Eating Italy: A Chef's Culinary Adventure (17 page)

2 large eggs

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

Clams and Tomatoes:

5 pounds (2.25 kg) small hard-shell clams, such as littlenecks

10 tablespoons (155 ml) olive oil, divided

1 medium-size yellow onion, finely chopped (1¼ cups/200 g)

1 small garlic clove, smashed

½ bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, stems and all

1 quart (1 L) white wine

1 quart (1 L) Fish Stock (
page 279
) or water

2 cups (340 g) grape tomatoes or small early summer tomatoes, halved

1 long hot pepper or peperoncino, minced (about ¾ cup/112 g)

For the corzetti dough:
Combine the flour and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on low speed. With the machine running, gradually add the oil until incorporated, then gradually add 1 cup (235 ml) of water until incorporated. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and mix until the dough holds together. Separate the dough into three pieces and gently knead each piece in your hands until the dough looks smooth. Shape each piece into a rectangle the width of your pasta roller. Roll each piece of dough into a long rectangle about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick (setting #2 or #3 on the KitchenAid attachment) onto a floured work surface. Using a lightly floured corzetti stamp or 2½-inch (6.25-cm) cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough; you should get fifty to sixty circles from all three pieces of dough with no rerolling. Lightly flour the woodcut corzetti stamp and then stamp each circle to imprint the design. If you don’t have a corzetti stamp, leave the circles plain or use a lightly floured cookie stamp or butter stamp. Place the corzetti in single layers between sheets of floured parchment paper, cover, and freeze for up to 2 days.

For the clams and tomatoes:
Scrub the clams and rinse under cold running water.

Heat ¼ cup (60 ml) of the oil in a large, deep sauté pan. Add the onion, garlic, and parsley, and cook until the onion is soft but not browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the white wine and boil over high heat until the liquid has reduced in volume by half, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the clams and fish stock. Cover and steam until the clams open, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat as soon as the clams open, then transfer the clams to a plate. Line a mesh strainer with cheesecloth and strain the clam liquid through the cheesecloth; set aside. Pick out the meat from the clams and refrigerate it in the strained clam stock for up to 4 days.

When ready to serve, bring two large pots of salted water to a boil. Add half of the corzetti, one by one, to each pot, stirring gently to help prevent sticking. Partially cover the pots and cook just until the corzetti are tender, about 5 minutes. Reserve about 1½ cups (375 ml) of pasta water, then drain.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the olive oil in a deep sauté pan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, and cook until they start to break down, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the hot pepper, and cook until soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the clams, 1¼ cups (310 ml) of the clam stock, 1 cup (235 ml) of pasta water, and the remaining ¼ cup (60 ml) of olive oil to the pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook until the liquid reduces in volume by about half, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the cooked pasta and toss gently in the sauce.

Using tongs, overlap eight corzetti in a circle on each plate. Simmer the sauce in the pan until slightly reduced and thickened, and then spoon over the corzetti.

GENOVESE RAVIOLI
with
CAPON

Genoa sits in the center of Liguria, slightly closer to the mountains bordering Piedmont. It’s Italy’s largest seaport, but the food there includes more land animals, such as chicken and veal calves, because of the landscape. You see this ravioli in all the Genovese restaurants. It’s usually stuffed with veal organ meats, such as brains or sweetbreads. I added the capon as a little twist. Some of the capon meat gets pureed to make a rich, creamy sauce that tastes sort of like chicken soup but thicker. You’ll need one small capon (4 to 5 pounds/1.75 to 2.25 kg) for this recipe, or you can use one large or two small chickens. Cut off the legs and wings and leave the bones in for the sauce. For the ravioli filling, remove the skin and bones from the breast.

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Genovese Sauce:

1½ pounds (680 g) capon legs and wings

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

About 1 cup (125 g)
tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons (30 ml) grapeseed oil

1 medium-size yellow onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup/160 g)

1 large carrot, coarsely chopped (1 cup/122 g)

2 medium-size ribs celery, coarsely chopped (1 cup/101 g)

2 cups (475 ml) white wine

1¼ quarts (1.25 L) Chicken Stock (
page 279
)

1 sachet of 1 sprig parsley, 1 sprig rosemary, 1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf, and 6 black peppercorns (see
page 277
)

About ¾ cup (175 ml) olive oil

About ¼ cup (60 ml) sherry vinegar

3½ ounces (100 g) Parmesan cheese, grated (1 cup)

Ravioli Filling:

20 ounces (567 g) boneless, skinless capon breast, cubed

2 ounces (57 g) chicken livers

20 ounces (567 g) veal or calf’s brains

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup (62 g)
tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour, for dredging

4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

5 sage leaves

1 pound (450 g) Egg Pasta Dough (
page 282
), rolled into 4 sheets, each about
inch (0.8 mm) thick

For the Genovese sauce:
Rinse the capon legs and wings and pat dry. Season the capon all over with salt and pepper. Dredge the pieces in the flour, shaking off the excess.

Heat the grapeseed oil in a large Dutch oven (or two) over medium-high heat. When hot, add the capon pieces in batches to prevent crowding and sear until golden brown on both sides, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer the pieces to a platter as they are browned.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pan and cook, stirring now and then, until nicely browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the white wine and simmer until the liquid is reduced in volume by about one third. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, then add the capon back to pan, along with the sachet. Cover, transfer to the oven, and braise until the meat falls easily off the bone, 2½ to 3 hours.

Remove and discard the sachet. Transfer the meat to a platter and let cool slightly. Pick the meat and skin from the bones, discarding the bones. Be sure to remove all of the bones because the sauce will be pureed. Puree the meat, skin, vegetables, and braising liquid in a blender in batches, adding enough olive oil to each batch to create a slightly thickened sauce. Pour into a large, deep sauté pan, and season to taste with sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper.

For the ravioli filling:
Put all parts of a meat grinder and the cubed capon breast and chicken livers in the freezer until ice cold, about 15 minutes. Grind the capon breast and chicken livers in the meat grinder with the small die. Cover and refrigerate.

Season the brains with salt and pepper and dredge them in flour, shaking off the excess.

Heat the butter, olive oil, and sage in a large sauté pan. When the butter is foamy and hot, add the brains and sear them in the pan until nice and golden brown all over, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels and let cool.

Puree the cooled brains in a food processor. Add to the ground capon and liver mixture, season with salt and pepper, and mix until thoroughly combined. Spoon into a large resealable plastic bag and refrigerate until ready to use or up to 3 days.

Lay a pasta sheet on a lightly floured work surface and dust with flour. Trim the ends of the sheet to make them square, then fold the dough in half lengthwise and make a small notch at the center to mark it. Open the sheet so it lies flat again and spritz with water.

Cut off a small corner of the resealable plastic bag so you can pipe the filling on the pasta. Beginning at the left-hand side, pipe two rows of ½-inch (1.25-cm)-diameter balls of filling along the length of the pasta, leaving a ½-inch (1.25-cm) margin around each ball and stopping at the center of the sheet. Lift up the right-hand side of the pasta sheet and fold it over to cover the balls of filling. Gently press the pasta around each ball of filling to seal. Use a 2½-inch (6.25-cm) round, fluted ravioli cutter or a similar size biscuit cutter to cut the ravioli. Repeat with the remaining pasta dough and filling. You should have about ninety-six ravioli.

When ready to serve:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the ravioli in batches, quickly return the water to a boil, and cook until tender yet firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water.

Heat the Genovese sauce in a large, deep sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, add the cooked ravioli, in batches, if necessary, to prevent crowding, and simmer until the sauce coats the pasta, 3 to 4 minutes. Add some of the reserved pasta water, if necessary, to create a creamy sauce. Divide among plates and top with Parmesan.

HALIBUT AL CARTOCCIO
with
LIGURIAN OLIVES AND OREGANO

Al cartoccio
is the Italian equivalent of French cooking
en papillote
, or in parchment paper. It’s one of my favorite ways to cook fish because it’s gentle, like a combination of steaming and poaching. Just be sure to pick a fish that’s tender enough to cook all the way through in five to ten minutes. A dense fish, such as mako shark, wouldn’t work so well, but halibut is perfect. I serve the cartoccio with some fingerling potatoes on the side and have guests slit open their own packages. Each package comes to the table like a gift from the kitchen. You open the paper and a burst of steamy aroma bathes you in the scents of the Italian Riviera. . . fresh lemon, olives, and oregano.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Potatoes:

8 fingerling potatoes, scrubbed

4 teaspoons (20 ml) grapeseed or olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 teaspoons (5 g) unsalted butter

4 teaspoons (1 g) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Halibut: