CeramicaDirect Recipe Collection

Arista alle Erbe con Patate — Roast Pork Loin with Herbs and Potatoes

·           1 ½ pounds pork loin

·           1 large carrot

·           2 shallots

·           ½ cup fresh herbs: parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, fennel, sage

·           ½ tsp. salt

·           ½ tsp. whole peppercorns

·           3 tbsp. olive oil

·           1 ½ pounds new potatoes, scrubbed

·           1 ½ cups white wine

Preheat oven to 450° F. Peel and roughly chop carrot and shallots, clean and stem herbs. Add everything to food processor with salt and peppercorns and pulse until finely minced. With machine running, add oil and process to a paste, scraping down sides as necessary. Cut open the pork loin half way and spread half the paste inside, close and tie up with kitchen string. Spread the rest of paste on outside of roast and place in center of roasting pan in oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 400°, add potatoes and roast 15 minutes. Add wine to pan and continue roasting for 25 to 30 minutes until meat reaches 155°. Remove meat and potatoes to serving platter. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Add ½ cup wine to pan and scrape up drippings with a spatula as you heat the pan on a low burner until reduced by half. Pass sauce separately. Serves 6

Branzino al Cartoccio – Wrapped Sea Bass

·             1 large (1 lb.) Bass for 2 people

·             1 lemon

·             1 medium tomato

·             1 small onion

·             1 branch rosemary

·             1 clove garlic

·             1/2 cup white wine

·             salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Descale and cut open fish, insert rosemary and sliced garlic. Oil and season outside of fish and place on kitchen paper. Lay slices of lemon, onion and tomato on top of fish, pour on wine and wrap tightly. Put on a baking tray in oven for 30 minutes. Unwrap and serve.

 Bruschette Miste–Assorted Toasts

·         1 loaf fresh Italian bread, slice ½ thick

·         3 large ripe tomatoes

·         ¼ lb. chicken livers

·         2 slices prosciutto

·         2 anchovy filets

·         ½ onion

·         1/2 cup white wine

·         1 tbsp capers

·         4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

·         1 small bunch basil leaves

·         salt and pepper

Lightly toast or grill bread. Roughly dice tomatoes into a bowl and season with 2 tbsp oil, salt and pepper, set aside.

Chop onion, anchovies and prosciutto finely, sauté in 2 tbsp oil until onion is transparent. Add cleaned chicken livers and sear until browned. Add capers and white wine, reduce heat to low and simmer to reduce liquid 10 minutes.  Let cool, then blend in mixer until smooth, adding more wine if necessary, salt and pepper.  Just before serving, spread liver paste on half of the toasts and spoon the tomatoes on the other half, tearing up the basil leaves on top of the tomatoes.  Alternate the slices on a serving tray.

Caponata — Spicy Eggplant Spread

·           3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

·           1 large onion, chopped in 1/2-inch dice

·           3 tbsp. pinoli nuts

·           3 tbsp. raisins

·           1 tsp. hot chili flakes

·           2 small eggplants, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

·           2 tbsp. sugar

·           1/2 tsp. cinnamon

·           1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

·           1/2 tsp. thyme

·           1/2 cup canned tomato pulp

·           1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

·           Salt and freshly ground pepper

·           Fresh mint, chopped

Heat olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the onions, pinoli nuts, currants and hot pepper flakes and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until softened. Add the eggplant, sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa and cook until eggplant starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the thyme, tomato sauce, and balsamic vinegar, bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature, garnish with mint. Serve the caponata spooned onto fresh crusty bread such as a baguette.

Castagnaccio – Sweet Chestnut Bread

·         1 ½ cups whole or part-skimmed milk

·         1 1b. chestnut flour

·         2 tbsp. olive oil

·         2 tbsp. raisins

·         2 tbsp. walnuts

·         2 tbsp. pinoli nuts

·         ½ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350° F. In large bowl, stir milk into chestnut flour, add olive oil, raisins, nuts and salt until well mixed. Pour into a parchment-lined 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake one hour until the crust is brown and cracked. Serves eight.

Crostini di Gorgonzola e Pere — Gorgonzola and Pear Crostini

·         3 oz. Gorgonzola dolce

·         3 tbsp. Cream

·         1 firm ripe pear washed, split lengthwise and cored

·         3 tbsp. Walnut halves

·         4 slices whole grain bread

Toast bread. Heat walnuts in pan until just toasted, chop coarsely. Mash gorgonzola until soft, beat in cream until smooth. Slice unpeeled pear crosswise as thin as possible or use a mandolin slicer. Spread cheese on toast, top with pear slices and sprinkle with walnuts.

Frittata ai Funghi Porcini – Porcini Mushroom Omelette

·         2 tbsp olive oil

·         1 shallot, thinly sliced

·         8 oz. Porcini mushrooms, thickly sliced

·         ¼ cup white wine

·         4 eggs

·         Sprigs of parsley, leaves finely chopped

·         ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

·         Salt and pepper

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in wide pan and add shallot, stirring for 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook without stirring until they begin to brown. Add wine and parsley, stir and simmer until wine has mostly evaporated. Remove from heat. Whip eggs in a large bowl with ½ of Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in mushrooms. Add 1 tbsp. oil to mushroom pan over medium heat, pour in egg and mushroom mixture. Cover pan and cook until firm enough to flip, using lid. Continue cooking until firm but not dry. Leave in covered pan until ready to serve. Put frittata on baking paper or foil, sprinkle with remaining cheese and pass under heated broiler just until cheese begins to melt. Serve immediately on flat platter. Serves two.

Insalata di Carciofi Crudi – Raw Artichoke Salad

·             2 globe artichokes

·             juice of 1 lemon

·             2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

·             a few sprigs of fresh marjoram-chopped

·             salt and pepper to taste

The artichokes must be as fresh and tender as possible. Remove the outer leaves, cut off the thorny tips, trim the stems to 2 inches and peel,  cut artichokes in half and submerge in a bowl of water with half the lemon juice to keep from browning. Cut out the chokes one at a time and put back in the water. Make a dressing by slowly beating in the oil to the remaining lemon juice one teaspoon at a time until emulsified. Add the marjoram, salt and pepper. Slice the artichoke halves from top to bottom, paper-thin, preferable with a mandolin slicer. Toss them with the dressing at least 1 hour before serving so that the artichoke slices have time to marinate.  Serves  4.

 Insalata di Farro Invernale — Winter Farro Salad

• 1 cup farro or barley
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 small cauliflower
• 1 head of broccoli
• 3 tbsp. raisins or dried currents
• 2 tbsp. pinoli nuts, lightly toasted
• 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 orange
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut cauliflower and broccoli into small 1-inch pieces and steam over broth until crisp/tender. Remove to a mixing bowl. Cut orange in half, reserving half and juicing the other. Toss vegetables with 2 tbsp. oil and juice. Cook farro in broth until al dente (10 to 20 minutes depending on variety) and drain, then dress with remaining tbsp. of oil, salt and pepper. Spread out farro and arrange cauliflower, broccoli, raisins and pinoli nuts on top. Slice the remaining half of orange to decorate the serving plate.

Insalata di Finocchi e Arance — Fennel and Orange Salad

·         2 medium florence fennel bulbs

·         3 blood oranges

·         olive oil

·         black pepper

Trim ends and stem tops off fennel. Peel oranges, remove as much white pith as possible. Cut fennel and oranges in half lengthwise and then slice across as thin as possible or use a mandolin slicer. Toss together in salad bowl, drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil and lots of fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Panforte – A Holiday Sweet from Siena

·         ¾ cup sugar

·         ¾ cup honey

·         1 pound mixed nuts (½  almonds, ½ hazelnuts and walnuts)

·         1 pound mixed, roughly chopped, candied fruits ( ½ candied citron, ½ candied cherries, orange peel and dried figs)

·         ½ tsp. cinnamon

·         ¼ tsp. ginger

·         1/8 tsp. nutmeg

·         1/8 tsp. pepper

·         3 egg whites

·         powdered  sugar

Ingredients for two cakes, serves 16

Preheat oven to 300°F, melt together over low heat sugar and honey, stirring until smooth, do not caramelize. In food processor, pulse to chop after each addition: almonds, then hazelnuts, then walnuts, spices, egg whites. At low speed pour in melted sugar mixture. Mix until all ingredients are no larger than ¼ inch dice. Divide between two 8-inch cake tins lined with wax paper and press very firmly to smooth down and remove air. Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool in their tins and dust heavily with powdered sugar before serving in thin wedges.

 

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Panzanella – Tuscan Bread Salad

·         Half a loaf of day-old Italian bread

·         3 large tomatoes

·         1 red onion

·         1 small cucumber or large pickle

·         Fresh basil leaves

·         4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

·         2 tbsp. white wine vinegar

·         salt & pepper

Slice the bread thickly, soak in cold water with a tablespoon of vinegar for a few minutes until it just begins to soften, drain and squeeze out excess water. Tear into chunks in a serving bowl, add chopped tomatoes, very thinly sliced onion and cucumber or pickle, torn basil leaves and sprinkle with oil and remaining vinegar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, but no more than three hours. Season with salt and pepper just before serving.

 

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Pomodori agli Odori  - Roast Tomatoes

·             8 firm, ripe plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise

·             Mixed fresh or dried herbs: basil, marjoram, oregano, sage, thyme

·             ¼ cup very finely ground dry bread crumbs

·             Salt

·             2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spread the tomato halves cut side up in an oven tray. Chop the herbs very finely and sprinkle them evenly over the tomatoes. Mix salt with bread crumbs and sprinkle over the herbs. Drizzle with the oil and broil in center of oven for 20 to 25 minutes until browned but still firm. Serve at room temperature. Serves four.

 

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Riso Integrale con Radicchio alla Griglia — Rice with Grilled Radicchio

·         1 ½ cups brown rice

·         1 large or two small heads radicchio

·         6 spring onions or two bunches scallions

·         ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, salt

·         2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

·         1 oz. Parmesan cheese

·         4 oz. Bacon or Pancetta cubes

·         3 tbsp. Pine nuts

Preheat the broiler. Set a large pot of salted water to boil for the rice, check package for timing, toss into boiling water and simmer until just cooked—30 to 60 minutes, drain. Heat pine nuts in pan until just toasted, salt to taste. Saute the pancetta cubes or bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Trim the vegetables. Quarter radicchio, cut out most of the core, leaving leaves attached. Split onions or scallions lengthwise and arrange in baking pan with radicchio, drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil and salt to taste. Broil for 20 to 25 minutes until starting to brown. Remove to cutting board and slice vegetables crosswise in thin strips, add with their pan juices to rice. Dress with 2 more tbsp. oil and vinegar. Shave parmesan into thin curls over rice and vegetables. Serve immediately, passing crumbled bacon/pancetta and pine nuts separately at the table.

 

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Sformato di Verdure —Vegetable Flan Mold

·        8 slices of prosciutto

·        3 medium zucchini

·        1 lb. button mushrooms

·        3 shallots, 2 carrots, 3 sticks celery

·        ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

·        1 cup vegetable broth

·        3 eggs

·        ½ cup toasted breadcrumbs

·        Fresh or dried thyme, salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Oil a ring mold and drape prosciutto slices across it evenly. Slice zucchini lengthwise 1/8 inch thick, sauté quickly in batches in 1 tbsp oil until just limp, drape over prosciutto. Clean and dice mushrooms. Dice shallot, carrots and celery (in mixer) and sauté in remaining oil until limp, add mushrooms and cook until mush room liquid starts to evaporate, add broth, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool.  Beat eggs with thyme and spices, add to mushroom mixture with breadcrumbs and mix lightly. Pour into mold and fold prosciutto and zucchini slices over top. Bake for 25 minutes and allow to cool before turning out on serving platter.

 

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 Tagliolini al Limone—Fresh Lemon Pasta

·        1 ½ lbs. fresh tagliolini or linguine

·        2 large firm ripe lemons, preferably organic

·        3 tbsp. butter

·        1/2 pint fresh cream

·        1 bunch flat leaf parsley, minced

·        2 oz. Parmesan cheese

·        Salt and white pepper to taste

Set a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Zest the lemons, avoiding any white pith, mince. Squeeze the lemons for juice. Melt the butter in a sauté pan large enough to hold the cooked pasta. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest, salt and lemon juice. Toss pasta into boiling water and cook until only half done, no more than two minutes. Add cream to pan and heat through. Drain pasta and toss with lemon cream sauce, add half of Parmesan and the white pepper, stir on low heat until pasta is just al dente. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately, passing the rest of the cheese at the table. It’s worth investing in the best untreated lemons with smooth skin!

 

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Tozzetti al Cioccolato e Nocciole — Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

·           2 cups flour, plus more for work surface

·           ¾ cup (75g) top-quality unsweetened cocoa powder

·           1 tablespoon instant coffee

·           ¼ teaspoon salt

·           1 teaspoon baking soda

·           4 medium eggs

·           1 cup sugar                                                                                                                                                          

·           1 cup whole hazelnuts, skinned and toasted                                                                                                                               

·           2 tablespoons coarse or demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F. Sift together flour, cocoa, instant coffee, salt, and baking soda. Beat eggs lightly in a separate bowl. Remove two tablespoons of egg mixture to small dish and set aside. Beat sugar into remaining eggs until blended. Stir in flour mixture and nuts to form soft dough. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough into two logs 2 inches in diameter and the length of the baking sheet. Transfer the logs onto the baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. Flatten the logs, brush liberally with the reserved egg wash and sprinkle with sugar grains. Bake 15 to 25 minutes until firm to the touch. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut on an angle into slices 1/2-inch thick with a serrated knife. Return slices to baking sheet, laying them on their sides, and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp and dry. Allow to cool completely before storing or serving. Makes about 30 cookies.

 

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 Zucchine alla Griglia — Grilled Zucchini

·           8 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/8-inch thick

·           2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

·           4 tbsp. mixed fresh herbs: parsley, basil, chives, mint, finely chopped

·           ½ tsp. salt

·           fresh ground pepper

·           juice from one large lemon

Heat a ridged grill over high heat and lay the zucchini slices crosswise, close set but not overlapping (you will have several batches depending on the size of your grill). When slices begin to wilt and have grill marks on bottom, flip over each slice and grill until equally cooked on other side. Remove to serving plate and continue grilling next batch. As each batch is laid on the plate, drizzle with some of the oil, sprinkle on some of the herbs, salt and pepper, then drizzle with lemon juice. Allow to sit at room temperature for about half an hour before serving. Serves 6.

 

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