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Ciabatta Bread

Here another classic of Italian cooking: light, airy, delicious ciabatta bread. Give it the time to cool off, and eat it with just extra virgin olive oil, not even salt. To taste the delicate flavor of just a few ingredients.

If this is the first time you bake bread, this should be an easy one. Just remember to treat the dough gently, to avoid it deflates. The idea is to stretch the gluten and…

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I'm back.

I’m back.

It’s been a while since my last post. Not that I stopped cooking, I was just busy doing other things. Hard times call for hard measures. We are all quarantined because of this virus. What a better occasion to use the kitchen and actually cook something delicious?

Stay tuned for more recipes.

Stay home and stay safe.

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Pasta Amatriciana

I’ve waited quite a bit before posting this. It’s probably the most famous dish of the Roman cooking, along with Carbonara and the Coda all Vaccinara. This is one of my specialty and I’m sure it could proudly challenge any restaurant of the Eternal City. (more…)

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This is a classic one. It reminds me of spring, when the temperature is not yet too high and you find fresh Borlotti beans in the pod at the market. To my great surprise I managed to find them here, in New York City. They call them Red Kidney Beans, they have them at Fairway sometimes… But you can find real Borlotti from Italy, they will be dried and you’ll have to let them sit in water for at least 12 hours. I love their taste, specially when paired with lot of celery. But lets roll our sleeves and start cooking it. It can take some time to cook, especially with he dry beans. Ingredients:

200g Dry Borlotti Beans (or even better, fresh in the pod)

1 large Carrot

1 medium Yellow Onion

1/2 stack of Celery

1 small can of Whole Pealed Italian Tomatoes

2 Bay Leaves

2 Dry Hot Chili Peppers

2 Dry Sweet Red Peppers

2 stock cubes

1 piece of “cotica” (the pig skin of Guanciale, Pancetta and Prosciutto) NOT MANDATORY

Start the night before by putting the beans in a large bowl and cover them with cold water. Add a spoon of salt and a spoon of baking soda (this will help the water moist the beans and speed up the cooking time, making sure they cook evenly without falling apart. If you have fresh ones, just remove them from their pod. Finally chop the carrot (I used a pretty ed carrot this time, but you can use regular ones), the onion and the celery. This is what Italians call “soffritto”. I’m thinking of making a post just about it, being one of the fundamentals of the Italian cooking.

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the stock cubes. I prefer vegetable stock for this recipe, make sure it does’ contain monosodium glutamate, it’s bad for you. Take a nice terra-cotta pot, add the finally chopped “soffritto” base, add some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the cotica and turn the flame to a medium. Let the soffritto sear, it will take approximately 10 minutes, according to the pot you use. At this point, add the beans, the chili and the sweet peppers. Give them 5 minutes, then add the can of tomato, the stock (approx. 1 liter) and the bay leaves. Cover with the lid and bring it to boil.

As it starts “bubbling” turn the flame to low, keep the lid on and let it cook until the beans are soft. 30 minute before they are done, remove the lid and let some of the stock evaporate.  After 2 hours of cooking they should be ready. Put the soup in a bowl, add some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and some freshly grounded pepper. Your soup is ready. With this same recipe you can make Pasta & Fagioli, just add the pasta to the soup and let it cook. I’ll post the recipe txt time I make it. Hope you like it.

Borlotti Beans Soup This is a classic one. It reminds me of spring, when the temperature is not yet too high and you find fresh Borlotti beans in the pod at the market.

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I’ve been waiting so long to post this and I’m very excited to bring this recipe to you. This is a fancy variation over one of the easiest pastas you can make. Usually, “Butter and Parmigiano” is what I call an “emergency pasta”, meaning is what I would do if my fridge is empty. Yes, because it will never be that empty to not have at least Parmigiano and butter… And pasta of course. It’s very simple, but this time I added fresh summer truffles to it, in the hope to elevate it to higher standards. This is summer truffle season and we should take advantage of it, until it lasts. I like to feel the texture and the flavor of truffle, don’t be shy with it, the summer ones are not that expensive. With the right technique you’ll achieve an amazing creaminess and delicate flavor. And you can surely make it without truffles and use it in case of emergencies. Note that I wrote Parmigiano Reggiano, not parmesan nor Grana Padano. Being such a simple recipe it relies on great ingredients, so don’t be cheap and buy the real thing. It’s called Parmigiano Reggiano, it’s made in Italy and there is nothing like it. Ask chef Massimo Bottura.

Ingredients:

230g of Pasta (here I used fresh egg Lumache, but dry pasta works just as good)

50g Unsalted Butter

50g Black Summer Truffles

150g Parmigiano Reggiano

Start putting a large pot full of water over the stove and bring it to boil. Meanwhile prepare the ingredients. Grate the Parmigiano and keep it on the side. Take a metal bowl, drop the butter in and place the bowl over the water, the heat will melt the butter without bringing the temperature too much up. On the side, shave the fresh truffles in very thin slices and drop them in the melted butter after taking the bowl off the pot. Makes sure the butter covers the truffles and locks in the flavor.

Cook the pasta “al dente”, drain it and save some of the cooking water, about 1 cup. You’ll need it in a bit. Follow these steps and you’ll have an amazing cream of Parmigiano.

Drop the pasta in the bowl and stir it to nicely coat each piece of it with the truffle butter we just made. Drop 3/4 of the grated Parmigiano in the bowl and stir it. You should obtain a very thick and dry pasta. And here is how the magic happens… Start adding little of the cooking water to the bowl and keep stirring. The heat of the water will slowly start to melt the cheese. As the cheese melts, keep an eye on it. If it’s too liquid, add more parmigiano, if too thick, add more water.

Once the right consistency and creaminess is achieved your pasta is ready. Sprinkle it with some fresh Parmigiano, more shaved truffle and bring it to the table. What’s for dinner, Ale?

Pasta with Butter, Parmigiano and Truffles I’ve been waiting so long to post this and I’m very excited to bring this recipe to you.

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Mussels

I love mussels. They remind me of when I was a kid and used to spend my summers in Abruzzo, at my grandparents house. My uncle had a small boat and we would go not far from the coast, where he knew there were rocks at the bottoms, not too deep. We would put masks, fins and gloves on and dive to catch them right from the rocks. (more…)

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I started last Sunday, teasing you with this recipe. I started with the Bolognese Sauce, then the Egg Pasta, the Besciamella Sauce and finally, here you have the recipe to assemble them together and create the best lasagna you’ll ever eat. Click the links if you missed some of the components. here the list of ingredients for the ultimate lasagna. The amounts vary, based on how big of a lasagna you want to make. Just avoid over charging it or the mozzarella may make it too watery as it melts.

Ingredients:

Bolognese Sauce

Besciamella Sauce

Lasagna sheets (if you are too lazy, go ahead and buy them, better if fresh pasta)

Mozzarella

Parmigiano Reggiano

Take a nice deep baking tray and place parchment paper on the bottom. Add a little Bolognese to the bottom, so it won’t stick. Place the first layer of pasta sheet, add a couple of spoons of Bolognese sauce, besciamella, shredded mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano. Keep layering them in this order. When you get 1/2 inch from the top of the tray, just make the last layer with little Bolognese, Mozzarella and evenly coat it with Parmigiano. No besciamella on the last layer.

The lasagna is ready to be put in the oven. Pre heat it turning the broil on. Put the Lasagna in the oven and cook for about 1/2 hour or until it creates a nice crush on the top. Take it out, let it cool for 10 minutes and bring it to the table. This is totally a Sunday dish. And if you have leftovers, the next day it’s even better.

  Lasagna I started last Sunday, teasing you with this recipe. I started with the Bolognese Sauce, then the Egg Pasta, the Besciamella Sauce and finally, here you have the recipe to assemble them together and create the best lasagna you’ll ever eat.

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Besciamella Sauce

Besciamella is a very simple thing, just few ingredients, but they have to be put together wisely to create the right texture, consistency and flavor. It’s a must-have for Lasagna and it can be used in many other recipes. I’ll post some in the future. Ingredients: 1 liter of whole Milk 100 g All Purpose Flour 100 g Unsalted Butter a pinch of Salt a pinch of nutmeg Melt the butter in a pot large…

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Here is one of the essence of Italian cooking. Pasta is always part of the traditional Italian meal and I bet bibliography about pasta could fill up an entire library. It comes in many shapes and forms, many different recipes, variants and personal secrets. The truth is that it’s a very simple recipe, made with basic ingredients. And this truly is the main secret of Italian cooking. This is my basic egg pasta recipe, you can use it to make Tagliatelle (with Bolognese sauce), Chitarra (with my Lobster sauce recipe), Lasagna Sheets, Cannelloni, Maltagliati (with Pasta and Fagioli are amazing) and many other recipes. If you are lucky enough to have the machine to make Rigatoni and short format pasta, I suggest you to use the white of the fifth egg and add one more spoon of EVOO, to make it slightly softer and more elastic. But this recipe works pretty well with any long format of pasta. Get a large wood slab or a wood table, you’ll need some space to make this. Ingredients:

1 lbs Durum Wheat flour or Semolina

5 large eggs

2 spoonfuls of Extra Virgin Olive oil

5 grams of salt

Create a nice little “mountain” with the flour. Dig a hole in the middle and add 4 eggs and 1 yolk (add the whole 5th egg if you are planning any short pasta as Rigatoni or Penne, or if the dough becomes too hard). Add the oil and the salt and gently start kneading the dough. Keep kneading pushing with the palm of your hand until the dough becomes elastic and smooth. You’ll still feel the coarseness of the durum flour. You should keep going for at least 15 minutes. At this point, create a ball with the dough, sprinkle with a little of more durum flour, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it “rest” in the fridge for about an hour. This will give time to the dough to settle down and become even more elastic.

Take the dough out of the fridge, cut a small piece and start laying the pasta sheets. I generally start with the thicker setting of the pasta machine, gradually scaling down to the thinner one, according to the kind of pasta you are making. This time I made Lasagna sheets, I like them very thin, but I would go thicker for Chitarra, one of my favorite formats of pasta. Probably it’s my Abruzzo heritage coming out. I’ll add photos of other shapes next time I make it.

Fresh Durum Wheat Egg Pasta Here is one of the essence of Italian cooking. Pasta is always part of the traditional Italian meal and I bet bibliography about pasta could fill up an entire library.

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Shishito Peppers

These small sweet Japanese peppers remind me of Italian ‘Friarielli”, small green peppers from southern Italy. The shape and color are different, but the flavor is pretty close. Be careful of the random extra-hot one that always, inevitably, happens in the bunch. It’s impossible to tell from the outside, so you’ll have to byte it… The recipe is so easy it’s impossible to go wrong… Grab a nice…

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Bolognese is probably one of the most famous Italian sauces in the world. It takes time to make it, but it’s always a big satisfaction when you bring it to the table. Since the long slow cooking time, it’s a typical Sunday dish and when I make it, I generally make egg pasta while it cooks.This time I made very thin egg pasta sheets, Besciamella sauce and assembled the ultimate Lasagna. Click the links for the recipes. Fresh Egg Pasta. Besciamella Sauce. Lasagna.

But let’s get back to our Bolognese. I suggest to use a pretty fat cut of meat, coarse grounded (or you can even finely chop it by hand). You can use pretty cheap cut of beef, but this time I wanted to make it special and bought some nice marbled Wagyu or Kobe beef from Katagiri, my favorite Japanese grocery store in midtown east. The slow cooking melts the fat, giving an amazing texture to the sauce. The typical recipe from Bologna includes milk and pancetta, but I don’t use them for this sauce. Let’s call it Bolognese a-la-Ale, hope nobody from Bologna gets hurt. This is my version, but trust me, it’s delicious. Pick the best and heaviest pot you have. I used my cast iron Staub, but a terra-cotta one may just do the job.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped Onion

1 cup chopped Celery

1 cup chopped Carrots

1 clove of Garlic

2 lbs grounded Wagyu Beef

1 liter beef stock (you can use cubes if you don’t have time to make it)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Black Pepper

Bay leaves

1 large can of Whole Pealed Tomatoes

1 bottle of crushed tomatoes.

Tomato paste

1 glass of red wine

Start making a nice “soffritto” using EVOO, onion, carrots, celery and the clove of garlic. Let them get soft on a medium flame. On the side, bring to boil a pot with the beef stock. Once the soffritto starts turning golden add the beef and the bay leaves, and  turn the flame to high. Make sure to stir and break the meet using a wooden spoon. Let it loose its water and as soon as it starts to gently fry, add the red wine. Let the wine evaporate, lower the flame and add two spoonfuls of tomato paste. If it gets too tick, use some of the beef stock. At this point, you are almost done. Add the tomatoes, crushed and whole pealed. Let it get to gently boil, set the flame to low and wait. It will need at least a couple of hours of slow cooking. Stir every 20 minutes. In case it gets too tick, add some of the stock, but never make it too watery.

After 3 hours of slow cooking you should have a very velvety sauce, with tiny pieces of meat. Cook your favorite pasta, better if fresh home made egg pasta and use this sauce. Spending all this time cooking for someone is like a declaration of love. Make sure you pick the right guests.

Kobe Beef Ragú or Bolognese a-la-Ale Bolognese is probably one of the most famous Italian sauces in the world. It takes time to make it, but it’s always a big satisfaction when you bring it to the table.

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I always get excited when I see food I’ve never cooked. When I moved to New York City I started seeing these little chickens everywhere ins supermarkets around the city. I thought of giving it a try, using an old roman recipe, the “Pollo al tegame”. As usual, just a few ingredients, wisely combined to achieve an amazing flavor. Bake some potatoes or some veggies and I can ensure your guests will be happy. Ingredients:

1 Cornish Hen (or a small young chicken)

1 little bunch of Sage

1 little bunch of Rosemary

3 Bay leaves

4 cloves of garlic

Red hot chili pepper

1 glass of dry white wine

Roughly cut the hen into pieces, keeping the skin on and throwing away the gizzards (I personally don’t like interiors, but you can keep them). Throw the chicken in a large non-sticky pan.

Add the herbs, the pealed cloves of garlic, the chili and some black pepper. Turn the flame on to medium-high and make sure to sear it properly. To me, chicken has to be well done, golden on the outside and juicy inside.

Turn the flame to high if needed, and keep tossing it to make it evenly charred. Once the chicken is charred, poor the white wine in the pan and let it evaporate, until it leaves a nice creamy gravy in the pan. It’s ready. I told you it was easy. Now bring it to the table and tell your guests that they can use their hands to eat, they’ll probably end up licking their fingers.

Cornish Hen with Herbs and White Wine I always get excited when I see food I’ve never cooked. When I moved to New York City I started seeing these little chickens everywhere ins supermarkets around the city.

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I was so happy when I found this cut of meat here in the US, it’s exactly the same my grandmother uses to make her roast, she calls it “girello” and she uses less carrots, making it more about the meat. But when I was a kid I was always looking for the orange veggies, so when I first tried to make it, I put a lot of carrots… I love their sweet taste and soft consistency. The recipe is very simple, and there is always a big satisfaction in cooking a big piece of meat. It’s amazing how very few ingredients, when put together, can create such an amazing flavor. Simplicity  always pays off, you’ll be surprised. Maybe this one will beat your mom’s recipe, or grandma’s… Here Ale’s version:

Ingredients:

2 lbs Beef Top Round, in one piece, tied up.

1 medium yellow onion

1 lbs Baby Carrots

3 glasses of dry white wine (i use Frascati Superiore)

Black Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Place a cast iron pot on the stove, add the oil and turn the flame on to medium-high. Sear the meat on each side (this is going to give your roast a proper roast-look), like 3 min per side. Add some salt and make sure each side has the same color. Add the finely sliced onion and let it go for 5 minutes. When the onion starts to turn dark, add the carrots, stir and let if go for 5 more minutes.

Grind a good amount of fresh black pepper and add the wine. As soon as the wine starts to boil, lower the flame and cover with the lid. Most of the work is done, you only need some patience now. It will take no less than a couple of hours of slow cooking. Keep the flame low, just enough heat to keep it gently boiling. A good cast iron pot will help distribute the heat evenly, contributing in a super tender meat. 15 minutes before turning the flame off, remove the lid and let some of the juices to evaporate. This time will also allow for the onion to melt in the sauce, creating a super yummy gravy that will help moist the meat once sliced. Remove the roast from the pan, let it “rest” for 5 minutes and slice it into 1/2 inch slices. Put it on a plate, add the carrots, the gravy and bring it to the table. Make sure you have some fresh baked bread for the ‘scarpetta”.

Roast with Carrots I was so happy when I found this cut of meat here in the US, it’s exactly the same my grandmother uses to make her roast, she calls it “girello” and she uses less carrots, making it more about the meat.

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Gricia

Gricia is one of the signature dishes of Roman cooking. Often referred to as the “Amatriciana without tomato”, it’s second to none when it comes to flavor. You can also call it “Carbonara without eggs”, or “Cacio & Pepe” with guanciale. But there are a few secrets that make it’s execution unique. Maybe you’ve already guessed the ingredients… Let’s get to work then. (more…)

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Mmmm, crustacea… I like them all. One of the great things of being in North America is that they sell fresh live lobsters almost everywhere. Even the small supermarket near my apartment has a water tank with live lobsters in it… This recipe is probably my favorite way to make the best out of these amazing cold waters delicacy. A good friend of mine, who’s a famous chef in Abruzzo, once taught me this secret. It’s the shell that gives flavor to the sauce. It’s vital that you pan-fry the lobster on the side of the shell for the first 5-10 minutes, but we’ll get to it. First, the ingredients for 2 people:

1 Fresh live lobster (weight can range from 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 lbs)

5 Garlic Cloves

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Parsley

1 large can of whole pealed Italian tomatoes.

Clean the lobster, cut it toward its length, wash out the interiors and what’s in the head, you don’t want that green slimy shit in your sauce. Cut each half into 4-5 pieces, making sure to cut each claw in half, so that the meat can give flavor to the sauce, and viceversa. Eat up the oil in a large pan. Peal the garlic cloves and let them slowly golden brown, sparkle with half of the parsley and add the chili pepper.

At this point, add the pieces of lobster and make sure the carapace is turned toward the hot oil. Turn the flame to medium and let it go for 5-10 minutes, until the shell becomes red. Add the tomato, stir it and cover with a lid. Let it go for other 10-15 minutes, until the water of the tomatoes dries up a little. If it gets too tick, add some boiling water from the pot you already put on the stove for the pasta. When the lobster is done you can remove the lobster meet from the tail and shred it into the sauce, this would make it even more yummy. Remove the other pieces of lobster and keep them on the side, you’ll use them to garnish the plate and add some fun to the eating experience. Cook the pasta “al dente” and when ready add it to the pan. Let it go for 2 more minutes, sprinkle with the remaining parsley and a little fresh EVOO. Put the pasta on the dish and make it pretty with some of the pieces of lobster.

It’s ready, bring it to the table and eat while still warm.

Spaghetti with Lobster Mmmm, crustacea… I like them all. One of the great things of being in North America is that they sell fresh live lobsters almost everywhere.

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This reminds me of my grandmother. She loves this fresh cheese. I already lost my hope about finding it here, but the other day I saw it in the cheese aisle of Fairway (for those who are not from NYC, well, Fairway is the best supermarket you can find, fuck WholeFood). I was a bit schematic at first, not sure it would have been that cheese my grandma always buys. But I gave it a try and I have to say, I was impressed, It;s exactly the same kind of cheese. And even the flavor is very close to the Italian one. Well done Fairway. In Italy this cheese is called “Primo Sale”, literally “First Salt”, because salt it’s been added to the external layer just once. It’s very fresh, summery, light and has an amazing texture. This recipe is very easy, but your guests will be very impressed. And please, make sure to use salted capers, not the one in vinegar. Actually, erase the vinegar capers from your mind, pretend they don’t exist, they are not capers, they taste like vinegar. So no, only salted ones.

Ingredients:

4 slices of Fresh Basket Cheese (approx 1.5 cm tick, 1/2”)

8 tomatoes on the vine

Basil

5 Garlic Cloves

3 spoonfuls of salted Capers

Oregano

Pepper

Salt

Eat the over to max, broil on. Take a small baking tray and place parchment paper on the bottom. Add some basil leaves to the bottom and place the tomatoes in the pan, make sure to leave some room in between and fill the gaps with the salted capers you previously washed out from the salt under warm water and the cloves of garlic. Sprinkle the tomatoes with EVOO, salt, pepper and the oregano. Put the baking pan in the oven and let them go until the top of the tomatoes starts to get charred.

Eat up a large non sticky pan on high flame. Temperature it’s very important, you want to char the cheese and avoid for it to completely melt. When the pan is smoking hot, add the cheese, don’t cover and let it go until it forms a nice dark layer on the bottom. Be patient, it will look like it won’t unstick from the bottom, but it will, just give it some more time on high flame. At this point, flip it and cook on the other side until ready.

Place the roasted tomatoes in the plate with the capers, remove the garlic cloves and add the cheese next to it. Sprinkle with fresh EVOO and eat right away. The cheese shouldn’t cool down.

Fresh Basket Cheese with Roasted Tomatoes and Capers This reminds me of my grandmother. She loves this fresh cheese. I already lost my hope about finding it here, but the other day I saw it in the cheese aisle of Fairway (for those who are not from NYC, well, Fairway is the best supermarket you can find, fuck WholeFood).

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This is a classic from Roma. You can find them at every pizzeria, even the take away ones that are generally called Rosticceria. The original Supplí are deep fried rice-balls, generally made with tomato-basil sauce or grounded beef tomato sauce and filled with fresh mozzarella. When you deep fry them the mozzarella will melt, creating “wires” of yumminess. That’s why they are generally called “Supplí al telefono”, literally translated “Supplí on the phone”, because it seems to have a phone receiver in your hand with the wire… For these supplí I used the leftovers of the Porcini mushroom risotto I made the day before. I filled them with semi-hard French goat cheese, thought it would give them a nice kick. I’ll post the original recipe for the tomato basil rice version, but the process is the same. Always remember to make more Risotto, you’ll be happy to have these in the freezer as a nice appetizer for your friends.

Ingredients:

2 lbs of leftover Risotto

2 small eggs

1/2 lbs plain breadcrumbs

Canola oil for the deep fry

In a large bowl, add the eggs to the rice and mix well using your hands. Create a nice oval rice ball, roughly the size of 2 spoonfuls of risotto. Add a piece of cheese in the middle (if you are using mozzarella, make sure it’s not too watery) and wrap it up inside the rice ball. Make sure the rice “protects” the cheese, otherwise it will melt while you fry them. Roll them into breadcrumbs and put them aside.

You can make them of any size, just make sure the rice covers the cheese, or they will mess up during cooking. Fill a frying pot with enough oil to cover the supplí during cooking, and deep fry them till golden brown. Bring them to table right away. Buon appetito.

Supplí with Porcini Mushroom Risotto This is a classic from Roma. You can find them at every pizzeria, even the take away ones that are generally called Rosticceria.