼ tsp. hot smoked Spanish paprika
7 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
4 T. olive oil, divided
2 pounds beef top round, thinly sliced by a butcher for braciole (¼ inch or less
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 pounds hot or sweet Italian sausage, halved crosswise
1 pound baby back pork ribs, cut into 3- to 4-rib pieces, or pork spare ribs, cut into individual ribs
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained
¼ c. tomato paste
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 ½ pounds large tubular pasta (The recipe recommended rigatoni or tortiglioni; I used penne.)
Process:
Spread out breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and let sit uncovered at room temperature until dried out, about 12 hours.
Combine breadcrumbs, Pecorino, parsley, red pepper flakes, paprika, 1 chopped garlic clove, and 2 tablespoons oil in a medium bowl.
Trim beef slices into 6 X 2-inch pieces. (I thought 2 inches was oddly narrow. The pieces I used were more like 6 X 4). Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each slice with about 2 tablespoons breadcrumb mixture, roll up, and secure with a toothpick or twine; set braciole aside. Set remaining breadcrumb mixture aside.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat and cook sausage, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 5–8 minutes. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet.
Season ribs with salt and pepper; cook in same pot until browned on all sides, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet with sausage. Cook reserved braciole in pot, turning occasionally, until browned, 5–8 minutes; transfer to same baking sheet.
Green Beans with Roasted Red Peppers & Prosciutto
Source: original recipe
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs. green beans (about a handful per person, plus one for the pot)
2 red peppers
2 T. olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, very thinly slice
1 shake or two, crushed red pepper flakes
1 4-oz. package prosciutto, cut into ½-inch pieces
Process:
Trim the ends of green beans. Cook green beans in salted, boiling water until crisp-tender. Place the beans in an ice water bath to refresh. (Can be held, refrigerated for a few hours.)
Cut the red peppers in fourths lengthwise. Trim the tops and white ribs and remove the seeds. Place the pepper pieces, cut side down, on a piece of aluminum foil on top of the broiler pans. Broil peppers until the skin blackens and blisters. Remove the peppers from the broiler and wrap and crimp the foil around the peppers. Let the peppers steam for at least 15 minutes, then gently peel the charred skins from the peppers with your fingers. Cut the peppers crosswise into matchstick pieces. Set aside.
In a medium to large frying pan, sauté the prosciutto until crispy and the fat is translucent. Drain on a paper-towel lined plate.
In a large frying pan on medium low heat, sauté the garlic (and pepper flakes if using) VERY slowly until the garlic is almost translucent, but not browned. Remove the garlic from the pan with a slotted spoon.
(The beans, peppers and garlic oil can be prepared a few hours before serving.)
To prepare for serving, drain the beans and lightly pat dry with paper towels. Heat the garlic oil until sizzling and stir fry the beans and peppers until heated through. Place in a serving bowl and sprinkle with the reserved prosciutto.
Lemon Torta (See It's Greek to Me!)
Limoncello (See Drinking Italy)
I gave our dinner guests small cruets filled with limoncello, each tied with a sprig of rosemary. (See photo at top of blog.)
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