Roasted Peppers with Anchovy

A A recipe inspired by our travels to Spain and using what is found in our garden/locally in Italy. The roasted peppers and anchovies are a great start to your summer dinner or served it on crostini for lunch with a wedge of cheese! A note on anchovies: First if you think you are not a fan, try it again. This dish is not meant to be 'fishy' - it is the salty, brininess of the anchovies that perfectly compliment the roasted peppers (and they are even better with the smoky flavor from the grill!)

ROASTED PEPPERS WITH ANCHOVIES

4 large peppers
1 clove of garlic
4 anchovy filets
handful of herbs (basil or oregano)
salt and pepper
about 3 TB red wine vinegar
about 7 TB good extra virgin olive oil

Roast the peppers in the oven, on the gas stove-top or better yet on the grill, blackening the skins of the peppers.
Then place the peppers in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap until cool.
Once cool remove the skins and seeds.
Slice into 1cm or 1/2 in strips.
Mince the garlic & tear up the herbs - adding both to the peppers.
Add your anchovy filets.
Season with salt & pepper.
Add the red wine vinegar & olive oil.
Mix and let sit for a few hours. (It gets better as it sits.)
Serve!
This will pair perfectly with crostini/crusty bread and a wedge of cheese!

We made this dish in last night's cooking class!

Savory Radicchio and Prosciutto Crostini Topped with Sweet Syrupy Sapa

A fall favorite is the savory radicchio and prosciutto crostini topped with sweet syrupy sapa. This is a great example of balancing flavors: the fat of the prosciutto will cut the bitterness of the radicchio, while the sweet component, sapa will round out the flavor. To achieve a balanced result - all three ingredients should be in balance not tasting one single ingredient but a rich flavorful bite. Sapa is a has been used since Ancient Roman cuisine and is made by slowly reducing grape must in large kettles until it had been reduced by one-third. Sapa is common used in Italy, especially in Le Marche, Emilia Romagna and Sardinia, where it's considered among the traditional flavors of fall. 

Our friend Marco has a vineyard and make his own wine (lacrima). He recently gave us a bottle of his homemade sapa - its dark syrupy sweetness is topping everything from crositini to fish, fruit and gelato!

Crostini of Radicchio, Prosciutto and Sapa

Serves 4-6
Head of radicchio
clove of garlic
2-3 slices of pancetta, prosciutto, bacon, speck - whatever fatty component you want.
spoonful of sapa - grape must or if unavailable, you can you balsamic vinegar with a tiny bit of honey
toasty bread
salt & pepper
1-2 glugs of olive oil
optional - few slices of soft cheese - we use sheep's milk (pecorino)


In a pan, heat the olive oil on low heat, add in the clove of garlic. Cook until lightly brown on all sides.

Turn up the heat, rough chop your head of radicchio, removing the core and cook down for a couple of minutes until the radicchio wilts.

Turn the heat down, chop up your prosciutto or bacon and add to the pan. You want to render the fat of this slowly - if you have the heat too high, the pork will crisp up & become chewy - you don’t want this with the soft radicchio.

Allow to cook until most of the moisture in the pan has cooked out. The radicchio & pork should still be soft. Season with salt & pepper. Remove the clove of garlic and drizzle over the sapa or balsamic & honey mixture. Check your seasonings.

Toast the bread, top with a slice of pecorino then a spoonful of the mixture and serve immediately. Goes great with a glass of red wine.

Chicken Liver Crostini

A classic appetizer in Italy is chicken liver crostini, served in homes as the perfect welcome antipasto with a glass of prosecco for hungry dinner party guests.

Chicken Liver Pate' Crostini

Crostini di Fegatini

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 carrot, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
6 chicken livers, trimmed
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
scant 1/4 cup dry white wine
1-2 egg yolks
juice of 1 lemon, strained
2 sage leaves chopped
2 juniper berries (optional)
4-6 whole-wheat bread slices, toasted
salt & pepper

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the carrot, onion and celery and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until . Dip the chicken livers into the vinegar, pat dry with paper towels and add to skillet. Pour in the wine and season with salt & pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until browned on the outside. Remove the chicken livers from the skillet and chop finely, then return them to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes more. Beat together the egg yolks and lemon juice in a bowl. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the egg yolk mixture. Spread on slices of lightly toasted bread.
Serve immediately.

Sauteed Radicchio with Cherry Tomato Crostini

Ok so what is radicchio? Its an ancient leafy vegetable in the chicory family. It has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. Its commonly found throughout Italy & we grow it on our farm too! Radicchio is such as versatile ingredient - eaten raw, grilled with olive oil or in risotto. Radicchio Rosso di Treviso Tardivo

Here's a quick & easy recipe to enjoy this under rated leafy veg, you can use this topping as crostini, atop grilled chicken or try it in a frittata.

Radicchio Crostini

Radicchio, core removed, sliced

4-5 Cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Clove of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
Soft cheese (we use stracchino a soft cows milk cheese)
Toasty bread

In a frying pan heat 3-4 glugs of olive oil and gently fry the clove of garlic. Once brown, remove garlic.

Raise the heat, add radicchio, season with salt & pepper and saute for 3-4 minutes as the radicchio will cook down a bit.

Add the cherry tomatoes and lower the heat to medium-low. Gently cook everything down, letting the tomatoes wilt about 10 minutes. It may be necessary to add a spoonful or two of water if it looks like its drying out.

Taste & check your salt & pepper.

Turn off heat & allow to cool. Add a healthy drizzle of extra virigin olive oil over top & mix in.
Toast your bread slices. Spread layer of soft cheese & spoonful of radicchio mixture.

Enjoy!

Radicchio crostini

Attention Bacon Lovers: Italian Cured Pig's Cheek

Cured pig's cheek or guanciale di maiale (literally translates to cheek of the pig) is hands-down the BEST bacon Jason & I have ever eaten - and have yet to find someone who disagrees once they taste it's porky goodness! I know it sounds a bit weird to some to eat or order cheek - but trust me - just go with it - especially if you are in Italy. In our neck of the woods in Le Marche, it is served at home and commonly found on the menus of rustic traditional osteria's, family run restaurants just like our farmhouse, as an antipasta atop crostini. The recipe below calls for red wine vinegar which perfectly cuts the fat and combined with the sage makes for a rich meaty buttery deliciousness with a kick!

Bacon lovin' seems to run in the family - after 6 months of living in Italy, my sister Meagan returned to the States with only 2 things Italian: a new pair of shoes & a huge cured pig's cheek! Our good friend Fusciani proudly presented her with a home-cured cheek, proclaiming "my gift to America!"

America's gift from Italy

Recipe for Cured Pig's Cheek Guanciale di Maiale

cured pig’s cheek (guanciale di maiale)
fresh sage leaves, few handfuls
olive oil
garlic cloves
red wine vinegar

Slice cured pig's cheek very thinly or ask your butcher.
In a frying pan, on medium heat add 2 glugs of olive oil, garlic cloves & sage leaves, add pig's cheek.

Cook for approximately 30 seconds - 1 minute on each side, until changes color to a nice golden brown, but not burned.
Blot with a paper towel.

Lightly sprinkle with red wine vinegar.
Serve immediately with the sage.

Pair best with crusty bread to soak up the juices or better yet blow your diet and serve for breakfast with eggs & toast!

Jason showing a guest how to slice prosciutto & guanciale paper thin

Fava (Broadbean) Crostini

Fava crostini - the color & crisp flavor on crunchy bread - how can you only eat one?!

Fava (Broad bean) Crostini:

Serves 4

1 cup of double shelled (outer pod & inner shell removed) fresh fava or broad bean
couple glugs of olive oil
garlic clove, skinned, whole
squeeze of lemon
water
shaved parmesan
salt & pepper
baguette or crusty bread, sliced & toasted

Throw the fava in a pan & cover with water & a little salt. Bring to a boil & lower to a simmer. Cook a couple of minutes until the fava are tender. Drain.

Return the pan to the heat. Pour in a couple glugs of olive oil and the garlic clove. Fry the garlic until browned. Then discard garlic.

Toss the fava into the pan & sautee for a minute or two. Then begin mashing with the back of a wooden spoon until you form a paste. If you need to add a bit of water, do so.

Remove fava paste from heat & season with salt & pepper add a squeeze of lemon.

Toast slices of good bread & rub warm fava mixture & top with shaved parmesan. You can drizzle a little really good quality extra virgin olive oil as well if you like.