As our bitter winter dragged on into April, I frequently found myself thinking of our spring holiday to northern Italy a few years ago. What I wouldn’t give to be back at Corteforte Winery and B&B in Fumane, north of Verona, and the adjacent Enoteca Della Valpolicella where we dined three nights in a row. The food was that divine. Fresh peas and pasta. Beef braised in Amarone, served with creamy polenta. Zucchini blossoms bathed in pesto. Each dish matched to a regional wine.
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| The divine food of Enoteca Della Valpolicella |
Revisiting those memories was the inspiration for our April Epitour: Italian Spring.
Italian food is deceptively simple — most recipes are limited to half dozen ingredients or even less. But it’s all about those ingredients: Fresh. Seasonal. Preferably local, which is what makes Italian cooking at its best regional.
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| Artichokes alla Romana |
The recipe for Carciofi alla Romana is simple as is the method of cooking and marinating them. The challenge is finding fresh globe artichokes. Ours come from California and the season is short in the rare Ontario grocery stores that bother to carry them in the early spring. Just as challenging is getting the choke out before cooking the hearts. The first time is a nightmare but it gets easier. (Google or You Tube will show the way.) The taste is worth every minute of the prep.
Laura
I
rarely take the time to make fresh pasta, but whenever I do, I find it
such a satisfying thing. I especially love making filled pastas.
I chose to make tortellini. And of course I wanted to use my neighbour Kelly’s Gourmet Mushrooms in the filling. They grow shiitake, lion’s mane, and blue oyster varieties. I used a combination of all three.
I
usually use Marcella Hazan’s recipe for fresh pasta. Her Essentials of
Classic Italian Cooking is my bible for Italian cooking. The ingredients are
simple: 1 cup of all-purpose flour and two eggs. And a little bit of
milk added when making dough for a filled pasta. But this time I decided
to try the pasta recipe that went along with the Serious Eats mushroom filling recipe I’d chosen. It uses a combination of whole eggs
and egg yolks. The eggs came from my next-door neighbour and the yolks
were so yellow, they turned the pasta a lovely deep hue. However, I
think I will return to the tried-and-true Marcella recipe. I found the
“Serious Eats” recipe quite stiff and hard to work at first. Luckily it
softened up during it’s 30-minute rest and was ok to roll through the
pasta roller.
I
chose to serve the tortellini with a very simple browned butter, grated
Parmesan, a splash of white truffle oil, and a few micro greens for a
springtime touch.
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| Simply delightful mushroom tortellini! |
Caroline
When lunch themes are announced, I’m certain that our foursome goes into a deep period of culinary reflection. Routines are broken. Daily chores are ignored. Partners are neglected. Once breakthrough is achieved, a grocery list is compiled and it’s a run to a “carefully selected purveyor of ingredients”. We then enter the testing phase which is most likely to occur over the course of two to three dinners with our significant others — who, at times, ogle our creations with a reluctant eye.
Dandelion greens came to mind when Kaarina launched her Italian Spring theme. I pass these lovely bunches in the produce section knowing that bitter greens are not enjoyed by all. I have acquired a liking for them over the years and have learned to disguise their taste to make them palatable for the more conservative palates.
I decided to modify a favourite recipe, a Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Torta from the northern Piemonte region. Layered crespelles — Italy’s version of crêpes — and besciamella sauce are delicious examples of the French culinary influence on this region. Of course the erbe would be dandelion greens and two fistfuls of rapini to give the tart more volume. The addition of a couple of uncased Italian sausages truly makes this a “one-pot-meal”. The layering begins and ends with buttered breadcrumbs mixed with garlic, grated fontina and parmesan cheese. Perhaps a little labour intensive but, this torta is deliciously worth it.
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| Delicious tart of dandelion greens |
Kaarina
Artichokes are notoriously difficult to pair with a wine but it seems that the northeastern corner of Italy — Friuli-Venezia-Giulia — produces whites that somehow defy the odds. Surprising even to me, I found a bottle in my own cellar that had been gifted to me years earlier. Marco Felluga Russiz Superiore Sauvignon Collio 2010 had the full body and the acidity to take on the artichokes.
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| Two stars! |
Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking has been my everyday home cooking guide for many, many years, but for this Epitourist adventure I sought fresh inspiration from the Great Italian Chefs. What a fun website! Bios of chefs, links to their restaurants, features on regions and regional foods, and of course, recipes. Tons of recipes, from their restaurant menus and their family kitchens.
This is where I found Filippo Trapella’s grandmother’s fried lamb chops. It’s a family Easter favourite in Bologna.The radicchio purée is borrowed from a duck recipe created by a 30-something Michelin-starred chef Lorenzo Cogo of Vicenza, who infuses traditional with international influences for a fresh take on Italian cucina. The simple fennel salad is a long-standing favourite from my guru Marcella: Thinly sliced fennel tossed with the best Extra Virgin Olive Oil you can afford and salt to taste.
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| Fried lamb chops on radicchio purée |
With no thought for dessert, we sipped on a little grappa — a barrel-aged Ducale Grappa Stravecchia Reserva — for a fine end to a fine afternoon.
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| Fine ending! |
Wow! What a meal. Spectacular looking.
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