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Italian granny's recipes

Starter - Grilled Treviso’s Radicchio

History

Growing up Radicchio Rosso di Treviso is the result of a tradition that goes over the centuries. Some iconographic research conducted by the University of Padua Titian Temesta (“Il Radicchio di Treviso at the Wedding at Cana”) showed that the radish was cultivated as early as the mid-sixteenth century. It can be seen depicted in paintings such as " The Wedding at Cana " of Leandro da Ponte, called Bassano (now in the Louvre Museum in Paris), but the production process have been refined only in the second half of the nineteenth century. It would have been the nurseryman Francis Van Den Borre, who arrived from Belgium in 1870 to build a patrician garden, to lead in the area of Treviso “imbiachimento” technique already used for chicory in Belgium. The Radicchio Rosso of Treviso (Protected Geographical Indication) is a variety of chicory, characterized by intense dark red coloured leaves, stripped in white, a crunchy texture and an unmistakable slightly bitter taste.

Preparation

To prepare Treviso’s chicory, first it must be halved or quartered.
Dip the pieces in a basin or water and let them drain in a colander, this will help them keep from burning.
Brush lightly with a vinaigrette made a balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Season the chicories with salt and pepper and place them on a grill over a medium-hot fire.
Often turn the chicories on the grill as each side begins to brown lightly.Total cooking time will vary from 20 to 30 minutes.
When cooked, Treviso’s chicory should be deeply browned and crisp on the surface, and completely cooked through and soft. It is good as starter and accompaniment.

Ingredients

12 heads of chicory
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Starter - Sardee in saor

Preparation

Chop the onions finely and, after salted, put them to dry for half an hour in oil, sprinkled with a heaping tablespoon of sugar and sprinkled with half a cup of white vinegar. While the onions are cooking, bread and fry already clean sardines (fresh), without clear them in olive oil or lard. When everything is ready, place it in a bowl with a layer of onions, then one of sardines, and fill the bowl, making sure you finish the preparation with onions. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or wax paper and keep it for a day either in a cool place, (in the fridge, temperature less cold)

History

It was the preservation method that used the Venetian fishermen who had the need to keep the food on board for a long time or in any case as long as possible.

Ingredients

600 g of fresh sardines
2 onions
4 dl of white wine vinegar
50 g pine nuts
50 g of raisins
flour
olive oil
salt

Main Course - Risi e Bisi

Preparation

Shell the peas and cook the shells in a pot with salted water. Boil for twenty minutes and then push through a fine sieve. Pound lard or bacon in a mortar. Gently soften the onion in oil and then add the lard or bacon. Add the peas together with chopped parsley and some water (or stock) and boil until nearly cooked. Take out some of the peas to use as garnish and add the others to the rice, cooking and adding the pea-shell stock with the sieved shells. When cooked, cream with butter and freshly grated grana cheese, garnishing the dish with the whole peas.

History

Rice and peas became the celebratory dish of spring, given that this was the season in which the first crop of peas occurred, and was offered to the Doge in the banquet hall, on the occasion of the celebration of the patron saint San Marco on April 25th .

Ingredients

500 g shelled peas
1 medium white onion (50-70 g when peeled)
400 g Nano Vialone Veronese rice P.G
.I.½ glass of white wine
1 slice of lard
Veneto "Valpolicella" "Euganei-Berici" and "del Grappa" extra virgin olive oil P.D.O
salt and pepper

For stock

the pea shells
1 onion
water

For thickening

a knob of butter
grated Grana Padano cheese P.D.O.

Main Course - Pasta and beans

Preparation

Simmer the beans in plenty of slightly salted water. Finely chop the lardo (or even better, ham fat), onion, celery, garlic, rosemary and parsley and gently soften in a frying pan. Add boiling water and the beans, drained of their cooking liquid. Salt to taste and leave this soup to simmer at length before adding the homemade egg pasta, either cut into diamond shapes or simply torn by hand (strasóni). Take off the heat and allow to cool; the pasta will cook on its own. If the pasta is made from durum wheat flour, leave on the heat for a couple more minutes. Some people add strips of pork rind or fresh butter creamed into the soup. Changing the final ingredient obviously gives the finished dish a different, yet wonderful, taste.

History

This is a classic dish from Veneto. The lima beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) was introduced in the region by the humanist Pierio Valeriano in 1532 when he received a few seeds by Pope Clement VII as a gift, with the promise that, back to his homeland, the cultivation would have begun. The beans used in this recipe are called “borlotti”, red and white Italian beans. Borlotti beans are largely used for soups, in particularly in northern Italy. These beans are best known for their creamy consistency and rich taste.

Ingredients

600 g Lamon della Vallata Bellunese beans P.G.I. (Borlotti), freshly shelled or, if dried, half the weight soaked overnight in water
2 potatoes
wine vinegar
water, salt and pepper

For the Sauce

100 g salted pancetta or lardo
1 onion (200-250 g)
2 sticks of celery (optional)
about 50 g Garda extra virgin olive oil P.D.O.and/or butter
garlic, rosemary and parsley
150-200 g homemade egg pasta, rolled out and cut into thin strips: either short "straccetti" or long "fettucce"

Main Course - Bacalà alla Vicentina

Preparation

Soak the well-beaten stockfish in cold water for 2 or 3 days, changing the water every 4 hours.Peel off part of the skin. Split the fish lengthwise and remove the backbone and all the pin bones. Cut the fish into even squares. Thinly slice the onions; fry in a pan with a glass of oil, add the desalted and boned anchovies cut into pieces; lastly, turn off the fire and add the chopped parsley. Spoon some of the sautéed onion mixture into a terracotta or aluminium pot or oven dish and spread over the bottom. Dip the stockfish pieces in the onion mixture, flour them, and then place the pieces next to each other in the pan. Cover the fish with the remaining onion mixture, pour in the milk, add the grated cheese, salt and pepper. Cover the fish pieces with the remaining oil.Simmer over a very low heat for about 4 ½ hours. Rotate the pot every now and then, but do not stir. It is only with experience that you will know when the fish is cooked to perfection, as each stockfish can differ in consistency. Bacalà alla Vicentina is excellent if allowed to rest for 12/24 hours before eating. Serve with polenta.

History

Stockfish was introduced in Triveneto by the Venetians, who were great sailors and brought home every novelty. The most popular version of the story claims that in 1432 the expedition under the command of Captain Venetian Pietro Querini in Norway was wrecked on the coast of the Lofoten Islands. Returning home, the Querini brought stockfish, which is still in Triveneto called stockfish.

Ingredients

1 kg dried stockfish
500 g onions
1 litre extravergin olive oil
3-4 anchovies
½ litre fresh milkplain white flour
50 g grated Grana Padano cheese
1 bunch chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Main Course - Venetian-style liver

Preparation

Peel the skin off the liver and cut it into very thin slices or small pieces. Fry finely sliced onions in a pan with plenty of extra virgin olive oil until soft and caramelised, then add the pieces of liver. It must be cooked carefully and quickly over a high heat to prevent the oil from getting too hot. Add vinegar to suit personal taste and give this dish its typical sweet-and-sour flavour. Serve immediately.

History

The Romans had the habit of cooking with figs, a very sugary fruits, to reduce the strong flavor of liver. The Italian name of the liver (fegato) may have derived from the fruit to cook the sauce, it is certain, however, that the acute Venetians replaced the figs with the "sio'le" (onions in venetian language), the most widespread in lagoon specially in Chioggia, and that fulfilled the task to dampen the taste of the liver as well: the sweet onion marries the liver, the taste of blood, almost iron, to give rise to a dish, often but not always, characterized by acidity is softened and used vinegar to soak the pot in cooking.

Ingredients

500 g veal or tender beef liver
500 g onions
Veneto "Valpolicella" "Euganei-Berici" and "del Grappa" extra virgin olive oil P.D.O.
1 small glass of wine vinegar (optional)
a knob of butter, at the end of cooking, if liked
salt and pepper

Dessert - Tiramisù

Preparation

To prepare the Tiramisù, divide the egg whites from the yolks, add the sugar to the yolks and whisk with an electric mixer until you get a nice mixture that must result light, fluffy and creamy.Add the mascarpone and a bit of grappa or rhum to the mixture of egg yolks, then whip the egg whites with the aid of an electric mixer, and when they are mounted to perfection add them to the mixture of egg yolks, sugar and mascarpone. Do this gently, stirring from the bottom up, with a spoon so as not to remove the egg whites. Now that the cream is ready, pass the biscuits in the bitter coffee, being careful not to soak too, and then arrange them on the bottom of some cups, or in a single big pan. Arrange a tablespoon of cream over the biscuits, level the cream and cover with another layer of biscuits soaked in coffee oriented in opposite direction and then a final layer of well leveled cream and sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa powder. Put in the fridge for a few hours and ... bon appetit!

History

The creation of the cake goes back 1960, at the restaurant "Alle Beccherie" in Treviso, run by the family Campeol. Roberto "Loly" Linguanotto, a pastry chef who had worked in Germany and wanted to recreate the types of sweets seen in his experience abroad. The name of the cake in the Veneto region, "Tiramesu", then, italian "Tiramisu", was adopted for its nutritional and restorative capacity, although others say mischievously that the name is due to the alleged aphrodisiac effects. Maffioli identified Hapsburg among the tiramisu desserts, even if substantially defined it as a variant of trifle. Its diffusion has been rapid both in Veneto and in Italy.

Ingredients

·6 medium eggs
120 g of sugar + 2 tablespoons coffee
500 g of mascarpone cheese
Moka coffee q.b to soak the ladyfingers
Cocoa powder or q.b to sprinkle the tiramisù
400 g ladyfingers biscuits

Dessert - Apple fritters

Preparation

Beat the eggs, sugar, flour, grappa, salt and the grated lemon zest in a bowl to make a soft creamy batter. Leaving them whole, peel and core the apples and cut them into rings. Dip these in the batter and fry in boiling extra virgin olive oil. Some also add half a spoon of bicarbonate to the batter to make the fritters softer. Dry the “frìtole” or fritters on kitchen paper. Sprinkle with icing sugar if liked.

History

One of the first receipts of this sweet in Italy comes from an Anonymous Venetian, in 1300, in his "Book to Cook".

Ingredients

4-6 apples
2 spoons of flour
2 eggs
40 g sugara pinch of salt
½ small glass of grappa
vanilla flavouring
grated lemon zest
Veneto "Valpolicella" "Euganei-Berici" and "del Grappa" extra virgin olive oil P.D.O.