Carmelita’s Cookitaly

Zucchini Sformato with Bologna Polpettine

Here is a Bologna classic, a vegetable sformato served with tiny Polpettine alongside. It was the main course we made ona  recent cooking class and we as we found zucchini flowers in the market we went one further and lined the mouls with zucchini flowers. I can't have explained the method well enough, because my guests thought the Sformato would be served in the cups not turned out, so they lined the moulds with the golden part of the blossoms "on top", which when turned out becomes the bottom of course. I think they look great this way too, with all the nice pale and dark green stripes.

I've said it before and I'll saying it again,. Sformati are absolutely wonderful, really light texture, totally scrumptious! Here's the recipe for 4 people:

 500g (a pound) fresh zucchini (courgettes), a thick béchamel (made with 40g (1 and a half ounces) of flour, 40g of butter, and 250ml(a cup) of milk), 3 eggs and an extra egg yolk, 100 ml (scant quarter cup) of cream, 50 g ( generous 1 and a half ounces)of Parmigiano-Reggiano, nutmeg, salt and pepper, butter and flour or fine breadcrumbs for the mould

• Bring a pan of water to the boil, add salt and cook the vegetables till tender. Lift out and place in cold or iced water leave to cool, then drain, pat dry and whiz to a cream in a food processor or with a stick blender. If you have neither but have a food mill then putting them through that will give you an even smoother texture.

• Prepare four individual mould or one larger ring mould - preferably non stick - by buttering and lining with breadcrumbs or flour. To make sure they turn out easily either use throw away alu-foil or else cut a piece of cooking foil to fit the base, butter it and place that in the bottom of your already buttered mould(s). If anything sticks it's going to be the bottom, which needs to look pretty as it becomes your top.

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 ° F

• Heat the milk while you cook the flour in the melted butter whisking to make a smooth roux ( a well blended paste of the two ingredients) which you cook on low heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the boiling milk to the roux all at once off the heat and whisk hard to smooth it all out. Cook a further 7 minutes or so to lose the floury taste.

• Mix the zucchini puree into the besciamella, then add the cream. Next stir in the eggs and yolk: they need to go in one at a time, not adding the next one until the first has been fully incorporated into the mixture. Stir in the grated cheese and season the mixture with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

• Pour the mixture into the prepared mould/s, tap on a surface to make sure the mixture settles evenly, and bake in a waterr bath for 30 – 45 minutes (depends on the size and shape of the mould) then test with a tooth pick - it should come out very lightly flecked for a softer texture, totally clean and the sformato would be a little on the dry side

• Allow to cool a little then turn out and serve with very tiny meatballs, or with a cheese or tomato sauce if serving on its own.

The ring mould version of the Sformato, again carefully lined with zucchini blossoms, looks pretty spectacular!

Risi e Bisi

Risi e Bisi

Venetian risotto soup with fresh peas and pea pod stock

I look forward every year to the first fresh peas and to making Risi e Bisi. This delectable spring dish was once served with great pomp and ceremony to the Magnificent Doge of Venice - the elected head of the powerful city state - on the 25th of April, the feast of the patron saint of the city, San Marco. This was traditionally the day when the very first peas of the season went on sale in the Rialto market

Venice is one of the rice growing regions of Italy along with parts of Lombardy and the Piedmont. The Primo course, which precedes the main or protein course, is usually risotto here rather than pasta, though polenta is also popular in the colder months. A Veneto risotto is wetter than its Lombardy and Piedmont counterparts; the lagoon dwelling Venetians insist should be "all'onda" meaning it should form a crested wave when you tip the plate to one side and then the other. Risi e Bisi is wetter still and it is not a risotto, its preparation does not follow the classic risotto procedures. It looks like a risotto that is wetter than "all'onda", more liquid and definitely pourable, so it is a soup, a soup thick with rice, and it is eaten with a spoon not a fork.

There used to be a rich man's version made with the addition of goose foie gras, but it is the simple recipe which has survived the test of time. Today the fois gras version is unknown while the one below is loved and revered throughout the Veneto and beyond.

Rise e Bisi

For 4 people you will need

1 kilo (2.2 pounds) fresh peas in the pod (or use sugar snap peas)

200g (7 ounces) Vialone Nano rice

50g unsalted butter

1 tbsp. Extra Virgin olive oil

50g (1 and 3/4 ounces or 3 and 1/2 tablespoons) Grana Padano cheese

6 spring onions (scallions)

salt, freshly ground black pepper

2 very thin slices of rolled pancetta (or substitute 1 slice cured but not smoked streaky bacon)

Optional: fresh Italian flat leaf parsley to end up with 2 tbsp. chopped

If your peas are very sweet and tender, do not simmer them with the spring onions but add them after the rice has been cooking about 13 minutes

• First of all make the pea pod stock. Shell the peas and collect them in a bowl for later, and reserve the pods. Discard any pods which are blemished.

• Rinse the pods. Bring 1.5 litres of cold water to a boil, add 2 teaspoons of salt and plunge the pods in. Cook till pods just soften, not too long so they stay bright green.If you rinse them in very cold water straightaway it helps to preserve a bright colour.
  

• It is easiest to strain the pods off and just use their cooking water made up to 1 litre, but for a special day, whizz the pods in a food processor first (easier than using a hand held blender which is also possible) and then patiently push through a very fine sieve to eliminate stringy bits and to get a beautiful velvety puree to add to the dish. An easier alternative is to cook and puree some of the peas.

• While the stock is boiling, prepare the remaining ingredients. Peel the spring onions and slice thinly, using some of the green part. Dice the pancetta very fine. Both these ingredients should melt away and not be discernible in the finished dish. Grate the Grana Padano cheese very fine so that it melts into the "risotto soup" when you add it. Wash the parsley if using , strip the leaves from the stalks and chop fine.

• When the stock is ready, place the spring onions and pancetta in a large saucepan with half the butter and all the olive oil, and soften them on a gentle heat with a little water for a few minutes till well wilted.

• Before they colour add the peas and a couple of ladles of the pea pod stock. Season with salt and only if needed (taste a raw pea) a pinch or up to 1 teaspoon of sugar. Cover and simmer on very low heat for 3 - 10 minutes according to size and tenderness of the peas.

• Add the rice and all the stock at once and cook on moderate heat for 12 minutes. Add the pea pod or pea puree and cook a further 3 minutes.

• When the rice is cooked, take the pot off the heat and whip in the remaining butter. Grind over a little black pepper and add the grated cheese and stir well. Add the chopped parsley if using and stir again.

• Pour into a soup tureen and serve in bowls, or ladle into bowls directly from the pot