Giada at Home: Family Recipes From Italy and California (8 page)
Read Giada at Home: Family Recipes From Italy and California Online
Authors: Giada de Laurentiis
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #Reference
Nothing warms up a cold winter night like chicken soup, especially when there are hearty chunks of chicken and pieces of pasta waiting in the bottom of the bowl. When I came home from the hospital with Jade, friends and family took turns bringing food by for Todd and me. Sandra Tripicchio, who is an invaluable part of putting together my shows and books, made us a big batch of this lemony chicken soup, and it’s been a staple in our house ever since. You’ll love the way the lemon brightens the soup’s flavor.
| 6 | cups (1½ quarts) low-sodium chicken broth |
| ⅓ | cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons) |
| 1 | bay leaf |
| 1 | medium onion, finely diced |
| 2 | medium carrots, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick |
| 1 | celery stalk, thinly sliced |
| 1 | cup (about 2½ ounces) broken spaghetti (2-inch pieces are perfect) or short pasta |
| 2 | cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken, preferably breast meat |
| 1 | cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese |
| ¼ | cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves |
| Salt |
In a large stockpot, bring the chicken broth, lemon juice, and bay leaf to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the mixture simmers and cook until the vegetables are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Add the chicken and heat through, 2 to 3 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the cheese and the parsley. Season with salt, to taste. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.
Grilled Vegetable, Herb, and Goat Cheese Sandwiches
Oil flavored with sun-dried tomatoes and lots and lots of fresh herbs is the secret to these vegetarian sandwiches; I use it both as a marinade for the grilled veggies and also to moisten the bread. Creamy goat cheese smoothes out the sharp flavor of the tomatoes. This is perfect picnic food, whether you’re packing the sandwiches for the beach or as a reward after a long hike.
| 1 | cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained |
| ⅓ | cup olive oil |
| 2 | garlic cloves, minced |
| ½ | cup chopped fresh basil leaves |
| 1 | tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves |
| 1 | tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves |
| ½ | teaspoon salt |
| ½ | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper |
| 2 | zucchini, ends trimmed, sliced lengthwise ¼ inch thick |
| 2 | Japanese eggplants, ends trimmed, sliced lengthwise ¼ inch thick |
| 1 | (12½-ounce) baguette, sliced in half lengthwise |
| 1 | cup (8 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature |
| 1½ | cups (2 ounces) baby spinach |
Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.
Finely chop the sun-dried tomatoes and put them in a bowl. Add the olive oil, garlic, basil, tarragon, thyme, salt, and pepper.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the tomato mixture into a medium bowl. Add the zucchini and eggplant to the bowl and toss until coated. Grill the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until tender.
While the vegetables are cooking, spread the remaining tomato mixture on the baguette halves. Using a spatula, spread the goat cheese on top. Layer the
grilled vegetables on the bottom half of the baguette. Arrange the spinach over the vegetables. Place the top half of the baguette on top of the filling.
To serve, cut the baguette into 4 sandwiches. Serve immediately or wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.
prosciutto & pancetta
Just as the French have charcuterie, Italians have salumi—meats and sausages that have been preserved either by salting, smoking, cooking, air-drying, or a combination of these methods. These techniques have been used for centuries to ensure that meat would survive both long, cold winters, when fresh meat was scarce, and during the heat of summer, when fresh food spoiled quickly. While refrigeration has made fresh meat available year-round, salumi is such a part of Italian culture they’re here to stay and, in fact, are growing in popularity as diners learn about the subtleties and nuances of each variety. Much of Italy’s cuisine is regional, so of course salumi-making varies from region to region. From beef and veal bresaola to pork and wild boar salame, salumi is a reflection of the region’s traditions, and Italian families continue to cure their meats the same way generation after generation.
Prosciutto and pancetta are two of the better known varieties of salumi, and I use both often in my cooking. Prosciutto is air-cured ham made from the pig’s hind leg and is a product of the northern regions, where the temperate climate provides lush valleys and grazing land for the pigs. Prosciutto di Parma from the Emilia-Romagna region as well as Prosciutto di San Daniele from Friuli-Venezia Giulia are widely considered to be of the highest quality. The aging process, during which the meat is rubbed with salt (and no other ingredients) to draw out the moisture and then left to age for at least ten months or more, gives the meat a dense, silky texture and a mild pork flavor with a hint of saltiness. Be sure to choose an imported prosciutto; the region of origin should be marked on the rind. And taste several varieties to find one you like best, as flavors vary based on the length of aging and even the feed the pigs ate. The delicate taste of prosciutto is best appreciated when the meat is sliced thinly and served in simple preparations such as with cheeses and crostini or other antipasti (its salinity is a wonderful match for sweet fruits, such as cantaloupe), as a topping for pizzas, or stirred into pasta sauces at the last minute.
Pancetta, like bacon, is made from the pig’s belly and is salt-cured; unlike bacon, it is not smoked, so it has a less assertive flavor. Pancetta is treated to a salt rub to draw out moisture, after which the meat is flavored with spices—such as peppercorns, bay leaf, fennel, and garlic—and left to cure in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment for three to six months. You’ll find pancetta in two forms: either pressed in a large slab covered with a thick layer of fat, or rolled into a cylinder and sold in slices. It freezes well, so keep some on hand to flavor sauces, meat dishes, and pastas, or fry it up to add to panini or antipasti.
Piadina with Fontina and Prosciutto
Piadini look a lot like pizzas, but because the crust is made without yeast and does not need to rise, they are much quicker and easier to make. Piadini are also cooked on the grill rather than baked in the oven, which gives them a nice, smoky flavor and crunchy crust. While you can top a piadina with anything you like, including tomato sauce and mozzarella, this sauceless combination is very typical of northern Italy, where piadini are especially popular.