Difficulty : Medium

Active time : 2h 30 min

Yield : 6 servings

• Parmesan broth:
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 small leek (white part only), chopped
  • 1 small fennel bulb, chopped
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 head of garlic, halved crosswise
  • 1 teaspoon tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 pounds Parmesan cheese rinds, broken into 2- to 3-inch squares
  • 2 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 2 fresh parsley sprigs
  • 8 cups (about) water
• Risotto:
  • 4 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 2 fresh Italian parsley sprigs
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1/2 cup minced onion
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 cups carnaroli rice or arborio rice
  • 2 cups Pinot Noir
  • 6 ounces white truffle butter
  • 2 tablespoons red or white verjus or 1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek, fennel, onion, and garlic. Stir until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook until beginning to brown on bottom of pan, about 2 minutes. Add cheese rinds, thyme, and parsley. Add enough water just to cover. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Strain, discarding solids in strainer. Return broth to saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm before using, whisking to blend.

Make risotto:

Place first 5 ingredients in double layer of cheesecloth; gather ends. Tie tightly with kitchen string; trim excess cloth.

Bring chicken and beef broths to simmer in medium saucepan. Cover and keep warm. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add herb bundle, onion, and garlic. Cook until onion is soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat. Add wine; increase heat to high. Boil until almost dry, about 6 minutes. Add warm broth mixture 1 cup at a time, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding next and stirring often until rice is tender but still firm to bite, about 20 minutes. Add truffle butter, verjus, parsley, and chives. Stir until butter is melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide risotto among bowls. Pour 1/4 cup warm parmesan broth around risotto in each bowl and serve.

The fresh grape aromas entertain a nice pasta, risotto or paella dish

Bon appétit

FFP Team

(recipe by : Douglas Keane - photo by : Noel Barnhurst)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (28- to 32-oz) cans Italian tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving juice, and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

For Crêpes

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

For Filling

• 2 lb fresh ricotta (3 cups)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 lb fresh mozzarella

Special equipment:
2 glass or ceramic baking dishes, one 13 by 9 inches and one 8 inches square.

Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, water, sugar, and salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in basil and remove from heat.

Make Crêpes

Break up eggs with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl and stir in water until combined (don’t beat). Sift in flour and salt, then stir batter until just combined. Force through a medium-mesh sieve into another bowl.

Lightly brush an 8-inch nonstick skillet with melted butter and heat over moderate heat until hot. Ladle about 1/4 cup batter into skillet, tilting and rotating skillet to coat bottom, then pour excess batter back into bowl. (If batter sets before skillet is coated, reduce heat slightly for next crêpe.) Cook until underside is just set and lightly browned, about 30 seconds, then invert crêpe onto a clean kitchen towel to cool completely. Make at least 11 more crêpes in same manner, brushing skillet with butter as needed and stacking crêpes in 3 piles.

Make Filling and Assemble Panicotti

Stir together ricotta, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

Cut mozzarella lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick sticks.

Spread 2 cups sauce in larger baking dish and 1 cup in smaller one. Arrange 1 crêpe, browned side up, on a work surface, then spread about 1/4 cup filling in a line across center and top with a mozzarella strip. Fold in sides to enclose filling, leaving ends open, and transfer, seam side down, to either baking dish. Fill 11 more crêpes in same manner, arranging snugly in 1 layer in both dishes (8 in larger dish and 4 in smaller). Spread 1 cup sauce over manicotti in larger dish and 1/2 cup in smaller dish. Tightly cover dishes with foil and bake until sauce is bubbling and filling is hot, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve remaining sauce on the side.

Cooks’ note: Manicotti can be assembled (but not baked) 1 day ahead and chilled, covered with foil. Chill remaining sauce, covered, separately. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before baking, covered with foil. Reheat sauce, thinning slightly with water.

Bon appétit

Brice

(recipe by Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez - photo by: Romulo Yanes)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 lb cold lard
• 2 tablespoons sweet Marsala wine
• 1 large egg, separated
• About 3 cups vegetable oil

For filling

• 1 lb fresh ricotta (2 cups)
• 2 oz soft mild goat cheese
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon minced candied orange peel
• 1/2 teaspoon orange-flower water (also called orange-blossom water)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup shelled unsalted pistachios (not dyed red), chopped
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped (1/2 cup)

Special equipment:

a pasta maker; a 4- to 4 1/4-inch round cookie cutter; a deep-fat thermometer; 6 (roughly 5 5/8- by 5/8-inch) metal cannoli tubes; 2 heavy-duty oven mitts; a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch plain tip.

Garnish: confectioners sugar

Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add 2 tablespoons lard and blend in with your fingertips until combined. Add wine and yolk and stir until a dough forms.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes. Form dough into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Make filling while dough stands

Beat together ricotta, goat cheese, confectioners sugar, orange peel, orange-flower water, and cinnamon in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed 1 minute (do not overbeat). Fold in nuts and chocolate until combined and chill.

Make shells

Set smooth rollers of pasta maker at widest setting. Unwrap dough and cut in half, then lightly flour 1 piece (keep remaining half covered with plastic wrap). Flatten floured dough into an oval and feed through rollers. Turn dial down 2 notches and feed dough through rollers again. Continue to feed dough through rollers, making space between rollers narrower by 2 notches each time, until narrowest setting is used.

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Transfer rolled dough to a lightly floured surface and cut out 4 or 5 rounds with floured cutter. Transfer rounds to baking sheet and keep covered with more plastic wrap. Roll out remaining dough and cut rounds in same manner. Gather scraps and let stand 10 minutes. Roll out scraps and cut in same manner.

Heat remaining lard with 1 1/4 inches oil in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until it registers 350°F on thermometer.

Meanwhile, lightly oil cannoli tubes. Lightly beat egg white, then brush bottom edge of 1 dough round with egg white. Wrap dough around a tube, overlapping ends (egg-white edge should go on top), then press edges together to seal. Make 5 more shells in same manner (keep remaining rounds covered with plastic).

Fry dough on tubes 1 at a time, turning with metal tongs, until 1 shade darker, about 45 seconds. Wearing oven mitts, clamp end of hot tubes, 1 at a time, with tongs and, holding tube vertically, allow shell to slide off tube onto paper towels, gently shaking tube and wiggling shell as needed to loosen. (If you allow shell to cool it will stick to tube and shatter when you try to remove it.) Transfer shells to paper towels to drain and cool tubes before reusing. Wrap remaining dough around tubes and fry in same manner.

Spoon filling into pastry bag and pipe some into 1 end of a cannoli shell, filling shell halfway, then pipe into other end. Repeat with remaining shells.

Cooks’ note: Dough can be made 1 day before frying shells and chilled. Let dough stand at room temperature 1 hour before rolling. As well, shells can be fried 2 days ahead and cooled completely, then kept, layered between paper towels, in an airtight container at room temperature.

Bon appétit

Brice

(recipe by epicurious.com - photo by: Martyn Thompson)

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 8 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds ground veal
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 cups dry white wine, such as an VDP Corsica, Marestagno
• 3 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained and crushed by hand
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 1 pound dried spaghetti
• Large spoonful ricotta cheese
• Handful freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
• Handful fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Raise the heat a bit. Take the ground veal and beef, break it up into chunks and add it to the pan. Cook, breaking up the clumps with a wooden spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has evaporated. Then add the tomatoes and stock and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer very slowly for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring now and then, until the sauce is very thick. Now add the milk - the milk will make the meat nice and tender - and simmer again until thickened, another 20 to 30 minutes. Taste again for salt and pepper. Mash the sauce against the side of the pan to really blend it. Transfer half of the sauce to containers and refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for up to several months.

Bring a big pot of lightly salted water to a boil for the spaghetti. When you’re ready to serve, drop the spaghetti into the boiling water and cook until tender yet firm (”al dente”, as they say in Italian) 7 to 8 minutes. Drain and put the spaghetti into a big pasta bowl. Return the sauce remaining in the pot to a simmer and stir in the ricotta cheese. Pour the sauce over the drained spaghetti and give it a good toss. Garnish with a handful of grated Parmigiano, the basil, and a drizzle of olive oil. Pass more grated cheese at the table.

Bon appétit

Brice

(recipe courtesy Tyler Florence)

• 1 cup hot water
• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/4 cups Sauvignon Blanc or other dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 8 ounces coarsely grated Gruyère cheese (about 2 packed cups)
• 8 ounces coarsely grated Emmenthal cheese (about 2 packed cups)
• 1 1-pound loaf ciabatta or other rustic bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 pounds 1/4-inch-thick ham slices, cut into 1-inch pieces

Place fondue pot onto stand; light candle or Sterno. Mix 1 tablespoon wine and cornstarch in small bowl. Bring remaining 1 1/4 cups wine to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cheeses by small handfuls, stirring until melted. Add cornstarch mixture. Bring to simmer. Stir until fondue thickens slightly and begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with pepper.

Pour fondue into prepared pot. Swirl in porcini mushrooms. Serve with ciabatta and ham for dipping.

Bon appétit

Brice

(recipe by epicurious.com - photo by Leo Gong)