Holidays Archives - Page 2 of 2

Soft Torrone: Italian Christmas Nougat Candy

December 21, 2015 By very EATalian 2 Comments

For those who haven’t experienced torrone before, you are in for a treat.Torrone is SUPER yummy and definitely one of the most traditional Christmas treats in Italy. It wouldn’t feel like Christmas, if we didn’t finish dinner cutting a big bar of torrone into small pieces so the whole family could enjoy it. When I was a kid, I regularly found a bunch of delicious little torrone bars (torroncini) in my Christmas stocking along with chocolate coins wrapped in golden foil and a pack of cigarette-shaped chocolate candies (…so wrong, I know).

Torrone is pretty much a white nougat, i.e. a mixture of honey, sugar, whipped egg whites and toasted nuts, all held together by sheets of flavorless wafer paper. It can vary in consistency, shape, thickness, and flavor. This recipe is for a soft and chewy torrone — it’s loaded with toasted almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios, with small bits of candied orange….

Pancetta-wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Apples + Pan-roasted Apples and Potatoes

April 9, 2015 By very EATalian 2 Comments

I’m spending a few weeks in Alabama: it’s not exactly a vacation, it’s more like a temporary relocation. I knew cooking would be a challenge as I’m staying in a stove-less hotel room. I love to eat out and experience different cuisines but, after a while, it gets old and expensive. Also, my already-wavering self-control can last only for so long and, before I know it, I end up ordering delicious meals that aren’t exactly light!

While I’m longing for a full kitchen again and I’m enjoying southern food (in moderation), I’m going to share a few recipes I prepared and photographed a few days ago, from the comfort of my home.

I tried this delicate pork tenderloin recipe for the first time on Thanksgiving last year. Cooking a whole turkey seemed a little bit too much for just me and my husband! While searching for an appropriate meat substitute, I stumbled upon this pork recipe on an Italian cooking blog. We tried it and we loved it so much it quickly became a staple for special occasions all year round…and even for weekend dinners! If you scroll down, you’ll also find the recipe for the pan-roasted apples and potatoes you see featured in the pictures.

Did I mention the house will smell fantastic while you’re cooking this delicious dish? I love the aroma of roasted meat: it’s comforting and inviting, and it brings back memories of my Sundays’ endless Italian lunches…Writing about nice, home-cooked food from my stove-less room is becoming really painful. Somebody lend me a real kitchen, please!

PANCETTA-WRAPPED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH APPLES
Source: adapted from Siciliani Creativi in Cucina
Servings: 2-3 |Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Rest time: 5 min | Total time: 1 h 5 min

INGREDIENTS
450 g (1 lb) pork tenderloin
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 thick slices of pancetta
2 small sprigs of rosemary
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 onion, cut in big sections
1 carrot, cut in chunks
1/2 celery stalk, cut in chunks
1 or 2 apples, peeled and sliced in wedges, then halved
2 leaves of sage

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Cut excess fat from pork tenderloin. Rub meat with salt and pepper and arrange pancetta around it. Tie it with cooking twine (here‘s a good tutorial). Insert a couple of rosemary sprigs between the meat and the twine.
2. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and a splash of extra-virgin olive oil in a cast-iron dutch oven. Place pork tenderloin in the casserole, turn heat to medium-high and sear the meat on all sides until you obtain a golden brown crust all around. [Do not poke the meat with a fork or it will release its juice. Use two spoons to roll it on each side.] This step may take about 10-12 minutes.
3. Pour in wine and add celery, onion, carrots, and sage. Cook meat and vegetables over medium-high heat, until liquid is reduced to one-third.
4. Add apple pieces, turn heat to low and cover. Cook for 20-25 min.
5. Remove pot from heat and transfer tenderloin to cutting board. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for about 5 min.
6. Remove all veggies and apples from dutch oven. Transfer cooked apple chunks to serving platter and discard other veggies. Place dutch oven containing cooking juices back on the stove and turn heat to medium-high. Deglaze with wine or water and cook until you obtain a shiny and dense gravy. Remove dutch oven from heat and filter gravy.
7. Remove twine from the tenderloin (keeping the pancetta in place). Slice the meat and place it on a serving platter, arranging cooked apple pieces around it. Pour a bit of the gravy on top of the meat.

….While the meat is cooking….

PAN-ROASTED POTATOES AND APPLES
Servings: 2-3 | Prep time: 5 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total time: 25 mi

INGREDIENTS
400 g (14 oz) baby potatoes, washed and halved, skin-on
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
a couple of leaves of sage
1 apple, sliced in wedges, skin-on
salt & pepper to taste
a pinch of cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Half-cook small potatoes halves by boiling them for about 8 minutes. Drain potatoes and set aside.
2. Heat butter on a skillet over medium-heat. Add potatoes and sage. Stir often.
3. Cut apple wedges in half. Once potatoes have reached a light brown color (but aren’t cooked through yet), add in apple pieces. Keep stirring to prevent burning. Add a pinch of cinnamon and a bit of water, if necessary, to avoid burning.
4. Once cooked through, add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with sliced pork tenderloin.

Buon appetito!

-Lisa

Castagnole

February 17, 2015 By very EATalian 2 Comments

Today is the last day of Carnevale–Martedì Grasso. It’s the last day to indulge in food and sweets before the start of Lent, a season of fasting and abstinence.

The most well-known Carnevale celebration in Italy is the one in Venice: locals and visitors alike are drawn to the people wandering and posing around the city, dressed in eighteenth century attire and beautiful masks. I love this spectacle and it’s truly beautiful, but it’s unique to Venice. In other parts of Italy, you’ll see floats and parades where people (especially kids) are dressed up in any kind of costume. It’s basically like Halloween in the US.

I’m a total sucker for dressing up. Any friend of mine will confirm I’m the most excited person they know around this time of the year (and they’re usually perplexed about my uncontrollable enthusiasm). I loved dressing up when I was a kid and I still do as an adult. The most memorable costume I’ve ever made? A cupcake, put together with random materials I found around the house, including a wine demijohn basket. Although there’s a part of me that would love to share a photo of “cupcake Lisa”, I’ll just leave that one private! I’ll share this one, instead:

I was 3 years old. Alas, my love for Carnevale wasn’t particularly showing that day.

Back home, a few weeks before Fat Tuesday, my mom and my aunts get together to make our favorite Carnevale fritters: frittelle, crostoli, and castagnole. As usual, it’s a lot of fun–from the assembly-line action, animated discussion and laughter, and the inevitable critiquing and tough love from helpful spectators.

Of these fritters, I particularly love castagnole. They get their name from their shape, which is similar to a chestnut (castagna, in Italian). They are small, sweet bites of fried dough, with a hint of rum or grappa–and they are sneakingly addictive. Here is the recipe for you, courtesy of my mom.

CASTAGNOLE
Serves: 4 people | Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 egg
30 g (2 Tbsp) sugar (+more for dusting)
zest of 1/2 orange
25 g (2 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
6 g (2 tsp) baking powder
a pinch of salt
a dash of grappa or rum
110 g (1 scant cup) all pupose flour
peanut oil

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine eggs and sugar in a bowl and mix until creamy. Add melted butter, salt, grappa (or rum), and orange zest. Mix all ingredients with a fork or a whisk. Add some flour & baking powder. Then gradually add the rest of the flour.
2. Lightly knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth. The dough should be slightly sticky, yet workable. Roll the dough in 3/4 inch-thick logs, cut them in small pieces, and roll each piece in little balls.
3. Heat peanut oil in a saucepan. Fry your castagnole is small batches, turning them with a spoon to ensure even results. The temperature of the oil shouldn’t be too hot or too low. It’s a good idea to cut one open to check it’s cooked through.
4. Once they have reached a light golden brown color, remove them with a slotted spoon, and place them in a bowl lined with paper towel to absorb the oil in excess. Roll them with sugar when they are still hot.