Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Wild Berries

Vanilla bean panna cotta with wild berries was the consolation prize for the continued wait for my favorite chanterelle spot. I came home with an abundance of wineberries and blackberries which I reduced with Marsala and sugar and drizzled on top of these creamy mountains of panna cotta. Super simple summer dessert to combat the heat. Recipe as follows and video of the process below.

Ingredients

1 quart heavy cream

1 cup half and half

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 whole vanilla bean, split and scraped

2 3/4 tsp unflavored gelatin powder

3 tbsp water

1 tbsp honey

2 cups of fresh berries

1/2 cup of Marsala

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Panna Cotta Instructions

1. In a saucepan, combine the cream, half and half, sugar, honey, and vanilla bean (both the seeds, scraped and removed, and the entire bean itself which you’ll remove later). Bring the mixture to a low simmer. Cover, remove from heat, and set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Mix together the gelatin powder and the water in a small bowl while the cream steeps.

3. Uncover the cream and bring back to a low simmer. Remove from the heat again and add in the gelatin mixture, stirring with a whisk. Remove the vanilla bean. Allow to cool for a few minutes while you set up your ramekins, bowls, or glasses in which you will pour in the cream mixture.

4. Carefully ladle equal portions of the cream mixture into each container, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at minimum of 3 hours up to 24 hours. This is a good recipe to make ahead.

5. If you want to keep it easy, just serve the panna cotta in the bowl or glass with the berry mixture poured over the top. Or if you want a slightly fancier presentation you can remove the panna cotta by quickly lowering the ramekin into a warm bath of water, freeing the edges with a knife, and carefully flipping it oven onto the surface of your plate. It will hold it’s shape.

Berry Sauce Instructions

1. Bring the Marsala to a simmer in a saucepan.

2. Add the sugar and continue stirring for about 5 minutes.

3. As it begins to reduce, add in your fresh berries. I used a combination of wild blackberries and wineberries but any berry would be good for this.

4. Continue simmering for another 10 -15 minutes, stirring frequently, and mashing the berries to release all of their juices.

5. After the mixture is thickened, remove from the heat and pass it through a fine mesh sieve and reserve all of the wonderful sauce that is extracted. Allow to cool before drizzling over the top of your panna cotta with a handful of fresh berries.

Orecchiette with spring greens and guanciale

I got inspired by seeing all the orecchiette action over at @pastasocialclub and had my first go at it.
It's one of those pastas that might seem daunting, but is actually somewhat simple and doesn't require any fancy equipment. I prepared them with some wonderful guanciale from @fa.lu.cioli , charred spring greens (chard, and agretti), scapes, ricotta, lemon zest, and parmesan cheese. I'll definitely be making these again! Video of the whole process below.

The Orecchiette

Ingredients

1.5 cups Semolina ( 265 g)

.5 cups Tumminia Flour ( 85 g Sicilian whole wheat from from Molini del Ponte)

1 cup Water ( 215 g)

*Portion is good for 5-6 people.

Instructions

1. Mix together the dry ingredients, and dump them out onto a clean work surface. Form them into a mountain shape with your hands. Using the tips of your fingers, create a well in the center.

2. Slowly pour the water into the center and in a circular motion, begin incorporating the flour into the water, working outwards as you go. I find eggless dough is always a bit easier to work with.

3. Once you’ve poured out all of the water the mixture should be a bit clumpy. Now you can start using your hands to begin working the dough. Scraping up all the clump, and pressing them together firmly. Do this methodically for about 5 minutes, until the mass begin to take on a smooth form. Use the palm of your hand to press down, rotating 25 degrees clockwise each time. If you have a flat bench knife/scraper, use this to scrape all any dough that has stuck to the work surface. Resist the urge to add more flour until you’ve worked it for a few minutes and still determine it feels too wet.

4. After about 5 - 10 minutes, the dough ball should be very smooth, and it should not stick to your hands when you touch it. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap tightly, and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

5. Unwrap the dough, and divide into about 6 pieces. Cover 5 of the pieces with the plastic wrap again as you begin working with the first smaller piece. This will prevent them from drying out as you work with the dough.

6. Lightly dust the divided piece with semolina, and begin rolling it out with the palms of your hand into a long rope that is no more than .5 inch thick or the size of your smallest finger. Lightly dust the work surface with more semolina. It is best if your work surface is wood for this as the grain of the wood helps the dough grip the surface. This will be more difficult on a very smooth surface.

7. Using a butter knife with a serated edge, cut off a small piece of dough and gently rolling it into a ball with your finger tips.

8. Carefully, with two hands holding the knife, press the edge of the knife into the edge of the dough ball. Begin applying pressure and at the same time start dragging the knife towards you. The pressure and motion will cause the dough to flip back over on top of itself in your direction. It might take a few times to get a hang of it, but it’s really a rather simple movement.

9. Very gently unfurl the curled shape with the tips of your fingers. Use your thumb or pointer finger to hold the orecchiette in place as you roll down the edges so that it creates a inverted well in the center. Watching the video (below) will help get a better visual on this part of the process.

10. Repeat this process until you’re through with all of your dough. The finished orecchiette should be set onto a drying rack or clean surface dusted with a light coat of semolina and left to air dray for at least an hour or can be set out to dry overnight.

11. Fresh pasta should take about 4 - 5 minutes to cook, and if drying out completely they will a few minutes longer.

The Pasta Dish

Ingredients

Orecchiette

A bunch of spring greens (I used agretti and Swiss chard but any heartier greens will work well for this)

2 finely diced scapes (or 2 cloves of garlic if scapes are not available)

Guanciale (1/2 cup)

Fresh ricotta

Lemon zest

Freshly grated parmesan

Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Chop and blanch your greens for 1 - 2 minutes and rinse in cold water. For more tender greens, you can skip ahead to step 6.

2. Bring pot of water to boil.

3. Saute the guanciale in a cast iron skillet on medium heat. This time of year I like to use an outdoor wood fired oven, but this can easily be done on the stove top. Make sure however you’re cooking it, the temperature is set to medium as you don’t want to burn the guanciale as the fat renders out. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring frequently until the guanciale starts to get crispy.

4. Add in the diced scapes (or garlic) and continue to saute for about another 4 minutes.

5. At the same time, add the fresh made pasta to the boiling water and cook until tender. Fresh made pasta will typically take no more than 5 minutes. Reserve some pasta water when you drain the cooked pasta to use if you find your pasta to be too dry.

6. Toss in your greens with the guanciale and scapes and stir together for another minute or two.

7. Remove from the heat and add the cooked pasta directly into the same pan with the greens and guanciale. Toss together until all the noodles are evenly coated.

8. Plate each portion and add a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese on top, freshly grated lemon zest, freshly grated parmesan, and some black pepper. Enjoy!

Meatball Sub (With Venison)

This sandwich was inspired by Daniel Uditi, the chef over at Pizzana. My spin on the classic meatball sub was to swap out the beef with freshly ground venison from this year’s harvest. Since the venison is so lean I cut the blend with 50% ground pork to add some fat back into the equation. The meatballs were packed into homemade sesame rolls and finished off in a wood fired oven. Video showing the entire process below.

The Meatballs

1 pound ground venison (or substitute with beef)

1 pound ground pork

2 cloves of garlic (finely minced)

¼ cup chopped parsley

1 cup of torn stale bread pieces, soaked in buttermilk*

¾ cup grated parmesan

Dried chili flakes (to your liking)

1 Egg

Salt and Pepper

Buttermilk

*I like to use any stale homemade sourdough bread I have laying around, but store bought works just as well. I like larger torn pieces as they give the meatball some airiness that you won’t get with the store-bought breadcrumbs. But if the pieces are too big, the meatball might begin to fall apart.

Stale bread soaking in buttermilk

I brown my meatballs in a wood fired oven to give it a little smokey flavor but this can easily be done in a cast iron skillet. Brown all sides of each meatball and set aside as they cook. Once all the meatballs are browned, transfer them over to your simmering pot of red sauce and continue simmering (on low) for another 30 - 45 minutes until the meatballs are cooked all the way through.

This is my Nonna’s classic red sauce that I rarely deviate from. 

Stewed whole San Marzano tomatoes

Garlic

Yellow onion

Basil

Parmesan Rind

Salt

Pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

The key here is simplicity, and good ingredients (especially the tomatoes). Lightly puree the tomatoes in a processor or with a stick blender. Be careful not to aerate the tomatoes too much. For a chunkier sauce you can simply crush the tomatoes by hand. Set aside in a bowl. Peel and dice three to five cloves of garlic and set aside. Peel and chop the onion in half. By cooking the entire halves you will impart the flavor of the onion and the sauce won’t have chunks of onion in it. 

Heat a generous pour of EVOO in your saucepan at medium to low heat. Add your garlic and onion halves and let simmer for a few minutes. Be careful not to burn anything. Add a piece of parmesan rind into the hot oil, and let it simmer for another minute. The oils from the cheese will add depth to the sauce. Add your tomatoes to the pan, and bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. My Nonna would often use a pinch of white granulated sugar just to add a little more sweetness but if you’re using good quality tomatoes this step is not necessary. Add some chopped basil, stir, and set on medium/low. You want your sauce to simmer for about 30 - 45 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom.

Finishing Touches

I serve the meatballs (and sauce) on homemade sesame rolls that I’ve been iterating on this for the past year. That recipe can be found here. Slice each roll and open up like a book and set into a skillet or pan. Fill the entire surface with meatballs and ladle on a generous helping of sauce. Top with good quality buffalo mozzarella. Put the entire skillet back into the wood fire (or in your oven) until the cheese is completely melted. Remove from the heat, garnish with some fresh basil and your sandwich is ready to go.

Porchetta sandwich with salsa verde

This was my first trial of an oven roasted porchetta sandwich with salsa verde, grated caciocavallo, on a sourdough sesame roll. Local cheese from Jersey Cheese and pork sourced from NK Prime Meats. There are definitely a few tweaks to be made on future iterations but overall pretty satisfied with version 1.0.

You’ll find countless porchetta recipes that all use different cuts of pork (from pork shoulder to pork belly) but the traditional method uses a large section of pork belly with the ribs removed and the loin still attached. If you can’t find a butcher who can prepare this more specialized cut for you, a compromise would be taking a skin-on cut of pork belly and a piece of pork loin, and working backwards to recreate the original cut. In the video below, you can watch the exact process of how the meat was broken down and rolled together with a blend of aromatics.

The filling:

Finely dice fennel fronds, rosemary, sage, and garlic and mix together in a medium size mixing bowl. Add dried & crushed hot chili flakes to taste. Add zest of one lemon. Add 2 teaspoons of dried fennel seed powder, salt and pepper. Add oil oil so the entire mixture comes together like a thick paste. 

Remove the skin from the belly and set aside for later. Next cut the loin to the exact size of the belly and butterfly it open to maximize the surface area of the meat. Set the loin piece aside and spread the aromatic filling all over the surface of the pork belly, fat side down. Lay in the butterflied loin piece and generously spread more of the filling all over the meat. Carefully roll up the belly and loin and position with fat side facing up. Rub more paste all over the top before laying on the piece of skin that was previously removed. 

Using butcher's twine, you want to carefully truss the porchetta every few inches so that the whole piece is secure during cooking. Using a sharp boning knife, make small punctures all over the surface of the skin so that the fat renders out during cooking. Wrap porchetta and refrigerate for 6 hours to overnight. Allow to sit out at room temperature before putting it into the oven to allow the meat to relax, yielding a more tender piece of meat.

Roasting:

Set porchetta into a roasting pan with rack to keep the meat elevated during cooking. Cook for 40 minutes at 475F before lowering the temperature down to 300F for another 2 - 4 hours until the internal temperature reads 155F. The skin should puff up as it cooks and result in an airy, crispy texture. If skin still feels rubbery, use the broiler (with a very careful eye not to burn it) to finish off the skin before removing from the oven. Allow the meat to rest 30 minutes before slicing. 

Salsa Verde:

Using a food processor, blend together two bunches of parsley, garlic, a few spoonfuls of capers, 3 fillets of anchovies, juice of one lemon, a few splashes of white vinegar, and a few glugs of olive oil.

Porchetta Sandwich:

Slice porchetta in thin slices and set aside some of the crispy skin. Layer meat on a freshly baked sourdough sesame roll (recipe here) and top with salsa verde and freshly grated caciocavallo cheese (or provolone).  

Sfincione : Traditional Sicilian Pizza

When thinking about pizza and New York City I doubt many people would consider a sfincione pie, but as a child of Sicilian immigrants it was an essential part of my pizza experience. When visiting relatives in Brooklyn, we always stopped at @rosas.pizza because they made some of the best sfincione around. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to make it myself. This version is wood fired in a cast-iron skillet using a naturally leavened dough and it brings me back to those long car rides on the BQE with the smell of a warm sfincione hanging in the air.