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alessandra rovati Archives - Dinner in Venice

Warm Radicchio Salad with Red Onion and Dates


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8293 Warm radicchio salad with red Onion and Dates.Dinnerinvenice

After one of the longest winters that I can remember, it felt quite exciting to finally put all my winter gear in storage and switch to easy tee shirts and jersey dresses. There was, however, one downside – all the cream, cheese and butter-laden recipes I’d been posting to help you brave the elements, had left a couple of unwanted inches around my waist . Time to go easy on the béchamel, pasta and desserts for a week or so!

Today, I am treating myself to a salad made with red radicchio (probably my favorite leafy vegetable). and the exotic addition of Medjool dates to temper its slight bitterness. Let me know what you think!

Warm Radicchio Salad with Red Onion and Dates

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

40 minutes

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

  • 2 heads red radicchio
  • 3 medium red onions
  • about 12 juicy dates
  • about 1/2 cup parmigiano or grana cheese shavings (or more to taste)
  • 3 to 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Peel the onions and slice them into quarters or eights depending on the size.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a skillet on low heat (prefer a heavy or non-stick skillet); add onions and thyme, and cook for 10 minutes covered, stirring often. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and cook, stirring until caramelized. Add the balsamic, and cook covered for 15 more minutes, still stirring frequently to prevent the onions from sticking.

In the meantime, cut the washed and dried radicchio into strips and arrange them into individual bowls. Add the warm, caramelized onions, the cheese shavings and the pitted, coarsely chopped dates.

Deglaze the pan with the remaining 1 or 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp water, pour onto the salad (filtering first if needed), and serve!

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2014/05/15/warm-radicchio-salad-red-onion-dates/

Bianca’s Super Veggie Medley


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Biancas Veggie Medley 1

My 5-year old loves Brussels sprouts and broccoli, and this is her favorite way to eat them! It’s so delicious that I thought I’d also share it with you guys.

SuperFoods by Dinnerinvenice

After all the cheesy pasta dishes I posted this winter, I really owed you a recipe with some vitamins and fiber…..

Biancas Veggie Medley

Bianca’s Super Veggie Medley

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

25 minutes

serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 small cauliflower (or ½ one large)
  • 1 head broccoli
  • about 12 Brussels Sprouts
  • 1 red onion
  • 12 black or red grapes
  • 12 white grapes
  • ½ cup pine nuts
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 thyme sprig
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cut the cauliflower and the broccoli into pieces, and halve the Brussels sprouts. Cook all three vegetables separately until tender but firm: you can steam them for about 10 minutes or cook them in your microwave (covered with plastic wrap, leaving an opening for the steam) for about 4 or 5.

Halve the grapes, and eliminate any seeds.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Cut the onion in very thin slices and sauté them in the oil with the grapes for about 5 minutes. Add the cooked cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and cook for 8 more minutes. Toast the pine nuts in the oven or in a second skillet brushed with little oil. Add the pine nuts to the veggie medley, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 more minute. Decorate with the thyme and serve.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2014/04/01/biancas-super-veggie-medley/

Pressure Cookers and Slow Cookers


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In the new issue of JOK Magazine, the third chapter of my series on Pots and Pans deals with what I once considered two diabolical appliances: Pressure Cookers and Slow Cookers!

pots

Tips, tricks, and tidbits of their curious history…

by the way, this is what many consider the progenitor of our modern pressure cooker, invented by Denis Papin in France in the 1670s:

papin Digester

magazine

Gift-Wrapped Risotto


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Gift-Wrapped Risotto

I’m not sure if I’ve made it clear yet, but I am somewhat obsessed with saffron. It started when I was about 10 and read somewhere that in ancient Persia, saffron threads were woven into royal textiles, and ritually offered to divinities. The fact that Gualtiero Marchesi, the star Italian chef of those years, was pairing it with real gold leaves in his signature risottos, just added to the mystique, as did the fact that it takes thousands of flowers and many hours of labor to gather together just a pound of stems.

saffron by dinnerinvenice.com

This sounded so special to me, so classy, that one of the first dishes I learned to make on my own and would treat my friends to in junior high, was the traditional Risotto Milanese. My experiments did not end here, unfortunately. As a teen-ager, I even tried using a saffron infusion as a face toner, to give my skin a beautiful golden tint. While this is said to have worked wonders for Cleopatra, the only result I obtained was that my then-crush asked me if I had jaundice (I have since limited my use of spices to food).

Saffron diluted by Dinnerinvenice.com

Adolescent traumas aside, I still think that there is something magical about saffron, with its unique, metallic honey-like aroma, and  luminous yellow-orange color. From India to Persia, from Turkey to Spain, and of course Italy – it’s constantly a symbol of prosperity and holiday.

Here is how to make it even more festive….

Gift-Wrapped Risotto

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

55 minutes

serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cup Arborio or other risotto rice (Vialone nano, Carnaroli)
  • 3 leeks
  • 1/2 tbsp saffron threads
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • vegetable broth
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 4 tbsp freshly grated parmigiano
  • salt and pepper

Directions

Slice one leek very thinly into rings (I use a mandoline), and cook it in 2 tbsp butter until soft. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and allow it to evaporate. Add the saffron, diluted in 3 tbsp hot broth, and start adding hot stock, one ladleful at a time, stirring almost continuously. As soon as the stock absorbs, add more hot stock. Cook until creamy and "al dente" (about 18 minutes).Add the remaining butter and cheese, and season with salt and pepper.

Slice the 2 remaining leeks length-wise into strips. Blanch the strips for 1 minute in boiling salted water. Use tongs to transfer into a bowl of ice water. Drain and dry on paper towel.

Brush muffin or creme caramel pans with oil (or use silicone ones), line them with the leek strips leaving about 1" hanging out. Press the risotto into the pans with your hands or a spoon, and close the leeks over the risotto. You could also "tie" the packages with chives (blanch first). Bake for about 15-20 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350 F. Turn out carefully and serve warm.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2013/12/06/gift-wrapped-risotto/

Another special presentation here

Symbols of Plenty – Symbols of Tears


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The Thanksgiving table is exquisitely symbolic. Aside from pumpkin, and of course turkey, which clearly represent bounty, some other harvest symbols are fraught with ambiguities – and not only in American culture.

Read about them in my latest column for the Jewish Week:

Autumn mini pumpkins

Butternut Squash and Zucchini Frittata


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Pumpkin Frittata w Pink peppercorns by dinnerinvenice.com

 

This month my article in Joy of Kosher magazine reveals the secrets of cooking with cast iron, and carbon steel:

 JOK.winter.2013.scan

Cast iron is one of my favorites because it lasts forever (unless you drop it, in which case it will break – along with your foot).

Butternut Squash and Zucchini Frittata with Pink Peppercorns

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

17 minutes

serves 4

Ingredients

  • About 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 large slice butternut squash or pumpkin
  • 1 zucchini
  • salt
  • ½ tsp pink peppercorns
  • 1 tsp fresh oregano
  • 2-3 tbsp milk (optional
  • 1-2 tbsp parmigiano cheese (optional)

Directions

Roast the slice of butternut squash wrapped in foil, in a 350 F oven for about 20-30 minutes or until soft but not mushy (you can also use leftover cooked squash). Allow to cool, cut into thinner slices and sprinkle with little salt.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy cast-iron skillet , add the garlic and the thinly sliced zucchini. Cook for about 5 minutes and discard the garlic.

??In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, salt and cheese if using. Pour into the skillet, add the slices of pumpkin (or butternut squash), sprinkle with the peppercorn t and transfer the skillet into the preheated oven. half way through the cooking, tp with the fresh oregano if using.

Cook for about 6-7 minutes (more if doubling the amounts), or until the eggs are set and the frittata is golden and just slightly browned. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2013/11/06/butternut-squash-and-zucchini-frittata-with-pink-peppercorns/
It also has a way of enhancing rustic flavors, and it’s perfect for eggs!

Bruscadela – Bread and Wine Trifle


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At the end of Yom Kippur there is a widespread custom to break the fast joyously, since a Midrash (Jewish homiletic story) describes a heavenly voice speaking at the end of the fast with these words from Ecclesiastes:

“Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine …..” (Kohelet Rabbah 9:7).

The Jews of Piedmont, Italy, take this quite literally!

Find out how in my new article for The Jewish daily Forward

Bruscadela.Collage.by.Dinnerinvenice