Ricciarelli From Siena

Siena is a beautiful city in Tuscany known to most foreigners for its palio - a colorful horse race that's held each July and August in the city's main square, or campo. I wasn't there this year for the palio but I  was happy to return to Siena earlier this month for many reasons.

One of them was meeting Patrizia, a blogger friend who writes "Andante Con Gusto" , and who spent some time with me and my son during our visit to Siena. A morning cappuccino was in order, so at Patrizia's suggestion, we headed to Nannini, a historic cafe known for its delicious pastries.

And when you're in Siena, you can't talk about sweets and not try the city's signature cookie-- ricciarelli. They're made with almonds, sugar, egg whites and orange zest, and you'll find them in shops  and bakeries all over town. Nannini's version was about as perfect as you can get - crunchy on the outside with a coating of powdered sugar, yet soft on the inside and bursting with almond flavor. There's a recipe for ricciarelli at the end of this post, but first a detour to Siena's cathedral, one of the most beautiful in the world.

The cathedral dates back to the middle ages is a masterpiece of architecture and art, starting from the ornate marble exterior built in a combination of styles - Tuscan Romanesque on the lower part, and French Gothic above. Many of the features were added in later years, including the three glittering triangular mosaic panels made in Venice in 1878.

Inside the cathedral is so much artwork - from sculptures by a young Michaelangelo, to a magnificent marble pulpit by Nicola Pisano - that it would be easy to include dozens of photos on this post. But I'll confine it to one photo of the stunning Piccolomini Library adjoining the cathedral. The library is surrounded on all four sides by breathtaking frescoes created by Pinturicchio, detailing the life of Siena's favorite son - Cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who eventually became Pope Pius II in 1458. 

OK, so I lied, there's another photo inside the cathedral, but this was so funny I couldn't help myself. This shows the massive black and white marble columns as well as yours truly dressed for the occasion. The similarity in architecture and sartorial dressing was purely accidental -- honest!

Now on to the more important stuff -- lunch! Patrizia guided us to a restaurant she said a lot of locals frequent, simply called "Osteria." 

Wild boar, or cinghiale, is common on menus at Tuscan restaurants. This plate of tagliatelle with a wild boar sauce was hard to beat.

But I tried. My eyes zoomed in on an unusual main course of cinghiale prepared in "dolce e forte" - translating to "sweet and strong." The waiter told me that the recipe included chocolate, as well as vinegar, and it was heaped with almonds and raisins too. I was sold after he mentioned chocolate. Well, no surprise - I loved it and will try to recreate it when the cooler weather comes. Stay tuned for a post on it later this year.

 Here's another dish you might not be familiar with called "agretti" - plural for agretto. They're sometimes called "barba di fratte" translating to "monk's beard" for obvious reasons. Even in Italy, agretti are not all that common and I've had trouble finding seeds for them there too. But this year I discovered an online source and planted some in my garden.  If you're interested in growing agretti, you can buy seeds for them at "Seeds From Italy."  Mine are still a bit immature to pick, but I hope to write a post on them after they're a little sturdier and ready for harvest. Let me know if you've ever eaten them. 

They taste a little like swiss chard, even though they look like thick chives. I've usually eaten them boiled, then tossed with olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, but at Osteria, they were served with a pesto made from anchovies, capers, pistachios and olive oil - delicious, but a little went a long way.

Patrizia also suggested we stop for a late day snack at this place, which sells a lot of Tuscan products and also has a fresh bakery with some of the best flat breads I've ever eaten. 

 The flat bread was delicious in its own right, but also a relief from the typical bland Tuscan bread that's made without salt and that hardens like a rock in no time. Legend has it that salt is omitted because of an ancient salt tax, but Tuscans will tell you it's because the bread is a perfect accompaniment to their regional cuisine.

I would certainly eat it with these cinghiale sausages for instance (even though I'd prefer salted bread.)

 But for dessert, forget about bread and dig into these ricciarelli instead - a true Tuscan treat. 

Ricciarelli 
printable recipe here

Recipe From Story of A Kitchen

• 3 cups (300g) almond flour (also called almond meal)*
• 1 1/3 cups (280g) granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups (150g) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• grated zest of 1 small orange (I used a small orange, but could have used more)
• 2 egg whites
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• pinch salt

Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.**
2. Mix the almonds with the sugar, scant 1 cup of the powdered sugar, the baking powder and the orange zest in a bowl. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then stir them into the almond mixture. Using a large spoon, mash the mixture to a wet, sticky mass. Stir in the almond extract.
3. Using an ice cream scoop (size #60), scoop dough into balls and form into oval shapes. Roll in the remaining powdered sugar, and flatten slightly. Put them onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, allowing room to spread slightly, and sift the remaining powdered sugar over the tops. Leave the cookies at room temperature for about 1 hour to dry a little before baking. (With my #60 scoop, I made 43 1/2 cookies exactly.)
4. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F (140 degrees C). Bake the cookies for about 30 minutes (or less!), or until they are lightly golden and a little firm on the outside (the insides should still be soft). Cool completely and store in an airtight container. They keep for just over a week if you don’t constantly find another excuse to go to the kitchen and, say, wipe down the counters or check that the milk didn’t escape from the fridge, then sigh and pop open the cookie jar again to nibble.

Important notes

* I bought my almond flour ready-made from Bob’s Red Mill. You can make your own from blanched almonds by grinding 1 tablespoon flour per 1 cup of almonds together in a food processor. The flour prevents the formation of almond butter. However, it also makes it a non-celiac friendly recipe.

** Tip from my testing: You don’t need the parchment, but it’s much better. Cooking directly on the baking sheet will cause the bottoms of the cookies to cook and brown more quickly and you’ll lose the wonderful chew and softness. I would invest in parchment or try to bake on a silicon mat and let me know how that works.

For another recipe and photos of ricciarelli, take a look here:

http://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/ricciarelli-siena-almond-cookies

E per quelli che capiscono l'Italiano, ecco una ricetta da Patrizia con delle belle foto:

http://andantecongusto.blogspot.it/2012/12/i-miei-one-bite-ricciarelli.html

Cibreo's Yellow Pepper Soup

Years ago when my daughter was studying in Florence, I had a transformative dining experience there. I ate at Cibrèo. That first dinner at Cibrèo stayed with me forever, so when my brother-in-law and sister-in-law invited me to be their guests at a villa in Florence this month, I knew Cibrèo also had to be in my future. 

After eating dinner at Cibrèo twice in the last two weeks, I'm happy to report that the food is just as good as ever.  But you don't have to fly to Florence to savor one of Cibrèo's signature dishes. Just make the recipe at the end of this post.
In a one-block corner of the city, you'll find several Cibrèo eateries, including the fancy, linen-tablecloth Cibrèo restaurant. Dine there if you want to go more upscale. But to eat the same food at half the price, in a more casual setting, go to the Cibrèo trattoria across the street. No reservations taken, so it's best to line up twenty minutes before it opens at 7 to get a seat. Because it's small and it's not exactly a secret.

There's nary a pasta dish or pizza on the menu, but what does come out of the kitchen can only be described as divine, including their yellow pepper soup, or passata di peperoni gialli.

 If silk and sunshine were edible, this is how it would be done. 

Start the evening at the Cibrèo cafe with a glass of prosecco or an Aperol spritz, to get you ready for the main event.  Maybe you'd prefer to spend the evening at the Cibrèo dinner theater, where it helps to know Italian.

Fabbio Picchi is the mastermind behind all these delicious eateries, and you'll see him constantly scurrying back and forth among diners to make sure everything remains to his high standards.

 I have to confess when I showed him photos from my recent preparation of his yellow pepper soup, he scolded me because I had roasted and peeled the peppers, instead of running them through a food mill  to separate the skins from the pulp. Italians frequently use this tool (a mouli) when making tomato sauce too.

 But since I don't own one, I roasted the peppers and peeled the skin. Sorry Fabio.

The soup was just as good as what I remembered eating at Cibrèo, even if I adapted the recipe to suit my lack of a mouli. It freezes beautifully too, so you can stockpile some for when company's arriving, or when you've got a busy day and don't have time to cook. A little heavy cream makes it luxurious.

Everything on the menu at Cibrèo is really special.

 The polenta is one of my favorites. I don't how they manage to get it so soft and creamy. I just know I had to have it, with its dribble of olive oil and scattering of parmigiano on top. So I did. I would happily eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This ricotta and potato sformato was pretty darn special too, served with a rich ragù on the side.

And who'd have thought that crab soup would be a specialty you'd crave in Florence? Well, take my word for it, it may look drab, but any other crab soup you've had will pale beside this intensely flavored version.  

The main courses were equally delicious, including this casserole of sausages and beans - a classic Tuscan dish.

The roast pork loin with potatoes and spinach looked delicious too, but the one criticism was that it was served at room temperature.

I have to confess the stuffed chicken neck (replete with chicken head in the presentation) didn't sound too appealing, but it tasted like a very good chicken paté. Be prepared - so much of the food at Cibrèo is mousse-like in texture.

But I couldn't say no when I heard that stuffed rabbit was one of the night's specials - with sweet cipolline onions on the side. It was tender, flavorful and I would order it again in a heartbeat. Actually, I did order again on my second visit in two weeks.

The desserts were also every bit as delicious as I remembered. The cheesecake smeared with orange marmalade was a standout.

But then again, so was the cream-filled tart topped with the tiny strawberries (fragoline) that are a specialty in Italy this time of year.

But this was the dessert I had been dreaming about since my last visit - a coffee flavored bavarian cream smothered in dark chocolate. One bite and you're in la-la land. It's light and luscious and rich all at the same time.

I didn't think Cibrèo could top that, a new dessert on the menu comes close - a vanilla bavarian cream served with a puddle of reduced, sweet grape must called saba.  Now I've got a real problem. What to order for dessert next time?

Cibreo's Yellow Pepper Soup

printable recipe here

Total time: 45 minutes

1 red onion

1 carrot

1 stalk celery

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 yellow peppers (I used 3 and roasted them, then peeled them)

4 medium-size potatoes (I used 1 large and it was plenty)

2 cups water or chicken stock

Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 glass of milk (It's good with just milk, but use heavy cream if you want a really rich taste)

2 bay leaves

Homemade croutons to garnish.

1. Chop onion, carrot and celery. Fry them in olive oil until golden in a heavy casserole large enough to hold all the vegetables.

2. Devein and chop peppers. (I roasted the peppers and peeled them, then added them to the blender along with the other cooked vegetables) Peel and chop potatoes. Add to casserole along with about two cups of water or stock (or half water and half stock), enough to cover vegetables. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Pass the vegetables through a shredder or a Mouli to remove skins. Puree in a blender or food processor. (After soup has been liquified, it should not be boiled again or it will lose its color and taste).

4. Return soup to heat and add milk, which will remove any remaining acidity in the peppers and give the soup a smoother consistency. Add bay leaves. Heat through without boiling. Correct seasoning and remove from heat.

5. Take out the bay leaves. Serve soup in heated individual bowls garnished with croutons. If you need to reheat the soup, heat it in a double boiler.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Calamarata

It's fun to try new pasta shapes, especially when they mimic the main ingredients you're pairing with the pasta. In this case, it's calamarata, which closely resemble the calamari, or squid, that I cooked with them. In the past, it was nearly impossible to find calamarata here in the states, but nowadays, I have seen it not only in Philadelphia and New York, but even in my hometown of Princeton, N.J. The brand I used was "La Fabbrica della Pasta di Gragnano," an excellent artisanal pasta made with extrusion machines that employ the traditional bronze dies. In case you can't find this brand, click here for a couple of other brands available online.

Try to find squid that are on the small size. They're more tender. These were only about three inches long. Pat them dry and cut them into rings. Dry them again before cooking with them. They'll release a lot of water anyway.

Saute the scallions and garlic in olive oil, then remove them when they've wilted.

You should be roasting the tomatoes too. Use a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet to make clean up a little easier. Roast them until they have burst open and have taken on a bit of color.

Toss the tomatoes together with the squid, the pasta and the remaining ingredients. All you have to do now is grab a fork and dig in.

Calamarata with calamari
printable recipe here

1 lb. calamarata pasta
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 lbs. squid, cut into rings

1 pt. grape tomatoes
a couple of tablespoons olive oil
salt, pepper, garlic salt

6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. chopped scallions
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 lemon, squeezed
red pepper flakes
salt to taste
1/4 cup minced parsley
small handful of basil, minced

Place the grape tomatoes on a cookie sheet (I put parchment paper down first). Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over the tomatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Roast in a 425 degree oven for about 20 min. until they start to turn color.
Start the water boiling for the pasta, adding some salt. While you're boiling the pasta, make the sauce by placing 1/2 cup olive oil in a large saucepan and adding the chopped scallions and minced garlic. Sauté until soft, then remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside. Turn up the heat, add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and add the squid rings, tossing and sautéing for only a few minutes. Do not overcook.  Squid will get tough if you leave it in for more than a few minutes. Remove the squid and set aside. Add the wine to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes in the pan with the liquid that the squid released. Drain the pasta and add that to the pan, also putting back in the sautéed scallions and garlic that you had set aside. Add the roasted tomatoes, juice from 1/2 lemon, salt, pepper and enough red pepper flakes to give it the spiciness you prefer. Sprinkle the minced parsley and basil on top and serve.

Amaretti Crostata

This may look like a drab, brown tart, but I assure you, once you try it, you'll be licking the plate clean. You're familiar with the crostata - a tart made with jam that's a standard dessert in any Italian housewife's repertoire. This one takes it a step further, adding amaretti cookies and almonds and some liqueur to the mix. The recipe comes from my friend Lilli, who got it from a cookbook that came with a kitchen apparatus called a "bimby." 

Years ago, she bought one of these super-duper machines in Italy. You can use it to make anything from risotto to sorbet. All you do is dump the ingredients into the machine, press a button and it does the work for you. It mixes, it cooks, it knows when everything's done - nearly as good as having your own chef in the kitchen. It's an expensive item so you won't find it on every kitchen counter, the way you do a toaster. As fate would have it though, Lilli's "bimby" broke after a few years, but the recipes she made with it still work. It just takes a few extra steps to do the mixing by hand.

Make it in a pie plate or a tart pan, whatever you have on hand. The recipe calls for a pan with a diameter of 30 centimeters, or about 12 inches. You may not have that large a pan, so just adjust to the size you've got. Don't use the entire recipe for pasta frolla, for example if your pan is not that large. Even if it is, you'll have extra. Save what you don't use and freeze it. Cut back on the marmalade too if your pan is smaller. 

Then again, you might want to go out and buy a larger pan. Because you're going to want to eat every last morsel.

Amaretti Crostata

for a pan of 12" diameter

printable recipe here

Pastry - pasta frolla 

This makes enough dough for a large tart, with leftover, or for two smaller tart shells.

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 t. vanilla extract
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 or 3 T. ice water, if needed

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl or food processor, add the butter and mix until it looks like coarse sand. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the water) and mix only until it holds together. If it's too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of cold water until the mixture comes together. Do not over mix or your dough will be tough. Bring together into a ball.

filling

200 grams (about 7 ounces) plum jam

200 grams (about 7 ounces) apricot jam

200 grams (about 7 ounces) amaretti cookies

1/4 cup sliced almonds

a tablespoon of butter

flour

a little cognac or brandy

a little amaretto liqueur

Mix the plum and apricot jams with the brandy cognac. Roll the dough into a disc and place into a tart pan that's been buttered. Spread half the jam mixture over the pastry, then place a layer of amaretti cookies over the top. Sprinkle with a bit of cognac, then add another layer of the jam mixture. Finish with another layer of amaretti cookies, sprinkling with amaretto liqueur.

Spread the almonds on the top. 

Bake in oven for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Raw Artichoke Salad

Raw artichokes? Yes, raw artichokes. Cast aside those thoughts of chewing through cardboard. That might be the case if you used regular artichokes. But this salad is made with baby artichokes - the ones that measure only about three inches long and are in markets right now. 

Even so, you can't just bite right into these artichokes. They do look a bit foreboding with those prickly leaves, don't they? There's a bit of prep work to do first, including stripping off all of those pesky outer leaves. For those of you who might be thinking what a waste that is, you can recycle the leaves by cooking them in water and making vegetable broth to use in risotto, soups or stews. Once you've stripped off enough leaves to get down to the very tender interior, trim the stem all the way around.

Then slice off the top section of the artichoke to get rid of the prickly part.

Cut the artichoke in half. At this point, if you were trimming regular size artichokes, you'd have to scoop out the center choke. But in these baby artichokes, it's still quite tender, so leave it in.

Cut into very thin slices.

Have ready a bowl of acidulated water (water with lemon juice or vinegar), or the dressing you're going to use for the salad, and immediately drop the slices into that. Otherwise, the artichoke will oxidize and turn brown very quickly.

Then prepare the other ingredients: wash the arugula, slice the mushrooms and shave some strips from a piece of parmesan cheese (I use a vegetable peeler to do this). Toss everything with the dressing and I promise you, cardboard will be the last thing on your mind.

For a tutorial on trimming large, globe artichokes and a recipe for artichoke risotto, click here.

Raw Artichoke Salad

printable recipe here

It's hardly a recipe, just a list of ingredients mixed with a vinaigrette.

arugula

baby artichokes

parmesan cheese

white button mushrooms

extra virgin olive oil

lemon juice

salt, pepper

Prepare the dressing by mixing 1 part lemon juice to 2 parts extra virgin olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Wash the arugula and mushrooms. Slice the mushrooms. Trim the artichokes and slice thinly. Toss the artichokes, the mushrooms and arugula with the dressing and mix with shavings of parmesan cheese.