HolyF*caccia

But, being Xmas, we wanted to come up with a christmassy dessert at our last popup dinner at The Italian Dinner we had at the end of November at Look Mum No Hands in Hackney (London).

Unfortunately in the Italian cuisine there’s nothing more that says christmas like a panettone. Instead of serving it with the usual mascarpone or chocolate sauce, we thought we’d deconstruct it, add some cream and fruit and a bit of booze (everything tastes better with some booze).

So here it goes:

INGREDIENTS

500gr panettone

250ml double cream

50gr icing sugar

Rum

Strawberry and raspberry

mint leaves

A teaspoon of Vanilla extract 

Cinnamon

Juice of 2 oranges

200ml water

150gr sugar

PREPARATION

Slice the panettone horizontally in 1-inch thick slices. Using a cooking ring, cut out circles (2 per each guest) and crisp them in the oven (10 mins at 180C should be enough).

In the meantime, prepare an orange sirup by boiling the juice with water and sugar until the water has evaporated and it has reached a sirupy consistency. Add the rum to the sirup.

Add the vanilla extract and the cinnamon to the double cream and whip it with a whisk until quite firm, add the icing sugar and work it until you get those nice and stiff peaks. A little secret here, to get the best results, place a metal bowl in the fridge for 20mins before whipping the cream, the cold will help the process.

Using a pastry brush, soak the panettone circles with the orange sirup. Take half of the circles and, using a piping bag, pipe the whipped cream on top and add some strawberry slices.

Top it with a slice of panettone, some whipped cream and decorate with a raspberry and mint leaf.

You can dust it with icing sugar and decorate the plate with a raspberry coulis.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 hungry guests)

500 grams Fusillotti Pasta Rummo

200 grams minced beef

200 grams Tuscan sausage

100 grams smoked diced pancetta

50 grams butter

onion, finely chopped

carrot, finely chopped

celery stick, finely chopped

250 ml white wine

200 ml vegetable stock

250 gram(s) Galbani Mascarpone

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

60 mls chopped flat leaf parsley

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

EVO Oil, salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Prepare a soffritto, by putting the olive oil, the butter and the onion in a sauce pan. After a few minutes, add the celery and the carrots on moderate heat for 10 minutes or until softened, then add the pancetta and leave it for another 5 mins.  Deglaze with half of the wine.

Add the beef and the sausage meat (squirt it out of the skin) and mix well. Cook, stirring frequently, until the meat has browned. Approximately 10 minutes.

Pour in the wine (if you haven’t drunk it yet) and cook until evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and add the stock. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time. It’s hard to burn it but keep an eye on it.

Just before you turn the heat off, mix in the mascarpone, parsley and nutmeg.

While it rests, cook the pasta in a large saucepan in boiling salted water until al dente. It takes an effort to over cook Pasta Rummo. Just follow the cooking time indicated by the master of Pasta and you will be fine.

Drain the pasta and add immediately to the pan with the sauce. Save some cooking water and add it to the sauce. It will help to bond in all the ingredients.

Mix well and serve it in a nice serving dish with a shower of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some parsley.

Buon Appetito!

So, if you want to wow your guests, this is the perfect dish. And you don’t have to be Italian to pull it off (although I am, so it a bit easier for me)...

INGREDIENTS (Serves 8)

-          2 aubergines (eggplants for our friends the other side of the pond)

-          4 tomatoes

-          Some garlic

-          One mozzarella (ok, maybe two if you pick it while you cut it)

-          Grated parmesan cheese

-          Evo oil

-          Basil leaves

PREPARATION

Slice the aubergine with a mandolin in c.1cm-thick slices, put them in a colander and put some rock salt on top to “sweat” the aubergines for an hour. This is a good trick to take the bitterness out of the aubergine.

Take the slices and pat them with kitchen paper to remove the excess salt and then you can either fry them in vegetable oil or bake them in the oven (option a) tastier than the b) healthy-option).

While you wait for the aubergine to sweat, prepare the other components of the parmigiana:

-          slice the mozzarella no thicker than half cm

-          quarter the tomatoes and remove pulp, then dice ‘em and put them in a pan with evo oil and chopped garlic for a minute or so on full heat (you want to keep them firm)

Now compose the parmigiana on a baking tray. First start with a slice of aubergine, then a slice of mozzarella, a spoonful of the diced tomato and a basil leave. Grate some parmesan cheese and repeat step one (you can repeat step one twice if you fancy).

Top it with a slice of aubergine and with some tomato. Grate parmesan over the parmigiana and you are ready for 10/15 mins in the oven at 170.

You need a magic ingredient and it’s the Lardo di Colonnata. Yes, lard. That’s exactly what I said. And it comes from the fatback of my favourite animal, the pork.

Colonnata is a town in Tuscany near Carrara, famous for its marble. And it’s exactly with this marble that the lard is cured for months in basins with salt and rosemary.

You can find lardo di colonnata (or lardo d’arnad from Valle D’Aosta) in any decent Italian deli (In London try Gazzano in Farringdon and I Camisa in Soho or try lapiccoladeli.com). Buy a 50 gr chunk for a few crostini enough for 4/6 people.

Slice it in small sticks and on a chopping board, add some rosemary and thyme and the zest of half a lemon. Add some salt (better if you have some coarse salt with wild garlic) and chop it till it becomes a mousse.

INGREDIENTS

300gr Philadelphia

200gr Mascarpone

100gr Double cream (perfect if you are on a diet)

3 egg yolks

4 spoons of flour

A couple of white chocolate squares – melted (make it 4)

200gr digestive biscuits

Couple of espresso shots

50gr amaretti biscuits

100gr melted butter + a knob of butter

Chocolate powder

4/5 savoiardi biscuits (or lady fingers as they call them here in England)

PREPARATION

Start making the base for the cheesecake by BLITZING the biscuits together with the amaretti till reduced to a semi-fine crumb.

POUR the butter over the crumbs and STIR together. Moisten with a couple of teaspoons of espresso.

Put some baking paper at the bottom of a cake tin (22cm) and spread a knob of butter all over the bottom and the side of the cake tin. PRESS into the tin and chill in the fridge.

PLACE the mascarpone, Philly and the double cream in a bowl and whisk with an electric mixer. Then add the egg yolks, flour, melted white choc and the espresso coffee and whisk gently til you have reached a smooth consistency (add philly or mascarpone if too runny).

PREHEAT oven to 175C. Place a pan of water on the bottom of oven (this will keep your cake moist).

PLACE your savoiardi (quickly soaked in some coffee) at the bottom of your tin and POUR the mix into your cake tin.

PLACE the tin in the middle of the oven. BAKE for 40/45 minutes or until set. Once done, open the oven door and let it cool for some 20 mins.

REFRIGERATE for a few hours. This is the hardest part cos by now you’d want to eat it.

It’s a shame as I love aubergine. Or melanzane in Italian. Or Marrangiane if you are from New Jersey and hang out with the Sopranos.

Anyway, pasta alla Norma is one of my favourite recipes with aubergines and it is very easy to make. You need to find some ricotta salata, which is a hard ricotta suitable for grating over pasta.

It comes from Sicily and it thought that the name comes from Bellini’s Norma. Kinda of a long story. I won’t bore you with it. If someone asks, you know nothing anyway.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 picciotti)

250gr Tortiglioni (I’ve just discovered these guys and they are f good)

One very expensive aubergine

½ lt passata or one can of tomatoes

Garlic, basil, salt, pepper, olive oil

Grated ricotta salata

PREPARATION

DICE the aubergine and put it in a colander. SPRINKLE with coarse salt and let it rest with a weight on it for one or two hours.

This is not a necessary step although the aubergine will taste better and will be less watery if you let them expel some of their water.

POUR some oil in a frying pan and add a couple of garlic cloves (naked. I mean, the garlic, not you).

After a couple of minutes, ADD the tomato sauce and let it simmer at low temp for 5 minutes.

FRY the aubergine in some olive oil. SET ASIDE on a kitchen paper for a couple of mins and then ADD them to the sauce together with a few basil leaves.

COOK the pasta in a pot of salted water (stay a couple of mins short of advised cooking time for al dente texture).

DRAIN the pasta and ADD it to the pan with the sauce.

JUMP IT as we say in Italy or toss it with the sauce.

Serve with a generous helping of grated ricotta and decorate with a leaf of basil.

Now, you tell me this is not amazeballs!?!?

PS: If you can't find any ricotta salata, add some normal ricotta in the sauce just before you pour in the pasta.

Anyway, I was back at my parents’ for the weekend and we had a nice family lunch and my aunt showed up with these little cucumber cups filled with salmon mousse.

Besides looking very good on a summer table, they were really tasty and refreshing under the hot Italian sun.

Very easy and quick to make but with a guaranteed wow factor when they turn up at the table.

INGREDIENTS

-          One cucumber

-          200gr smoked salmon

-          50gr ricotta

-          100gr cream

-          Red pepper grains

-          Parsley

-          Salt/pepper

PREPARATION

CHOP the salmon in small chunks and put them in a blender together with the ricotta, a pinch of salt and some pepper. And blitz the life out of it.

WHIP the cream in a separate bowl and add the salmon mix. Season with salt.

Step 1: DONE

Now the cucumber cups.

SKIN the cucumber with a peeler and cut it in pieces 3cm long. DIG a hole in the cucumber chunk using a teaspoon.

Step 2: DONE

Using a pipe, SQUEEZE the salmon mix into the cucumber and decorate with some grains of red pepper and parsley leaves.

Step 3: DONE

A beautiful starter in 10 minutes!

So I thought of a recipe from my grandma and looked forward to being home to start cooking.

Now…you think chicken is a lean meat with no fat, right? Well, not in my house. I managed to massage that little bird with some Italian lard and herbs and the result is amazeballs. Worth a couple more calories on the plate (maybe you can just help yourself with a smaller portion).

Not only the lard will add flavour to the chicken but it will also help to create a tasty-crispy skin, which is something you want with your roast chicken.

INGREDIENTS

1 organic chicken

Two spoons of lard (if you can’t find any, then butter and oil will do)

Finely chopped rosemary, thyme, sage and pepper

500gr of maris piper potatoes (or any spud good for roasting)

Glass of white wine (well, you actually need half of it. You know what to do with the rest)

2 medium red onions

2 garlic cloves

A few small chorizo sausages

Lemon juice

Salt, EVO oil

PREPARATION

TAKE your chicken out of the fridge some 30mins before.

PREPARE a mixture with your herbs and lard and gently MASSAGE your chicken.  You can pplay some Barry White if that helps your rubbing mood…

STUFF the chicken with one garlic clove (break it but do not peel it) and a couple of chorizos.  The other garlic goes under one of the armpit of the chicken. Like a deodorant. I love a garlic-smelling chicken.

PREHEAT your fan-oven on at 190C. PUT the chicken in an oven-tray and POUR some of the white wine and some lemon juice over it and PLACE it in the oven for c. 1hr per kg (usually 20mins per 500gr + 10-20mins extra).

In the meantime, CHOP your spuds and onions in wedges and microwave them for 7/8mins in a bowl with a couple of spoons of water, covered with cling film.

30mins before your chicken is done, take it out and LAY the potatoes, onions and the remaining chorizos all around it and sprinkle salt and some of the remaining herbs.

Remember to BASTE the chicken every 20mins with the sauce that is forming in the tray…mmmhhhh

For the final 15mins, baste for the last time, turn fan off and grill up to 220C to give the skin that yummy crispiness.

Once cooked, remove and let it rest for 15mins covered with tin foil.

Let me know how it came out!

The hot weather inspires me to prepare summery and refreshing dishes and the other night I came up with a great salad; rocket and papaya with feta, nectarine, radish and shallot. I know it's just a salad but it could be a great idea for a side dish at your next BBQ. INGREDIENTS (for two): - 250gr Rocket (or arugula if you are americano) - one papaya - 100gr feta - one shallot - four radishes - one nectarine - EVO oil, balsamic vinegar and salt PREPARATION CUT the papaya in thin wedges and de-seed.

DICE the nectarine and the feta in small cubes.

SLICE the radishes and the shallot.

TOSS everything in a bowl and season with EVO oil and salt.

LEAVE it to rest for 10 mins.

Just before serving ADD the rocket and finish off with a few drops of balsamic vinegar and EVO oil to your liking. I served it as a side to my ceviche and it was the perfect complement to balance the acidity of the marinated fish.

See? Who said that salads have to be boring!?

If you don't want to waste time in the kitchen and rather be outside soaking the rays, this is what you have to do:

BUY the freshest seabass and salmon fillet and a couple of scallops.

Thinly SLICE everything and put in a bowl with 1/2 lime and 1/2 lemon juice, fine strips of red chilli, coriander and slices of red onion.

MARINATE the mix for 30 mins in the fridge. Let the lemon juice do the cooking. Some people like to marinate it for hours but I like my fish row so the little, the better for me.

While you wait, you can POP a bottle of Gavi, a perfect match to the ceviche, and taste it chilling out in the garden. To be honest, I used half a glass in the marinate. I mean, it can't hurt, right?

SERVE it on a plate and sprinkle with coriander and strips of chilli.

It’s fresh and if prepared with some ingredients just off the plants, it’s a bouquet of flavours and summery scents. Cucumber, tomatoes, basil…it can’t get any more summery than this!

It also has a special place in my heart. It reminds me when as a kid I used to spend my summers in Tuscany, specifically in Castiglioncello, by the coast near Livorno. Spending the day between swimming and eating. And sometimes doing the same things at the same time. I wish I could do that again!

Given that I only have a few days off a year and I don’t live by the sea, the only thing I can do is go down memory lane and eat plenty of Panzanella.

My version is with cucumber and capers, because that’s how I remember it and I like it, so people of Tuscany don’t start arguing with me that it’s not the original recipe. I’m not an I-Taliban so I’m always happy to twist recipes (within the boundaries of taste)!

The good thing is that it is made with leftover bread and it lasts a few days in the fridge. So next time you find in your kitchen a loaf of ciabatta as hard as a hammer, think Panzanella!

Here we go, have some yourself and tell me how you like it.

INGREDIENTS

-          500gr Stale bread (better if you find Tuscan bread)

-          200gr ripe cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters

-          One sliced cucumber

-          One sliced large red onion

-          Dozen of basil leaves

-          2/3 tbsp of capers

-          White wine vinegar

-          Salt, pepper, EVO oil

PREPARATION

PLACE the onion in a small bowl with the vinegar and some water and let it rest for about 30 mins (this will take out the strong onion flavour, leaving a delicate and crunchy taste).

SOAK the bread in water, squeeze in and put it in a bowl.

ADD the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, capers and basil.

SEASON with plenty of EVO oil, a few drops of vinegar and salt.

That’s it. Done. Sorted. You won’t believe how good it is. Again, minimum effort, maximum result!

Cotidie is an Italian restaurant in Marylebone and with Chef Bruno Barbieri at the helm of the kitchen, I was expecting a wonderful dinner and an attentive service.

I mean, the guy has won a total of seven Michelin stars. Seven stars are not achieved by chance. The food must be wonderful in there!

Chef Barbieri is also one the judges on the Italian Masterchef (nicknamed Bastardchef because of the rudeness of a judge in particular) and he became known to the masses for his famous “Mappazzone” a word in Bolognese to indicate a “dish of low quality in its preparation” or as Bastianich (the rude one) would say “it is sh*t”.

Anyway, I’m not here to talk about the personalities but about the chefs and their ability of presenting wonderful food to paying customers.

The only problem is that at Cotidie, Mr Mappazzone hasn’t been seen for the last three months…I do appreciate that a chef cannot be present every single day in his flagship restaurant in London (no? really???) but three months without checking what goes out of that kitchen?! Not a good start. I wish the waiter lied to us!

After the first disappointing blow, I noticed another detail that made me question the quality of the restaurant, our cutlery plates were chipped. Would you present a chipped plate to your guest? I wouldn’t and I’d expect a top restaurant (wannabe) in London to do the same.

Perception so far wasn’t up to what you’d expect. A look at the menu gave me the impression of modern Italian with some creative ideas and a good selection of wine to complement the food.

To start the experience, our waiter suggested we tried a Tomino wrapped in pancetta and a goose foie gras with confit tomatoes.

Let me start here…

Tomino is a famous Italian cheese from the north of Italy and it is wonderful when wrapped in pancetta and grilled to present a soft and warm core of cheese…mmhhhh I love melted cheese. Shame this dish didn’t deliver that wow factor.

First, it doesn’t require any particular skills and to be honest I’d see it on the menu of a trattoria rather than in a fancy wannabe restaurant in London. Second, given that it is a basic dish to prepare, can you please get it right and make sure it is melted in the middle? Cold Tomino is not good. Tomino was born to have a soft heart.

Rating: 5/10 (I was going to give it a 6 but having seen the tired presentation – a heap of rocket on top of the cheese, I had to take it down a notch).

The goose foie gras (apparently flown in directly from Israel – even if it looks like production of foie gras is banned) was ok. Yes, just ok. I’m a big lover of duck foie gras and was actually excited to try a variation on the theme. Honestly there’s not a massive difference from duck and goose foie gras, with the latter having a lighter and sweeter taste. I really liked the confit cherry tomatoes though.

Rating: 6/10 (I’d have loved it a bit warmer than what it was served. Definitely did not justice to the poor goose).

For main we were advised by the waiter to try the bocconcini rib eye with artichokes and onions. Given that I’m a sucker for meat and artichokes, I had to have it. I was intrigued by the bocconcini (small bites in Italian) and I asked the waiter the reason why you’d reduce a nice rib eye steak into bites and he said it was done to keep the beef hot…??? Since when small bits keep the heat better than a whole chunk? Oh well, let’s try it.

Well, surprise surprise, the waiter was wrong. The bocconcini turned cold within a couple of minutes they were served. To be fair the artichokes were good and the onions were crunchy the way I like them and perfectly seasoned. You buy steak you get good veggie. Nice one.

And what about the presentation? Balsamic drizzle and parsley is so 2011. Those who can't, drizzle...

Rating: 5/10. Meat turned cold quickly and I honestly see no point of reducing a nice rib eye into bites. Especially with that price tag (£26).

We were still hungry for dessert and we had a caramel bavarese with raspberry coulis and delicious Fried beignets filled with vanilla custard, maple syrup and candied orange zest.

They were both good and we were so quick in devouring the beignets that I didn’t have the time to take a picture. The vanilla custard was right up my street as well.

Rating: 8/10 nothing to add. Just good desserts.

Being Italian we wanted to finish off our dinner with a nice espresso and when we asked at 23:29 for two coffees, the waiter said the restaurant was closing at 23:30 (!!!) and they’ve already cleaned the coffee machine…thanks for asking if we wanted anything else. FAIL on service.

Service Rating: 5/10 a bit too sloppy given the kind of restaurant. This includes wrong answers, chipped dishware and fail on the coffee.

Still, even without a coffee, our mouth was left bitter by the bill as it came up to £200, including wine (a bottle of Rubesco Lungarotti 2008), two grappas, two whiskeys and service. Definitely not worth the whole experience and an overall rating of 6/10…

I don’t mind spending money on food but I would like to enjoy a quality meal with an attentive service in exchange of my hard-earned cash. Sorry it didn’t feel like this at Cotidie.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the marriage Barbieri-Cotidie would end some time soon given the average quality of the food and the fact that he hasn’t been spotted sweating over the stove for the last three months…

Cotidie is a latin word that means everyday but trust me, given the price tag and the average food, they are not going to see me every day (and not even every year!).