Tour of Italy

Tour of Italy
All recipes by Chef Carlo Cavallo, Sonoma-Meritage Restaurant & Oyster Bar

Insalatina di asparagi e carciofi- Artichoke and asparagus salad
Serves 6

2 bunches of asparagus, cleaned and poached
6 baby artichokes, raw
½ cup shaved Parmigiano Reggiano
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup of lemon juice
salt & pepper
1 bunch of chives

In a small bowl add the lemon juice and whisk in the olive oil till a creamy infusion is achieved, add salt & pepper to taste.

Peel off the outer green leaves of the artichokes till the yellow leaves are exposed. Trim the tip and stem till yellow flesh is exposed. Thinly slice the artichokes and toss with the lemon dressing with Parmigiano Reggiano. Serve over the asparagus and top with chopped chives. Enjoy!

Crispy Polenta with a Wild Mushroom & Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce
Serves 6

Wild mushroom Sauce:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 chopped garlic cloves
2 cups sliced wild mushrooms
½ cup puree tomato
¾ cup white wine
1 bunch parsley, chopped
salt & pepper

In a sauce pan on medium high heat, add the oil, garlic and sauté till golden, add the mushrooms stir add white wine and reduce the volume by half, add the tomatoes, and continue to cook until sauce is thick salt & pepper to taste. When the sauce thickens add the chopped parsley and cook for two more minutes and remove from heat

Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce:

½ cup of gorgonzola cheese
1 cups of heavy cream
¼ cup of parmesan cheese

In a sauce pan, mix the cheese and cream, bring to a boil till sauce thickens

To Make the crispy Polenta:

6 cups of Canola Oil
Left Over polenta cut into 12 sticks
½ cup Shaved parmesan cheese

In a sauce pan bring the oil to 400 degrees, Carefully drop the sticks into the oil, cook until golden. Remove from heat pat dry place two sticks per person on plate and top with both the mushroom and gorgonzola sauce garnish with shaved parmesan cheese.

Agnolotti Bianchi e Nere—black pasta agnolotti stuffed with crabmeat and scallop in saffron sauce
Serves 8

For pasta Dough:
3cups all purpose flour
1cup semolina flour
4 extra large eggs
4 teaspoons olive oil
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon of squid ink

Using half the flour, eggs, and olive oil in a mixer, using a dough hook combine all the ingredients and knead until the dough becomes a smooth ball. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
In a bowl with a whisk, add eggs, olive oil, squid ink and mix well Add this mix to the flour in a mixer, using a dough hook and knead until the dough becomes a smooth ball. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For pasta filling:
1 lb crabmeat
1 lb bay scallops
1 shallot
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of mascarpone cheese
2 teaspoons of lemon zest, chopped
1 bunch of chives chopped
salt & Pepper

In a sauté pan, add olive oil and leeks cook on medium heat until soft add the scallops and crabmeat cook until medium rare about 4 minutes. Place the scallop/crab mix in a food processor and rough chop.In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients.

Preparing the pasta:
Using a pasta machine roll out the plain dough until very thin sheet is obtained. Repeat with the black dough. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter cut circles out of both pasta’s. Brush the pasta circle with an eggwash (cracked egg beaten with 2Tbsp of water). Place a teaspoon of filling in center of the black circle and top with the white circle, be sure to press out the air that might get caught inside, use a fork to press down. Repeat until your filling runs out. (You can freeze any extra angolotti e in a plastic bag)

Preparing the pasta & sauce:
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 sprig of thyme
1 bunch of fresh chives chopped
1 bunch of fresh parsley
1 zucchini, burnois
1 pinch of saffron
2 cups of seafood stock (shrimp or lobster) Chicken stock can be substituted
Agnolotti 64 pieces
salt & Pepper

Bring 4qt of water to a vigorous boil, add a 2 tablespoon of salt and 2 tablespoon of olive oil.
Drop the agnolotti in the water cook for about three minutes or until al dente (they will float when they are almost done)
In a saucepan on low heat add the ½ the butter and shallots cook until shallots are translucent, add the stock and saffron and reduce the volume by half. Add the remaining butter, and herbs.
Drain the pasta, and toss in the sauce place in a serving tray (or in individual bowls). Serve immediately

Anatra in Dolce e forte
Serves 6

6 duck breast cleaned and scored
1 teaspoon of chili flakes
1 cup of champagne vinegar
3 sprigs of fresh thyme, cleaned
¼ cup of pinenuts
1/2 cup of sugar
1 lemon juice and zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub the duck breast with thyme salt and pepper. In a large sautéed pan on medium low heat, place the breast skin side cook for five minutes and transfer to oven and cook for ten minutes, rermove from ovn and slice. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan on high place the vinegar, sugar, chili flakes, lemon juice. Bring to a boil and continue to reduce the volume by half. Taste the sauce for spicy sweetness and salt. Drizzle the sauce over the duck breast garnish with pinenuts and lemon zest. Serve with your favorite side dish.

Torta di ricotta e cioccolata

Pasta frolla
200g of butter, melted
300g of flour
150g of sugar
3 egg yolks

Preheat a 350 degree oven

Combine all the above ingredients and form a dough ball

Ricotta filling

400g ricotta cheese
3 eggs separated and whites beaten stiff
1 teaspoon of vanilla
250g of sugar
80g of bitter chocolate pieces

In a bowl beat the sugar and the egg yolks together, mix in vanilla, ricotta, and chocolate. Fold in the egg whites

In a 10 inch spring form pan, butter and flour the pan. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pasta frolla dough line the pan with the pasta frolla dough, add the ricotta filling. Trim the excess pasta frolla dough around the pan to ¼ inch from the filling. Cook in the oven for about 50 minutes or until golden brown.