La Cassola!

Cazzuola o Cassola (lit. "casserole") is a pork-and-cabbage-base dish typical of Brianza, a very beautiful hilly area north of Milan and between the two branches of Como's Lake (Lago di Como). Every time I visited my parents, my mother would prepare this family favorite for everyone. Now that my future visits to Italy are quite uncertain, I have decided to experiment in the kitchen and see if I could make it myself. I made it twice in the past month and both times it turned out excellent, which means, according to science, that it was no accident and that I can actually duplicate my initial success. :) The difficulty with this dish lays in finding the ingredients and in the amount of time they need to cook. Besides that, it is not very complicate to make and the final results is a true feast for all your taste buds. It is a dish that require faith also. The ingredients and process may not be very stimulating at first (my wife comment when she first saw me making it was: "...and we are going to eat THAT?!?!"). However, when I pulled it out from the oven and she tried some, I could not keep her away from it! The photos with this blog entry are from last week preparation, which was for a large dinner we had Sunday. The quantity of ingredients I used was for at least 12 adults (about 2-3 times the normal recipe for 4-6 people). So, the recipe I am describing here will serve 4 to 6, not the amount you see in the photos.

INGREDIENTS:

- Large slab of adult pork ribs (half rack)

- One package (5-6) fresh pork bratwursts

- One pig foot cut in two halves (don't freak out yet)

- 4-5 pieces of pork neck bones (OK, you can freak out now) :)

- One small onion

- 3 carrots

- 4 celery stalks

- One cup of white cooking wine

- One large green cabbage

- Half stick of butter

- Salt and pepper to taste

- 2-3 Bullion cubes (optional)

PREPARATION:

Rinse the pig foot and place it in a large pot with the neck bones. Fill the pot with cold water until all pieces are covered and boil for one hour. I found pig feet and neck bones at Wal-mart in the fresh meat section. They are both fairly inexpensive (duh! - who really buys this stuff?!?!). The pig feet I got came already cleaned, halved, 5 pieces per tray (which is what I needed for the amount I was preparing). For the regular recipe you can boil two halves and freeze the rest, or boil all of them together for extra rich pork stock. My mother keeps the pig foot with the rest of the meat as my grandfather loves it. In my case, after the pork stock was ready, I only kept the neck bones (rich of meat) and got rid of the feet. The traditional recipe would ask for cotenna (pig skin) boiled with the pig foot. The boiling turns them into a tasty gelatin, but I just can't get myself to like the texture. That is why I replaced the skin with the neck bones. The end product is a rich, flavorful, and thick pork stock to be used for cooking the ribs, sausages, and cabbage.

In another large pot, melt the butter over medium heat with the finely chopped onion, until golden. Cut the meat as to have single rib pieces and cook with butter and onion. When the ribs are lightly brown, pour wine and keep cooking until it evaporates. Add finely chopped carrots and celery. Stir as to ensure all the ribs are cooking evenly. Chop the cabbage in large chunks, removing and disposing of the stem (the cabbage will eventually cook down to nothing, releasing much fluid to the juice). Add to ribs. Poke the bratwursts with a fork 3-4 times, cut them in three pieces, and place them with the cabbage and ribs. Add 3-4 cups of the pork stock, the halved foot (one or two pieces) and the neck bones). Cover and let it cook on low heat for another hour. From time to time, move the pieces of meat around as to ensure they cook evenly. If necessary, add more pork stock (you can then freeze the rest for soups). Add salt and pepper to taste.

After about one hour, transfer the content of the pot in one large oven Pyrex pan (9x13). For a more flavorful dish, you can crumble 2-3 small Bullion cubes on the top of the meat. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 300 for another hour. After about half hour, check to ensure that the meat on the top is not getting too dry. Use a spoon to pour some of the juice on the top or move meat around carefully. Continue to cook until the meat is basically falling off the bones. I like my meat well done so I tend to cook it a little longer. Remove foil if you desire your meat a little more dry (which provides a contrast to the more juicer pieces at the bottom of the pan).

Cassola is traditionally served on a bed of Polenta (corn mash), which can be prepared about 5 minutes before serving the meat. (Note that in the picture I am only showing one of the two Pyrex pans I obtained with the larger amount of ingredients I used for my dinner. One Pyrex pan should be sufficient for the amount of ingredients listed for this blog entry).

Great food in Italy!

Of course, during the week I was in Italy to complete my PhD requirements, I also tried to eat as much of the local food as possible. Let's simply say that I have a different approach to the "ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT" concept!! Here are some of the delicious food I had while I was there.

This first item is called SPAGHETTI AL CARTOCCIO. It is a seafood pasta dish where spaghetti noodles are mixed with a rich tomatoes and cream sauce and an incredible variety of shellfish (shrimp, mussels, prawns, clams, squid, etc). Then, the whole thing is placed in aluminum foil and served as a "cartoccio" (rough looking package). Very messy, but an absolute treat for seafood lovers like me). I ate this at the Ristorante Pizzeria Italia, one of my favorites in Pavia, both for quality and quantity (as well as reasonable prices) in Pavia.

Another day, Ale and I met his wife Patrizia for lunch and went to a very fancy restaurant downtown Pavia (I can't remember the name, but as soon as I find it I will add it here). It has a lunch only menu with few specials that change from day to day and the pricing was reasonable. They serve an awesome tray of mixed breads and then I ordered some gnocchetti al ragu di mare (small potato dumplings with a diced seafood and tomato-based sauce), trota salmonata with zucchine trifolate (pink trout with sautee zucchini) and a delicate dessert made of sliced cupcakes and fresh custard cream.

On the Saturday before I left, I was able to take the Achillis to one of my favorite restaurants near where my parents live. The name of the place is Ristorante Simposio and they are famous for their seafood dishes (for a change). We really overdid it here!! But who could resist. First, who knows when I would be back here. Second, it was a goodbye with some very good friends and there was a little bit of uncertainty now that the PhD was over about when I was going to be able to see them again. Lunch was absolutely incredible. We started with some appetizers and things the kids could also enjoy such as Antipasto Misto di Mare per Patrizia (mixed seafood appetizers) and some Fritto Misto (mixed fried shrimp and calamari) for Leonardo. Ale and I instead enjoyed a very tasty, yet delicate Risotto al Pesce Persico (risotto with perch fillet). It was a joy for every taste buds. I think Ale ended up ordering a second serving since his daughter Beatrice was eating all his.

Next, we ordered one of the house specialties and the very reason we came here to eat: their magnificent and colossal seafood soup (with some more grilled fish just in case we were still hungry! What a feast for the eyes, the fingers and the mouth!!

The last item on this glorious week of food delicacies was dinner at my parents' home with the sweet company of my grandparents Perego. Mom made one of his the dishes she is famous for: La Cassola (aka Cazzuola), a typical dish of this area of Italy (Brianza). It is a mix of cabbage, pork sausage and pork ribs cooked slowly in the oven and eaten with Polenta (corn mash). I need to learn how to make it myself because once a year is just not going to do it for me! Grandma Perego completed an already perfect meal by bringing a beautiful Meringata ice-cream cake (a cake made exclusively of vanilla ice-cream and meringues), which is my very favorite dessert in the world (it is only better when eaten with hot chocolate poured on it!).

New Year's Day

Italians are a very superstitious people. This is particularly evident on the first day of every year. Everything that happens or that you do, could be potentially reflecting on the type of year you are going to live. The first phone call you receive... The first person you see on the street... And of course, the first meal you have. The traditional dish in Italy on January 1st is a pig leg called Zampone (=big leg) or Cotechino (which is basically the same thing without the pig foot at the end of it). For how awful they may sound, they are actually delicious since what you are really eating is a cooked, juicy, soft salami. Here is a photo I found on the internet.

I usually bring one with me from Italy as they are vacuum packaged. Unfortunately, this past Fall I did not go there and therefore this is the first time in years that I have to do without. Instead I made a small pork roast cooked slowly on a stove top in milk. As you can see from the photo I just posted, the Zampone is served with mush potatoes (optional) and lentils (mandatory!). Lentils represent money. The more lentils you eat on New Year's Day, the more money you will make during the year. If I am correct, such tradition derives from the biblical account of Esau selling his birthright to his younger twin brother Jacob for a bowl of porridge (and the folklorist version is that the bowl of porridge was indeed a serving of lentils). Of course, I made plenty and ate as many as I could possible handle. Here is my recipe for lentils (great as a side dish or as a soup):

- a package of dry lentils (1lb)

- one small carrot, one small onion, two celery sticks

- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)

- 4 TBSPs extra-virgin olive oil

- 4 slices of bacon

- 2 bouillon cubes (I prefer the vegetable based flavor from the Knorr brand that you can find in the ethnic section of the grocery store)

- 1/2 TBSP of Paprika
- Pinch of black pepper

- 1 small can of tomato paste

- water

In a food processor mince finely carrot, celery and onion (soffritto). Sautee in a large saucepan or pot with olive oil and garlic. Cut bacon in small pieces and cook it with the vegetables for a couple of minutes. Rinse the lentils in cold water, drain and pour in the pot. Add black pepper, cubes, paprika and cover with water. Add tomato paste. Stir occasionally and cook covered on low heat for approximately one hour. Check from time to time stirring regularly and adding more water if necessary (it depends on how "soupy" you would like the end product to be. I don't like mine watery). The lentils are ready when they are soft. Have a prosperous 2010!!

Pasta "Amore" for New Year's Eve

We usually don't do much on New Year's Eve. Since we have been married, Jenna and I have traditionally fed and put the kids to bed at their regular bed time and then I would make a candle-light seafood dinner for the two of us with some sort of sparkling juice and/or San Pellegrino mineral water. However, this year we have been invited by Jenna's cousin to attend a party in Heber City to welcome home her son from his two-year LDS mission in Chile, as well as celebrating the end of 2009 and the arrival of 2010 together. I was asked to cook the main dish for the evening, specifically to make the same pasta dish I prepared last August at Jenna's family reunion. This is a fairly simple dish, very tasty and very rich that I came up with during the past year and it has now become a family (and apparently also an extended family) favorite. I don't have a name for it, so for the time being I will just call it "Pasta Amore". Any suggestions for a better name are welcome! :)

For this occasion I made 6 pounds of pasta and of course the three photos below reflect the amount of ingredients necessary to feed 30-50 people (there were other food available at the party). The following ingredients are for the typical one pound pasta packaging and it would feed approximately 6 people.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1lb Pasta. I prefer the Farfalle (bow ties) shape from either Garofalo (Costco) or Barilla (many grocery stores carry it), but even Penne or other pasta shapes would do it;

- 3/4 cup sundried tomatoes (I get mine at Costco);

- 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced (depending on taste);

- 1 TBSP of dry basil leaves or a couple of fresh ones;

- 1 bouillon cube;

- 1/2 pint of heavy whipping cream;

- 1 lbs of cooked, tail off medium or large shrimp (I get mine frozen in a 2lbs bag at Costco);

- 1 cup of fresh mozzarella cheese (I prefer the Belgioioso Pearls at Costco or any fresh diced mozzarella would do it).

Cook pasta following the directions on the packaging. In a non-stick fry pan, sautee the sundried tomatoes in their oil with the bouillon cube, garlic, and basil. Do not overcook. When the tomatoes look softer, add the whipping cream and continue to cook over low/medium heat. In the meantime, thaw the shrimp (if frozen) under lukewarm water, drain and place in a bowl. If you are using a larger mozzarella loaf or ball, dice in cubes approximately 1/4 inch in size or smaller. Set aside. When the pasta is al dente, remove from heat, drain, and mix with the sundried tomatoes sauce. Add shrimp and fresh mozzarella. Toss and serve immediately.

Christmas Dinner 2009

Oh how much I love to get Christmas dinner together!! I think Jenna likes it too because she does not have to do any planning, shopping, and cooking. I did not go as extravagant as I did in the past couple years (remember sea urchins?) especially because I did not spend the last two months in Italy where I would get few funny things to try on Christmas day. So, I think I did pretty good with what I could find locally, with the exception of one dish. I will let you guess which one. The menu consisted of four appetizers, two pasta dishes, turkey with roasted potatoes, tiramisu, and San Pellegrino water a go-go.

Here are the details. We ate for four straight hours. Oh how much I love Christmas dinner!! (Did I already say that???).

APPETIZERS:

Like last year, I made a platter of Italian cold meats, which is pretty traditional in my home country. I cover a large tray and a bowl with aluminum foil and use it as my serving plate for the meats. I buy them at Harmon's as I am fairly pleased with the quality, texture and flavors of their Boar's Head Italian selection. This year we had Parma Prosciutto, Italian dry salami, Genoa Salami, Pancetta (Italian cured bacon), and Mortadella with pistachio nuts.

Next, another classic from my Christmas at home as a young boy: Shrimp in cocktail sauce. I believe I posted this recipe before, but here it is again just in case. I get a bag of frozen cooked tail-off shrimps at Costco (2 lbs) and thaw them under lukewarm water. In a bowl I mixe 1/4 cup of ketchup, 1/2 cup of mayo, 1 pint of heavy whipping cream, and two tsp of Paprika. Then I add the shrimp and mix them with the sauce. They tasted like candy!

Here is something new that I did not try for Christmas before: mussels au gratin. I buy the mussels at Walmart as they have a 2 lbs bag of froze, cleaned, cooked mussels ready to eat. And the price is excellent (less than $4). I place the sealed plastic bags under hot water and let the mussels thaw. I open the bags, discard the liquid, and remove the half shell that is empty. In a bow I mixed two cups of bread crumbs, minced garlic, parsley and olive oil as to make a nice moist mixture (garlic and parsley may vary depending on taste). I fill each half shell with some of the mix and the press with the palm of my hand to make sure it is nice and compact. I place the mussels on a cookie sheet and then in the oven at 350 for 1/2 hour. They taste better if they are still warm.

Here is the table before we sat and started eating. The appetizers are all there. From the top, the Italian cold meat platter (with a rose butter on the top...), a nice chunk of Parmesan cheese some friends from Italy brought me as a gift a couple of months ago, sliced artisan bread from Costco (I love it! But Jenna can make some pretty good bread too) in a banana leaves basket we got in Hawaii last October, the shrimp in cocktail sauce, and the mussels au gratin. Buon Appetito!

PASTA:

The two pasta dishes were quite simple, but very very tasty. I love the pasta from Costco, both the fresh and the dry one. For this year dinner we got some of their large ravioli filled with squash. I served them with a light butter and sage sauce. They also taste like candy. We could not have enough of them. For the second pasta dish I did something a little extraordinary (that was the surprise for this year... surprise that usually I am the only one to appreciate!!). I used the dry egg noodles from Costco. It was the first time I tried them and they also tasted very good. For the sauce I sauted two black truffles finely grated that I brought with me from Tuscany last June. I have frozen them and waiting for a special occasion to sacrifice these two beauties (see picture). Jenna saw them on the counter and nearly fainted for the look and the smell... :) I simply adore them. Truly one of my favorite food ever. I added a cup and a 1/2 of heavy whipping cream and let them cook together on medium heat for few minutes. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!!

MEAT:

The meat dish was turkey with a side of roasted potatoes. Both recipes come from my grandma Perego. In fact, I knew my parents ate the same dish this year as grandma's only Christmas job is to bring the sacrificial turkey to the table. I bought a small young turkey at Costco and then using a large butcher knife, I cut it in pieces about the size of my palm, plus the two legs and two wings (I then used the body with the little meat left attached to it to make turkey stock). I place everything in a large pot with: dry sage, dry rosemary, dry juniper berries, garlic, dry bay leaves, and a couple of bouillon cubes. I add two cups of white wine and some water and let it cook slowly, moving the pieces around from time to time, until it is mostly cooked and the spices have done their job. At this point I move everything in a roast pan with lid and place in the oven at 300 for a couple of hours, checking on it from time to time and making sure the pieces are moist. The meat just fall off the bones and it melts in your mouth!! The roasted potatoes are very easy and tasty. I used 5 lbs of peeled potatoes cut in pieces and place in a large oven open pan. I sprinkle them with dry rosemary, two-three crumbled bouillon cubes, extra virgin olive oil and some coarse salt. I baked them at 380 for 1-2 hours, until soft, moving them around to make sure the top one would not get too dry (no photo available).

DESSERT:

The real Italin tiramisu recipe asks for fresh mascarpone cheese, which is hard to find and quite expensive here in Utah. So, I came up with a less expensive alternative using ingredients that could be found locally. My wife had both and she thinks they are both very good. In a large mixing bowl, mix six large and very fresh egg yokes with 1/2 cup of sugar until lighter in color and fluffy. Add a box of American Neufchatel Cheese, which is similar to cream cheese, but with a much lighter flavor (and 1/3 of the fat). Next, add two containers of creamy cool whip and mix until the cream is smooth and velvety. In a Pyrex pan, make a layer of lady fingers (Savoiardi, which you can buy in many stores, particularly Italian grocery stores such as Caputo and Granato in the Salt Lake Valley). I soak them (with the help of a spoon) with an unsweetened roasted barley drink as a substitute for coffee. Postum or Pero could do it too (the latter is better). I then cover this first layer of cookies with half of the cream and repeat the operation for a second layer. I cover the whole thing with surround wrap and place it in the fridge until ready to serve. When ready, I cut a small portion on a dessert plate and sprinkle it with unsweetened cocoa powder.

I can't wait for next Christmas dinner already!! :)

Peperonata

Summer is almost over and thanks to the "great" weather Utah has... this is also the peak of the gardening season. Tomatoes are ripe, zucchini are abundant and people bring you over all sort of veggies that they planted for fun and now they don't know what a heck to do with them. I received bags of goodies last week and made several bags of ready to use tomato sauce, sliced zucchini, and a great "peperonata." Peperonata is a vegetarian dish (or sidedish) made with bell peppers. It is very simply to make and very tasty.

Since I had 12 peppers, I based my recipe on this amount.

Ingredients:

- 12 bell peppers, washed, cleaned (no tops or seeds), and cut in small pieces;

- 5 fresh tomatoes;

- 1 can of tomato sauce;

- 6 small/medium size potatoes;

- a small onion, minced;

- 1/2 stick of butter;

- 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil;

- 2 boillon cubes.

Place oil, butter, onion, and cubes in a large sauce pan. Cook until onion is soft. Add bell peppers and let them cook over medium heat until tender. Add diced tomatoes, diced peeled potatoes, and tomato sauce. Cook covered with a lid on low heat for about 45-60 minutes. Stirr occasionally. The peperonata is ready when all the veggies are tender and the sauce is reduced.

Eggplant Parmesan

A friend recenly asked me for this recipe as this is eggplant season in Utah and I have been eating Eggplant Parmesan almost every other day. My mother was visiting from Italy and we asked her to make three pans of it so that we would have some even after she left. This is actually her recipe. I will post some pictures when I bake the next pan.

Here it is.

I usually buy two or three medium/large size eggplants at the grocery store (Walmart has them too). In the stores you usually find the dark purple fat ones. There are many variety of eggplants. Choose the ones that are firm and not squishy (they are either old or have been dropped). Farmers Market has some great eggplants nowadays. I got myself 6 last Saturday (Borsky Farm table). They have the white and light purple kind that are sweeter and tastier. I made two large pans over the weekend!! Yummy. Prices varies. Usually between 1-2 dollars each eggplant. The ones I got at Farmers marker were $2 each, but they were all worth it!!

At home: wash them and slice off the top where the eggplant attached to the plant. Peel them using a knife or potato peeler. Slice them about ¼ inch thick per slice and place them in a large bowl. Sprinkle some salt on each slice. Let them rest for 20-30 minutes. The salt will remove some of the bitterness from the eggplants (you will notice large dark drops sweating from the slices.

Rinse under cold water thoroughly as to remove as much salt as possible. Dry the slices using a kitchen or paper towel. Fry the slices in canola or sunflower oil until tender (not golden). Do not overfry them. Place them in a container with papertowels to remove some of the grease.

Make a tomato sauce using regular tomato sauce (I love the brand found at Costco in cans), some minced garlic, basil (dry is fine), and extra virgin olive oil. You can add more spices (IE dry onion, etc.) if you want to, but I like it this way as I want to taste the tomato sauce.

In a Pyrex pan (9x13 or smaller depending on how many eggplants you are preparing): place a couple spoonfuls of the sauce on the bottom and arrange a layer of eggplant slices. Cover with few spoonfuls of tomato sauce and sprinkle some mozzarella and parmesan cheese on the top. Repeat the process until you have 4-5 layers (leave about ½ inch from the top border of the pan). Complete with the two cheeses. If you are going to save it or if you made more than one pan, cover with aluminum foil and place in a freezer. Otherwise, leave in the fridge until you are ready to bake it (cover with aluminum foil). Place in oven at 350F for 1 hour. Remove foil and let it bake another 15-20 minutes until cheese has melted. Remove from oven and let it stand for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Buon Appetito! Ugo

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As promised, here are some pictures taken a couple of weeks ago when I made some more Eggplant Parmesan. I made a particularly large pan, which I then froze for a perfect time to enjoy them in the near future. The approach I took is to simply fried the eggplant slices in canola oil "au-naturelle". Other options to get them ready would be to pass them in flower or bread crumbs prior to frying them or, for a lighter version, to grill them.

After slicing and soaking the eggplant (ca. 30') in cold water,

rinse well and pat them dry on clean kitchen towels before frying:

Frying:

Fried slices:

Marinara sauce

(tomato sauce, olive oil, dry onions, dry basil, salt, pepper, sugar):

Everything is ready:

First layer:

First layer with cheeses:

Ready to bake: