 |
Pere con Zabaglione Poached Pears with Zabaglione The gentle flavor and aroma of poached pears is a beautiful contrast to the warm and spicy Zabaglione (pronounced "za-by-own"), an Italian soft custard made with sweet wine. Serves 4 Ingredients For the Zabaglione Peel, halve and core the pears. Place them in a shallow sauté pan or skillet large enough to hold all the pear halves in a single layer. Sprinkle with the sugar and cover with the water. Poach covered until tender. Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and cool. FOR THE ZABAGLIONE Crostata di Fragole Strawberry Tart This fresh fruit tart is a variation on the classic Crostata di Marmellata, an Italian jam tart made with fruit preserves or marmalade and a cookie dough crust. Here spring strawberries combined with strawberry jam peek through the festive lattice top; serve by itself, or with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serves 6 - 8 Ingredients - for the dough Ingredients - for the filling Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly. In a small bowl, mix the eggs, cream and vanilla with a fork. Add to the flour mixture a little at a time, blending with a fork until a soft dough is formed. Use only as much of the egg/cream mixture as necessary; set the rest aside. Divide the dough into two balls, one smaller and one larger, and chill about 30 minutes. Rinse and hull the strawberries, then slice them 1/4" thick. Melt the strawberry jam in a small saucepan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400°F. On a lightly floured pastry board, roll out the larger ball of dough into a large circle. Line a 9" tart pan with the dough. Brush the bottom with 1/2 of the melted jam. Arrange the strawberry slices over the jam and brush the top of the strawberries with the remaining jam. Roll out the smaller ball of dough and cut into 1/2" strips. Arrange the strips over the strawberries in a lattice, sealing the edges. Brush the top with the remaining egg/cream mixture and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a rack and cool. Ricciarelli Chewy Almond Cookies Although this ancient almond and honey cookie comes from Siena , Italy , it has Middle Eastern roots. Ricciarelli is now a popular Christmas cookie throughout Tuscany . Traditional recipes call for drying the shaped cookie for many hours before baking - much too tedious for us modern folks. So, we've simplified the recipe, making it much quicker. The combination of egg whites, sugar, honey, ground almonds - and baking in a slow oven - makes these cookies soft and chewy. 1 pound whole almonds Preheat oven to 300oF. To blanch almonds, fill a 3-quart pot ¾ full of cold water; bring to a rapid boil. Drop whole almonds into water; boil 2 minutes. Drain almonds; rinse under cold water. Spread in a layer on a clean towel or paper towels. When cool enough to handle, squeeze almond between fingers and almond will pop out of skin. Repeat until all almonds are skinned. Dry almonds well with towel; discard skins. Spread blanched almonds in a single layer in a large baking pan. Bake almonds about 25 minutes, stirring twice, until dried, but not browned; cool. Line baking pans with parchment paper. Place almonds and granulated sugar in a food processor; process until powdered. Add the 1 cup powdered sugar, flour, honey, egg whites, and vanilla; process until well mixed. If mixture becomes too thick to process, transfer mixture to a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Divide dough into 8 pieces. Sprinkle a large cutting board generously with powdered sugar; use palms of hands to roll each piece of dough into a 1-inch diameter log. Cut dough diagonally into 1-inch thick slices. Lie each slice down and flatten into a diamond shape, 3/8-inch thick. Place cookies ½-inch apart on lined baking pans. Spoon powdered sugar into a sieve; dust cookies. Bake until cookies are set but not brown, about 12 to 15 minutes (DO NOT BROWN). Cool; dust again with powdered sugar. When completely cool, store in an airtight container. Makes about 5 dozen Crostata di Albicocche Apricot Tart Pine nuts add a subtle Italian note to this sweet pastry, and a lattice top reveals the tangy warm apricots inside. Tarts are a classic Tuscan treat, and this one is sure to become a summertime favorite. Serves 6 Crust Ingredients 1/2 cup pine nuts Filling Ingredients 2 pounds apricots Preheat the oven to 425°F. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the pine nuts and sugar until finely ground. Add the flour and butter; flash process several times until well blended. Beat the egg and milk together in a small bowl; add to the dough, processing only enough to form a ball. Remove the dough and form into two balls. Refrigerate for one hour. Cut the apricots in half and remove the pits. Reserve enough of the apricot halves to cover the top of the tart. Place the remaining apricots in a saucepan with the sugar and simmer over medium heat until the apricots are well cooked and the sugar has formed a syrup, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Blend in the food processor into a coarse puree. Roll out half the pastry dough and line a shallow tart pan with a removable bottom. Spread the apricot puree over the bottom pastry and arrange the apricot halves on top, skin side up. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into lattice strips, arranging them over the apricots. Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F, then lower the temperature to 350°F. Brush the beaten egg over the lattice and the apricots and continue to bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan. |
|
 |
Copyright © , FWE Imports, Napa, CA., All Rights Reserved. | View Our Policies