Try “Ravioli di arrosto” with TANTO Sangiovese
A delicious dish that can serve as pasta and main course! This recipe serves 8 persons.
Ingredients for the filling and the sauce:

• 1.1 lb. of rump of beef
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• half a carrot
• celery (a small stalk)
• thyme (to your taste)
• a sprig of rosemary
• half a glass of good dry white wine
• 0.45 lb of mascarpone
• 0.22 lb of grated Parmesan cheese
• extra virgin olive oil adjust to your taste

Ingredients for the dough:

• 1 lb. of all purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• a pinch of salt

Tie the meat with a kitchen string and brown it in a pan for a few minutes with a little EVOO and a sprig of rosemary (the meat must turn brownish). Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan sauté the celery, carrot and onion (all cut into little cubes) in EVOO and adding also a clove of garlic. After a few minutes add a little water to the vegetables pan and the wine to the meat pan. Let the alcohol evaporate and transfer the meat, with its juice, in the pan with vegetables. Season with salt, pepper, cover it and cook for at least two hours, adding water if necessary. Once cooked remove the meat from its pan, cut and take away the string, cut the meat into small pieces and put in a blender with the Parmesan cheese, mascarpone and the meat cooking sauce filtered through a sieve. A homogeneous mixture should be obtained. Put it in a pastry bag and now proceed by making the dough.

Place the flour on a pastry board, make a well and and put the 4 eggs in it as shown above, add a pinch of salt and, using a fork, mix it. Once the mixture is thick enough you can use your hands to work on the dough.

Work the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic then wrap it in a film and let it rest for half an hour in the fridge. Then, using a pasta machine, as shown in the picture below, make thin layers of dough (set machine at n. 5 or 6 thickness).

To make the ravioli put the filling on each strip of dough in equal doses and equally spaced. Cover them with another layer of thin dough, delicately make sure to let the air off before you close them then cut them as regularly as possible, the easiest way is to shape them as little squares (you may also use what we call “raviolatore” a special tray with little holes to help shaping and cutting ravioli).

You are now ready to cook them! Bring salted water to boiling and boil the ravioli. It takes about 5 minutes to cook them. In the meanwhile you will have saved the juice from the stewed meat. Once you have drained the ravioli put them in the pan and quickly sautè them. Add a little EVOO and Parmesan cheese. Enjoy this yummy dish with a glass of TANTO Sangiovese!

Picture from FB TrabocchInFood (Credit to www.pasticceriamoysanna.it/)

St.Joseph “Zeppole” are an Italian and Abruzzo typical sweet of very old traditions apparently dating back to Roman times. The legend tells that, after the flight into Egypt with Mary and Jesus, St. Joseph had to sell fritters to support his family in a foreign land. For this reason, throughout Italy, “Zeppole” are the sweets of Father’s Day. Every city, province or region obviously has its own variant of donuts but the key element is that they are fried in hot oil, just as tradition requires.

Picture from FB TrabocchInFood (Credit to www.pasticceriamoysanna.it/)

Following ingredients and quantities will make for about 15 “Zeppole”:

For the dough:

• Water  250 ml
• Butter  2.50 oz
• Flour 5.30 oz
• The zest of 1 lemon;
• 1 pinch of salt
• Eggs 3
• Sugar 1.50 oz

For the custard:

• Flour 1.00 oz
• Fresh milk 250 ml
• The zest of ½ lemon
• Egg yolks 3
• Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder
• Sugar 2.15 oz

For garnish:

• Candied cherries or sour cherries in syrup, 1 for each donut
• Icing sugar to taste

Pic and recipe credit to http://www.risorse.immobiliarecaserio.com/zeppole-di-san-giuseppe/

First prepare the custard and let it cool. Meanwhile, prepare the dough for the “zeppole” by pouring water in a thick-bottomed saucepan, add the salt and the butter (Pic.#1) and slowly bringing it to boil. As soon as the butter has melted and the water starts boiling, remove the pan from the heat and pour inside the flour (Pic.#2), mix well with a wooden spoon and obtain a compact ball (Pic.#3).

Pic and recipe credit to http://www.risorse.immobiliarecaserio.com/zeppole-di-san-giuseppe/

Put the pan back on low heat and turn the mixture until you see a white layer starts forming on the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat, add the sugar (Pic.# 4), stir and mix well, then pour the mixture into a bowl and let it cool. Then add to the mix the lemon zest (Pic.# 5) and the eggs (Pic.# 6), one at a time, by adding the following only when the previous one has been completely absorbed (you can do this with a wooden spoon or you can use a hand mixer or a food processor).

Pic and recipe credit to http://www.risorse.immobiliarecaserio.com/zeppole-di-san-giuseppe/

Cut out little squares of wax paper (Pic.# 7); place the mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a star nozzle and squeeze above each square a disk of dough of a diameter of abt. 2 inches with a movement that will form in spiral (Pic.# 8). On the outer edge of each disk overlay a ring of dough (Pic.# 9) as to form a little bowl.

Pic and recipe credit to http://www.risorse.immobiliarecaserio.com/zeppole-di-san-giuseppe/

Use a saucepan with high edge, place the frying oil (preferably peanut) and bring it to a temperature of about 320 ° F, the oil should not be too hot, it must gently fry the donuts allowing you to turn them over several times so that they can inflate evenly. When the oil has reached the ideal temperature, dip no more than 2-3 donuts per time still attached to the square of wax paper (Pic.# 10) on which are placed, the paper will come off by itself after a few seconds and you can remove it (Pic.# 11). Stir several times the donuts in the hot oil until they are evenly, lightly browned (Pic.# 12),

then drain the oil in excess by putting them on multiple sheets of paper towels (Pic.# 13). When you have fried all the donuts, place the custard in a pastry bag and squeeze it at the center of each donuts (Pic.# 14), add a cherry on top (Pic.# 15) and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

(The Pupa, the girl, and the Cavallo, the horse, traditional cookies from Abruzzo.Credit for the pic to www.meaculpa.it)

Here in Abruzzo we are getting ready for Easter! During the Holy Week, the week prior to Easter, it is easy to find pastry shops and bakeries selling the so called “Pupa” (the girl) or the “Cavallo”(horse), typical Easter cakes that are made in the shape of a woman or a horse.

(Didascalia: A great example of Pupa with a whole egg in her womb. Credit for the pic to wasabicucina.blogspot.com)

Most families still prepare Pupa and Cavallo cakes at home. Tradition tells that you should prepare them on the Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter, and then the woman offers the horse to the man and vice versa. It more often happens that these cakes are given, with great fun, as Easter gift to kids! It ‘s an old tradition that in most cases, when it comes to the “pupa”, the girl shape, has a whole egg placed in her womb , in the dough, as a symbol of fertility. It cooks when the “pupa” is baked and is a good wish to eat it on Easter day.

Here is the recipe (I have personally experienced!):

• 1.5 lb all purpose flour
• 0.60 lb of sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 of a glass with EVOO (you can use seeds oil if you prefer)
• grated peel of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• teaspoon of vanilla powder

Put all ingredients in a mixer to obtain a dough as shown below

(Credit to www.cucinainsimpatia.net)

Take the dough from the mixer and, depending on size of the Pupa or Cavallo you want to make start working it on a piece of wax paper (it will have to be a type of paper that can go in the oven!)

(Credit to www.cucinainsimpatia.net)

With your hands give the shape you like

(Credit to www.cucinainsimpatia.net)

Do not forget that Pupa needs to have a nice…”breast”! I have seen some with three!!!

(Credit to http://it.paperblog.com)

And here if you are making Cavallo, the Horse.

(Credit to www.cucinainsimpatia.net)

Then you will bake them at about 350° F for 45 minutes. Once baked you can decorate them as you like. You can use chocolate spread or more often we use icing obtained obtained with egg white and powdered sugar (in the mixer until they get thick). Below is an example made with icing.

(Credit to www.cucinainsimpatia.net)

(Credit to www.cucinainsimpatia.net)

You can really decorate them as you like, it’s a lot of fun especially if you have kids! Below is how my Pupa, the one I made Easter last year, looked like (I just noticed that I forgot the breast and the egg in the womb! I will have to work better this year!). Enjoy and have fun!

Ingredients (Serves 6 people)

• 1 lb. all purpose flour (for the dough)
• 5 eggs (for the dough)
• 1 medium size onion
• 0.8 lb of gronde beef
• 1 small glass of EVOO
• 1.5 lb of tomato sauce
• 0.5 lb of Pecorino (Romano)
• Hot pepper to your taste
• Salt to your taste
• 4 Italian sausages
• 2 eggs for the filling

You will start by making the sauce. Finely chop the onion and put it to cook with extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan. Crumble in the sausage and add the
minced meat too. Stir everything very well, then let cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, the red pepper and cook for about 40 minutes adjusting with salt.
To make the “sfoglia” (pasta sheet) you use the flour and 5 eggs.

Beat the 5 eggs taking in more and more flour until it becomes thicker.

Then you can start working on it with your hands to reach the right consistency as you can see below.

Then to make the “sfoglia” (pasta thin sheet) you can either do manually (it depends on how clever you feel and how much muscle exercise you want to do!!) with a rolling pin or you can use a pasta machine of the type shown here.

The pasta sheet needs to be really thin and once you have obtained the right thickness you can cut it in squares of approximately 7 inches side.
In a large pan bring salted water to boil adding 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Once the water is boiling you can plunge in the little squares of pasta, do not put all pasta squares in the water together, just 3 or 4 pieces at a time. Make sure that by the side of your boiling pan you have prepared a large bowl with cold water in it and a clean kitchen cloth close by. As you drain the pasta put it in cold water to quickly cool down then put the boiled pasta squares, to further dry, on the kitchen cloth. Then, using another bowl, pour half of the sauce in it, make sure the sauce is cool and add 2 eggs, two thirds of the cheese and mix it well until you obtain a creamy mixture. Spread a good spoonful of this mixture on each square of dough and fold in four (as shown in the picture above). Grease a baking pan with oil and put the “fregnacce” (the little folded and filled pasta) in the baking dish slightly overlapping them. Then sprinkle with remaining sauce and cheese and bake it in preheated oven at 350°F for 10 minutes. Let it sit for about 5 minutes in (possibly) a covered container before serving as it is shown in the picture. Enjoy!

Try “Mugnaia” Pasta with TANTO Sangiovese
This is a simple, tasty recipe using very simple ingredients:
For the Pasta – (Serves 4)

• 1 pound of all purpose flour
• Warm water as needed
• A pinch of salt

Make a well with your flour and simply using your hands mix flour and warm water

Until it gets thicker and you keep working on it mixing it well

Keep working until it gets smooth under your hands

Then cut it in small pieces

Start rolling it to make each piece flat

In Abruzzo we then use a special rolling pin that while rolling cuts the pasta. If you do not have this rolling pin you can still make it (with a little more patience) cutting pasta with a knife in thin stripes. You will have to obtain thick, irregularly shaped spaghetti.

This is how it looks when you’re done!

Then boil water in a large pan, salt it and when it boils put the pasta in the boiling water for approximately 3 minutes. Drain it and…

Serve it after dressing with any red sauce to your taste. Do not forget to sprinkle it with lots of grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese.
Buon appetito!
Credit to TrabocchInFood. Images taken in Torino di Sangro

Try it with TANTO Montepulciano !

I need a full day in the kitchen to make my Tortellini! It usually happens on the last week end before Christmas Day.

Best is when I manage to be home alone and I know I have a full day in front of me (as it takes ages!!!!). “My procedure” requires to be tuned in to my favorite radio station and I am ready …for my long “Tortellini Day”.
I work on a board that is dedicated to making handmade pasta (you can use the top of your counter trying not to scratch it!) and I use a pasta machine (I have seen them sold in many parts of the world) and a cutter. This is all the hardware I need!

(Ingredients for 4 people)
To make the dough:
11 oz of all purpose flour, 3 eggs, salt (a little pinch per each egg)

Beat the three eggs taking in more and more flour until it becomes thicker.

Then you can start working on it with your hands to reach the right consistency as you can see below.

To make the filling (see pic below):

• 1 oz of butter
• 3.5 oz of very finely chopped turkey breasts
• 3.5 oz of very finely chopped pork meat
• 2.7 oz of very finely chopped mortadella
• 2.7 oz of very finely chopped row ham
• 2 eggs
• 5.3 oz of grated parmesan cheese
• Nutmeg (to yr taste)
• Salt and black pepper

To prepare the filling put the butter in a saucepanand place it on the stove to melt. Add the turkey breast and pork. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, adding, if necessary, a little water. Do the same thing in another pan with the chopped mortadella and the ham. Then put all the meat chopped and cooked in a bowl (drain it if there is cooking water in it), add the eggs, Parmesan cheese, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper to your taste. Mix well and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Now we have our dough ready and our filling ready too! It’s time to start using the pasta machine. Using a little quantity of pasta dough at a time, I roll large, thin layers of pasta.

The pasta machine has a device on the side that you adjust as you go from rolling a thicker layer to medium to thin…thin to perfection!

Then you cut the thin pasta layer (see the cutter I use) in small squares (1.5 inches side approx).

Using a tea spoon, you put a little quantity of the filling on each little square of pasta.

Then you fold the pasta square shape over and make a little triangle.

As in the picture, you start turning the two corners and rise the third corner of the triangle up to form like a little hat.

Then, by pressing, you stick together the two corners and here it is, your Tortellino is ready…except that you have to make hundreds before you are done with all your dough and all your filling! That is why you’d better have some good music on!

This year I decided to make “Tortellini in Brodo” which means that I cooked my tortellini in a meat broth (made with chicken and beef meat) however you can enjoy them with almost any sauce: tomato sauce, creamy sauce and much more. It takes so long to make them but I can tell you it takes a couple of minutes to disappear when I put them on the table at Christmas Lunch!

Try it with TANTO Montepulciano !

Recipe by Chef John Korycki, Zazio’s Italian Restaurant, Kalamazoo,MI.

Ragu d’Agnello Abruzzese served with Spaghetti Chitarra pasta

This is a thank you post to Chef John Korycki from Zazio’s Kalamazoo, MI. He recently prepared some very good Abruzzo food for an event at the South West Michigan First. I then had the pleasure of presenting TANTO Wines and got so very lucky to taste his delicious food. Enjoy the recipe!

Chef John Korycki talking to some of the guests at the South West Michigan First event on September 25th 2012

Ingredients (serves 6)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 oz onion, finely minced
2 T garlic, finely minced
2 lbs lamb, ground
1 T rosemary salt, + to taste
To taste freshly ground black pepper
1 t crushed red chili pepper, + to taste
8 oz tomato paste
2 @ rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
2 @ mint sprigs, finely chopped
2 @ oregano sprigs, finely chopped
3 @ bay leaves
24 oz water, + as needed

Heat large sauce pot with olive oil over low to medium heat.
Add onions & garlic, sauté until they begin to soften.
Add the lamb; season with rosemary salt, black pepper & red pepper. Slowly cook the lamb, browning not necessary, stirring occasionally, until the lamb begins to cook through. Add the tomato paste, sauté for 3 minutes, stirring.

Add the finely chopped herbs, bay leaves. Add water, enough to cover all ingredients by ½ inch.
Lower heat to low, cover pot with lid, and gently simmer ragu for at least 2 ½ hours, or until the lamb becomes very tender to the bite. Add additional water as needed to keep ragu moist and fluid; stir occasionally.
Check for finally seasoning with salt & pepper.

Above freshly made Spaghetti Chitarra. You can buy Spaghetti Chitarra in most gourmet stores

Serve with Spaghetti alla Chitarra pasta, with greated pecorino romano cheese.
Buon Appetito with the recipe from Chef John Korycki , Zazio’s Italian Restaurant, Kalamazoo,MI !

Try it with TANTO Trebbiano !
Here is a great, easy, fresh, healthy recipe and a positive way of making “Bella Figura” with your friends!

Serves 5 persons

• 2 medium size zucchini (as fresh as possible!!)
• EV Olive Oil (to your taste)
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
• Parmesan cheese to shave
• Grounded black pepper
• Salt (to your taste)

Carefully wash the zucchini, cut off ends and slice them very thin ( I like to make them oblog but you can cut them as you like, the thinner the tastier!)

Place them on a flat plate (needs to be flat to keep condiment all over plate in same way) slightly overlapping one slice with the other until you cover the entire plate. Dress with EV Olive Oil , add salt to your taste and the lemon juice carefully pouring it over the zucchini. Then abundantly shave parmesan cheese on top to almost cover the zucchini. Add grounded black pepper to your taste.

Zucchini Carpaccio is a great appetizer or can be served as a salad.

Slicing zucchini (real thin) may take a while so if you want to prepare the plate in advance you can cut zucchini, place them on the plate, cover it with a film and put them in the fridge (with no condiment!!!). You will then dress the plate at the last minute before serving it. Enjoy!

Ingredients (Serves 5):

• Semi-aged cow or sheep cheese 0.55 lb (finely chopped)
• Soft part (inside) of bread 0.55 lb (coarsely crumbled)
• Finely Chopped Parsley 1 Handful
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 7 Eggs
• Crushed Tomatoes 2.2 lb
• EV Olive Oil 300 ml (overall, to fry and to make the sauce)

Preparation:
Put cheese, bread, garlic, parsley and eggs into a bowl and mix them into a smooth mixture. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes then shape it into small balls and fry them in oil.

For your health and for the taste we recommend using EV Olive Oil! Drain and set aside. Separately, make the sauce w/EV Olive Oil (5 table spoons), onion (cut julienne). Sauté the onions in a pan till they start browning , then add tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. Then add the “pallotte” (little balls previously made) and continue cooking for another 10 minutes on low heat. Serve with a drizzle of raw EV Olive Oil.