Lemon Tart

This truly is the perfect lemon tart. "This is a throw back to culinary school days when we would practice making this tart endlessly. When done right, it's fantastic. I usually play it loose with the recipes but this one you must follow precisely. Not that it is difficult, just several steps involved...but  well worth the effort."

 

 Look for this one in the Autumn when we start back up our LIVE from ITALY: Online Cooking Classes!!

 

 

 It can be made as a large tart or as individual tartlets.
The puckery lemon custard delivers a pure lemon flavor, perfect ending to any meal!

Shortbread Dough (Pâte sablée)
255 g flour, sifted (9 oz)
150 g butter (3.5 oz)
90 g confectioners sugar (3 oz)
few drops of vanilla
pinch of salt
2 egg yolks
1-2 tablespoons ice cold water

Sift the flour onto the work surface and make a well in the center.
Dice the butter and place it in the well, then work it with your fingertips until its very soft.
Sift the confectioners’ sugar on the the butter and add the salt, working it into the butter.
Add the egg yolks and mix well. Gradually draw in the flour and mix until completely incorporated/amalgamated. Add the vanilla extract.
Give the dough a turn or two.
Briefly kneed the dough and form into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. (Dough will keep well refrigerated for several days if necessary.)

When well chilled (an hour or so), roll out on your board. Transfer to an  8 in. tart ring. Blind bake at 375 F / 190 C

Lemon Cream
175 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (6 oz) - about 5-6 lemons
150 g unsalted butter at room temperature (3.5 oz) - cut into pieces
200 g sugar (7 oz)
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks

In a stainless steel pot, heat the lemon juice, butter and 150 g sugar over low heat until the butter has melted and the mixture comes to a gentle simmer (about 2 minutes).

Using a wire whisk, beat the eggs, egg yolks, and remaining 50 g sugar until the mixture is pale and light (about 4-5 minutes).  Slowly pour half of the hot lemon juice mixture into the egg/sugar mixture to temper, beating until blending and fluffy. 

Return the mixture to the saucepan containing remaining  hot lemon mixture and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spoon, until the mixture nearly starts to simmer - about 3 minutes.

Transfer the lemon cream to a metal bowl and place over a water bath to cool. (If not using immediately, lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream.)

When cool, spread the lemon cream evenly into the pastry shell. Smooth the top with a spatula. Place the tart back in the oven and bake for 5 minutes to set the filling slightly without coloring it.

Carefully remove the tart if made in a ring pan and let cool on a wire rack. Place in the fridge until the tart until the filling is firm. Remove from the fridge 10-15 minutes before serving.

Garnish with compote of wild berries or candied lemon zest!

No Bake Dessert: Poached Peaches with Rosemary in White Wine with Mascarpone Cream

A gorgeous oven-free, gluten-free, no-bake dessert perfect for those hot summer nights!  This dessert has become a classic in our kitchen and cooking classes throughout stone fruit season. It's light & fresh, and even after a long Italian meal, everyone has room for a little peaches & cream! 

It's not only easy to make, but the ingredients are flexible; use white, rosè or red wine (finish off that bottle of white that's been sitting in the fridge for the last 2 nights...) The same with aromatics - rosemary, thyme, lemon, lavender...whatever you've got on hand. (This is why its so important to have an herb garden!)

Poached Peaches in White Wine

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 firm peaches or nectarines (mature fruit will fall apart)
2-3 spoons of sugar
white or rosè wine
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
zest of ½ lemon (use ANY aromatics you like)
homemade whipped cream or mascarpone cream if you like

With a paring knife cut the fruit in half and remove the stone. If the stone will not come away easily, make a shallow incision around the stone and it will fall away once cooked.

Place the fruit cut side down in a pan or pot that fits the fruit snugly. Add in the aromatics with the sugar and top with wine until halfway up the fruit. Cover with baking paper (parchment) and bring the pan up to a medium simmer for 8-12 minutes total depending on the size of the fruit. Give the peaches a turn on their backs after about 5 minutes and they are done when a knife slips easily into the thickest part of the fruit.

Once the peaches are cooked, remove from the pan and place on a plate to cool. Return the pan to a low flame and reduce the wine until it becomes a syrup. Give it a taste - if its a little tart, add a spoonful of sugar. Be careful not to let this burn. Strain the syrup into a bowl and allow to cool.

To serve: Quarter the peaches and carefully remove the skins. Arrange on the plate and drizzle atop the white wine syrup and a dollop of cream.

Radish & Strawberry Salad

This radish & strawberry salad certainly strays from the traditional dishes of Le Marche however is a perfect example of the philosophy "if it grows together, it goes together." The crunchy peppery radishes compliment the sweet juicy strawberries, add a bit of young spring onion (and if we were in the States, cilantro!) for a surprising and delicious spring salad. The recipe is inspired by our friends from Perennial Plate!

Radish & Strawberry Salad
equal parts of radish & strawberries, sliced as thin as possible (you can do this with a mandoline or knife)
a pinch of spring onions, sliced thinly
salt & crack of pepper to taste
olive oil
the best balsamic you’ve got: aceto balsamic tradizionale di modena

In a bowl combine radishes, strawberry & onion. Season with salt & pepper and a light drizzle of olive oil. Very gently (with your hands) toss the salad to incorporate all the ingredients.
To serve: plate and drizzle a few drops of balsamic over the top, serve immediately.

Note: Anything from spring will work in this dish, fresh fava beans or peas, chive, etc - if it grows together it goes together.

Rustic Tart with Fresh Strawberries & Cream

Traditionally made with marmalade, this rustic tart is found kept under a kitchen towel in most homes in our area.  With strawberries in abundance this time of year, we use fresh fruit instead of jam.

This recipe is enough to make two 9-in/22cm tarts with lattice. Use what you have for the tart pans, we use round pizza pans.

Italian Rustic Tart with Strawberries
Crostata di Fragole

1 1/3 cup, 250g butter
4 cups, 500 g of flour
1 1/4 cups+ for dusting, 250g  sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon, 5g baking powder
2 full eggs + 3 yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
drop of booze - grappa, rum, brandy, anything you like
about a pint of fresh strawberries per tart, sliced
Optional: Serve with whipped cream or mascarpone cheese thinned out with milk.

Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla a few drops of your favorite liquor and beat in.
Sift together all the dry ingredients.
Incorporate the dry ingredients into the butter & egg mixture with a few strokes of a wooden spoon forming a dough.  Take 1/3 of the dough & and roll it out slightly larger than your  parchment lined tart pan. Roll down the edges of the dough to create the crust.
Arrange the strawberries slightly overlapping to cover the tart. You can sprinkle a little sugar over the strawberries, if they are in season this is not necessary.

To make the latticework top:
Pull off a pinch of dough & roll into a long snake. This is an easy dough to work with if it breaks just pinch it back together. This is a rustic tart. Moist hands will help if the dough is sticky.
Continue until you have enough to make your lattice top.

Bake in a preheated 350F/175C degree oven for about an hour or until the top is nice & brown, the bottom is cooked & the dough should shrink away from the pan a bit.

In loving memory

Carpaccio of Zucchini

 
Carpaccio of Zucchini
Fine Fine Zucchini

zucchini
salt
pepper
olive oil
lemon
parmesan

handful of cherry tomatoes, radishes, zucchini flowers, arugula (optional)

Use mandolin or slicer, slice zucchini very very thinly - paper thin.

Lay out one layer on a plate or platter.

Crack of pepper, crack of salt, drizzle olive oil, squeeze of lemon. Let sit for 15 minutes.

 

If you have cherry tomatoes and/or radishes toss a small handful ontop as well as zucchini flowers, arugula or celery hearts, etc to give it a little extra bite & color. Finish with shaved parmesan over the top. Serve

Cookies & Cream Homemade Icecream, Amaretti Semifreddo with Wild Berry Compote

Summer in Italy means gelato, and lots of it! However we don't have an icecream machine and in our house, homemade semifreddo is just as good - plus any dessert that doesn't need the oven on is an added bonus!  Semifreddo literally translates to semi-cold or in this case, semi-frozen and let me tell you, trying to take a few photos on a hot June day with temps in the 90's F/30's C was more than difficult!

This recipe couldn't be more simple and is a great base to expand upon - get fruity by adding mashed raspberries to the mix instead of amaretti cookies for example and top with a dark chocolate ganache!

Cookies & Cream Semifreddo with Wild Berry Compote
Semifreddo al Amaretti con Frutta di Bosco

Serves 6-8
6 eggs
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
1 cup of amaretti (almond flavored cookies/macaroons), crushed
3 cups heavy cream

Whisk the eggs with the sugar in a heatproof, grease-free bowl, set over a pan of barely simmering water until thickened. Then remove from the heat and continue whisking the mixture until completely cool.

Stiffly whip the cream. Then fold in the egg mixture and crushed cookies.

Line a rectangular loaf pan with plastic wrap, pour in the mixture and smooth the surface. Place in the freezer overnight or for at least 4 hours before serving.

To serve: turn upside and remove the plastic wrap.  Serve with warm compote of mixed wild berries or chocolate atop!

Strawberries + Limoncello

 Fresh picked strawberries from the garden with homemade limoncello - a simple dessert that is sheer summer bliss!  This delicious dessert, perfect for a hot night, may have only two ingredients but if you want to make it from scratch you are going to need about 2 weeks.  You can always cheat and buy a fancy bottle of limoncello or limoncino but if you have a little patience you will be great rewarded! 

Strawberries macerated in limoncello - it couldn't get any easier than 1, 2, 3:

1. Clean and cut your strawberries
2. Drizzle atop limoncello, mix & let sit for about an hour
3. Serve with fresh whipped cream or mascarpone & mint and a glass of frozen homemade limoncello!

Grilled Peppers Stuffed with Tuna

Simply delicious. Ever since visiting a family-run seafood restaurant along the Adriatic we have been recreating this simple dish of roasted peppers and tuna.  Roasting gorgeous orange, yellow and red peppers over the grill and stuffing them with tuna, capers and herbs makes for a healthy flavorful appetizer/antipasti -the perfect way to start your summer dinner (especially if you already have the bbq fired up!)

Roasted Peppers Stuffed with Tuna
 Peperoni alla grilglia ripieni di tonno

Serves 6

4 Peppers (any color)
250 gram of highest quality of tuna you can find (in oil or water), drained
spoonful of capers, chopped
oregano, or any fresh herb of your choice (basil, marjoram, etc.)
salt & pepper (or red chili flakes)
red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
clove of garlic

Start by charring the outside of your peppers - either on the stove or over the grill - until the outside is completely blackened. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic, allow to cool.

When you can handle the peppers, remove the skin (should come right off) and remove the seeds. Slice the peppers into 3 cm strips.

To prepare the tuna filling, combine the tuna, capers, salt & pepper, a few drops of olive oil and vinegar.

At one end of the peppers add a spoonful of the tuna mix and roll the pepper around the tuna. Place in the dish, once the dish is full season with salt & cracked pepper.  Now make the dressing.

Two spoonfuls of red wine vinegar with six spoonfuls of olive oil, 1/2-1 clove of finely chopped garlic and small handful of chopped herbs. Mix it up and pour over the peppers in the dish. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes before serving to let the peppers soak up the dressing.

Note: You can add any thing you like to the tuna mix: spring onions, sun dried tomatoes, olives, etc.

Panna Cotta with Fresh Wild Berry Sauce

Photo: Cooking in Sens

An easy dessert to make that is always a crowd-pleaser is panna cotta with fresh picked wild berries - the combination of the rich, creamy, vanilla panna cotta with with tart & tangy berry sauce drizzled atop is a perfect match.

Panna Cotta with Fresh Berry Sauce
Panna cotta con frutta di bosco

Ingredients for Panna Cotta
2 sheets of gelatin
scant 1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise

Fill a bowl with water, add the gelatin and let is soak. Pour milk into a pan & bring to just below simmering, then remove the pan from the heat. Do NOT let it boil. Drain & squeeze out the gelatin & add the milk. Pour the cream into another pan, add the sugar and vanilla bean and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, remove the vanilla bean and stir in the milk mixture.

You can put the mixture into any kind of ramekin, mold, cup, you like. Rinse your 'glass' in ice-cold water, shaking out any excess water & fill with the milk mixture. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours until set (at least 3-4 hours). Turn out onto a serving dish & serve with fruit sauce or chocolate sauce.

Ingredients for Berry Sauce
1 pint of your favorite berries or cherries
1/4 cup or less sugar (depending on sweetness of berries)
1/4 cup of water
optional - mint, lemon juice, lemon zest, etc.

Put the berries, sugar & water in a pot & simmer for 15-20 minutes until the fruit breaks down & forms a syrup.

Drizzle over the top of the panna cotta once on the serving plate.