We're excited to share with you a few of Cristiana's signature dishes: a primo, secondo and dolce, so you can recreate an entire Italian dinner party and wow family and friends with your skills in la cucina italiana.
First, the primo, a dish called gnocchetti 'collescipolani', a variation of gnocchi, made with just flour, breadcrumbs, water and salt (no eggs or potatoes). This simple and delicious rustic dish gets its name from a small Umbrian village named Collescipoli.
Gnocchetti “Collescipolani”
Ingredients (for 4 ppl)
1½ cups of flour
1 cup of breadcrumbs
EVOO
¼ of an onion
1 clove of garlic
Carrots
1 celery stalk
2 sausages
¼ Lb of pancetta (diced)
7oz of tomato sauce
7oz of borlotti beans
Salt
Directions
1. Mix the flour and breadcrumbs
together through a sieve.
2. Form a
hole in the center of the mixture. Add warm water and salt, and let it sit for
a half hour.
3. Shape the pasta in long strips, cutting to form little cylinders
approximately ¼ inch thick and ½ inch in diameter.
4. For the sauce, heat up 1 Tbsp of EVOO and add in the onion,
garlic, celery and carrots (all finely chopped). Then add the diced pancetta
and sausages (removed from casings and crumbled). After approx.15 minutes add
the tomatoes and continue cooking. Approx.10 minutes before cooking is done,
add the beans.
5. Boil the gnocchetti in
salt water and as each one rises to the surface, throw into the sauce. Serve
with grated pecorino cheese
*****
Eggplant
Parmigiana
Ingredients (for 8 ppl)
3 medium to large
size eggplants
16oz can of diced
tomatoes
4 Tbps of
parmigiano reggiano
1 large ball of
mozzarella (cubed)
5-6 Tbsp of extra
virgin olive oil
Carrots, celery and
onions (1 Tbsp of each), diced
Salt and pepper
Directions
1. Cut the eggplant into thin
discs, salt them and leave them in a strainer for an hour to remove the water
and bitter flavor
2. Preheat the oven to 350ºF, take
a roasting pan, cover it with a baking sheet and place on top the eggplant
3. Brush the eggplant with olive
oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook in the oven for around 20
minutes
4. In the meantime, in a pan, heat
2 Tbsp of oil and add onions, carrots & celery. Cook for a few minutes,
then add the tomato.
5. When eggplant is ready (lightly
browned), take a heat-resistant dish, and layer ½ the tomato sauce, then ½ the
eggplant, then ½ the parmigiano, then ½ the mozzarella
6. Repeat, ending with the
mozzarella, tomato & parmigiano
7. Cook at 400ºF for around 30
minutes
*****
Tiramisù
Ingredients (for 8 ppl)
2
egg yolks
¾
cup of sugar
12oz
of mascarpone cheese
5oz
of whipping cream/ricotta
3
cups espresso coffee
1
cup of milk or coffee liquor
10oz
of lady fingers or pavesini
2
squares of dark chocolate
¼
cup of fine cocoa
1
tablespoon of Marsala liquor
Directions
1.
Grate chocolate onto a plate. Set
aside.
2.
Prepare Zabaglione : beat yolk and ¾ of sugar together over a double boiler.
Whisk until stiff. Add Marsala. Set aside.
3.
Whip cream with the remaining sugar
until stiff and carefully add Mascarpone cheese. Add in the Zabaglione and whisk together.
4.
Dip lady fingers into coffee mixture. Place
into prepared rectangular serving pan, lying side-by-side, covering entire
surface. Spread ½ of mascarpone cream over biscuits.
Sprinkle grated chocolate and cocoa over. Repeat layering.
Sprinkle grated chocolate and cocoa over. Repeat layering.
5.
Keep in refrigerator for 4-5 hours. Sprinkle
a very fine dust of cocoa on, before serving
*****
