Steps

Calabrian Chile Sauce
Mix chiles, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic in a small bowl to combine.

Arancini

1. Bring stock to a simmer in a medium pot over medium heat, then keep warm over low.
2. Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in a medium saucepan over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 4–5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until softened but not browned, about 1 more minute.
3. Stir in rice; season with 1½ tsp. salt. Cook, stirring often, until some of the grains turn translucent around the edges, about 3 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring often, until pan is almost dry, about 2 minutes. Ladle in 1 cup warm stock, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring often, until liquid is absorbed, about 4 minutes. Ladle in another 1 cup stock and continue to cook, stirring yet again, until most of the liquid is absorbed, 5–7 minutes. Add remaining 1½ cups stock and cook, stirring often, until rice is cooked through but toothsome and liquid is mostly absorbed, 9–11 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Stir in Parmesan, cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 tsp. pepper, and remaining 2 Tbsp. butter. Season risotto with salt.
4. Spread risotto in an even layer on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Chill at least 1 hour or up to 4 (cover risotto with plastic wrap after 1 hour so it doesn’t develop a skin).
5. Line another rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Scoop about ¼ cup risotto into your hands and form into a patty about 2½" in diameter (it doesn’t need to be perfect!). Place 2–3 pieces mozzarella in the center of patty. Carefully pinch and shape risotto so it completely encases the cheese, then roll into a 2" ball. Your hands might get messy, and the balls may be slightly misshapen (they’ll firm up later). Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining risotto and mozzarella. Freeze balls 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, pulse panko in a food processor or place in a ziptop plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin until finer crumbs form. Transfer to a shallow bowl. Place flour in another shallow bowl. Lightly beat eggs in a third shallow bowl to blend; season all bowls with salt and pepper. Working one at a time, dredge balls in flour, shaking off excess. Transfer to bowl with egg and turn to coat, letting excess drip back into bowl. Coat with panko, pressing gently to adhere. Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Chill balls while you heat oil.
7. Pour oil into a medium heavy pot fitted with thermometer to a depth of 2". Heat over medium until thermometer registers 350°. Carefully lower half of rice balls into oil with a slotted spoon or spider and fry until deeply golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain; season with salt. Repeat with remaining rice balls. Serve warm with sauce alongside

Steps

1. Place the bittersweet chocolate in a heat proof bowl and then place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir constantly until it’s almost melted. Remove from heat, and stir the chocolate until it has completely melted. Set aside to cool.
2. In a food processor, pulse the chestnuts until pureed.
3. Using a hand-held mixer or standing mixer, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Mix in the chestnuts, salt, vanilla extract, and brandy. Add the cooled, but still liquefied chocolate and stir until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about an hour.
4. Place parchment paper over a large baking sheet. Scoop out tablespoon-sized pieces of the chocolate mixture and roll each into a ball. Place the chocolate balls on the baking sheet. If the mixture is too sticky or crumbly then dampen your hands a bit with water. Once finished, place the baking sheet in the freezer.
5. Place 10 ounces of the white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl (reserve the remaining white chocolate for tempering and coloring). Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir the chocolate until almost melted. Use a candy thermometer, and when the temperature reaches 105 degrees F. remove the bowl from the heat. Stir in an ounce of the reserved white chocolate until completely smooth. Allow it to cool and thicken just a bit. Remove the chocolate balls from the freezer, and carefully drizzle a tablespoon’s worth (give or take) of the white chocolate over each ball. Set aside to harden.
6. Melt the remaining 1 ounce of white chocolate over simmering water in the make-shift double boiler. Remove from heat when melted and then stir in a very small amount of powdered red food coloring until you get the color you desire. Let the colored white chocolate cool for 10 minutes and then pour into the piping bag. Cut off the tip of the bag, and dot each truffle with a pink “nipple”. If you don’t have a piping bag you can use a small spoon to do the dotting. Godere!

Steps

1. Place chicken breasts between 2 layers of plastic wrap and pound to about 1/2-inch thick.
2. Season both sides of chicken breasts with cayenne, salt, and black pepper; dredge lightly in flour and shake off any excess.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in the pan, reduce heat to medium, and cook until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side; remove to a plate.
4. Cook capers in reserved oil, smashing them lightly to release brine, until warmed though, about 30 seconds.
5. Pour white wine into skillet. Scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
6. Stir lemon juice, water, and butter into the reduced wine mixture; cook and stir continuously to form a thick sauce, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir parsley through the sauce.
7. Return chicken breasts to the pan cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with sauce spooned over the top.

Steps

• To start the recipe; make the poolish the day before.
• Out of the main ingredients list start by adding 200grams that’s 7oz of the water followed by the same in strong white flour to a small bowl, then add the ¼tsp of instant or active dried yeast, thoroughly mix and cover the bowl with plastic wrap, I use a shower cap for mine.
• Place the bowl on the top shelf of your fridge for at least 12 hours, longer is better up to 3 days.
• Next day, add rest of the flour and water and salt, plus the poolish to your stand mixer bowl (see the video for the best way to do this).
• Use the paddle attachment on the mixer, Mix on slow for 1 minutes move up to the next speed for a further 1 minutes then move to the next speed for approx 4 minutes or until the dough releases from the side of the bowl.
• Grease a clean bowl with a ½tsp of olive or vegetable oil; carefully transfer the sticky wet dough from the mixer bowl to the oiled bowl.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
• The next stage in making Ciabatta bread is to let the dough rest and rise for 2¼ hours, but the dough needs a quick turn 3 times, that’s every 45 minutes.
• Follow the instructions in the video on how to turn the dough by hand.
• While waiting for the last 45 minutes rest period prepare a bakers chouche as shown in the video.
• After the last 45 minute rest period, turn out the dough onto a floured surface and give the dough a good dusting with flour as shown in the video.
• Using a bakers scraper cut the dough into 2 loaves.
• Transfer the dough to the Couche using 2 scrapers as shown in the video, set your timer for 20 minutes.
• When there’s only 10 minutes left set your oven to 230°C / 450°F or gas mark 8.
• Place 2 baking tray upside down in the oven as shown in the video.
• To make the finished bread crispy you’ll also need a tray of hot water in the bottom of the oven, and a spray bottle with water in at the ready.
• After the 20 minute rise transfer the dough to a parchment paper lined peel (see video for details) and carefully slide the dough onto the upturned trays in the oven, one at a time, give the inside of the oven a quick spray with the water bottle.
• Set your timer for 18m to 25 minutes depending on how well done you prefer your Ciabatta.
• Remove from the oven and onto a wire rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Steps

1. To prepare the farinata, place the chickpea flour (1) in a bowl and create the classic fountain shape; then pour the water at room temperature (2) a little at a time. Mix everything well, being careful not to form lumps, until you obtain a liquid and homogeneous mixture (3)
2. Cover with the film (4) and let the mixture stand out of the fridge from 4-5 hours up to 10 hours, stirring occasionally. After the necessary time, you will notice the foam on the surface: remove it with a skimmer (5) and mix (6)
3. Add to the mixture 50 g of oil (7) and salt (8) and mix again (9)
4. Grease 3 trays of 32 cm in diameter with the remaining amount of oil (tradition would provide copper or aluminum pans, but you can also use a simple non-stick pan), and with a ladle distribute the chickpea mixture (10). Uniform the thickness with the help of a fork (11) to ensure a uniform cooking, then bake in a preheated oven at 250 ° and cook in the lower part of the oven, in contact with the bottom, for the first 10 minutes  (if using ventilated oven keep it only for 7-8 minutes at a temperature of 220 ° and then continue normally). After this time move the pan in the upper part of the oven and cook for another 10-15 minutes depending on your oven, until the farinata is a beautiful golden hazelnut color. Remove the farinata (12) and enjoy it very hot

Steps

1. In a large bowl, weigh the flour. With your fingers, rub in the salt at one edge of the bowl, and the sachet of dried yeast on the opposite side
2. Add the water and the oil to the dry ingredients, and mix together using a rigid spoon. This dough will be very, very wet - almost like cake mix
3. Cover the dough with a damp tea towel or cling film and rest for 40 minutes somewhere warm
4. Once the dough has risen a little, it's time to get your hands in. Drizzle the fingertips of one hand with oil, and scoop them down between the dough and bowl, lifting the dough away from the side of the bowl. Then, fold the dough over itself, pressing down quite hard so it sticks. Turn the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat until have a dough that feels like it can support itself a lot more than it could before. Cover your dough again and rest for another 50 minutes, or 8-12 hours in the fridge during the day or overnight (note: you can use a scrapper instead of your hand)
5. Once the dough has nearly doubled in size again, generously douse a baking tray with olive oil. Turn your risen dough out on to this tray. It will begin to sag and flatten, so using oiled hands fold it in half, and then half again
6. Now you want to flatten it out as much as you can. This can be quite tough, but try to get it right to the edge of the baking tray. Leave your dough to prove for a final 50 minutes
7. Preheat your oven to 220 C about 20 minutes before you're going to bake. Once your dough is proved, use your fingertips to press down hard into the dough to make little indentations. Don't be scared, press really forcefully, right down to the baking tray. You won't tear the dough. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and sea salt and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden
8. Take out of the oven and while still hot, drizzle one final time with olive oil, let it cool down rest for a bit then take out of the baking tray. Enjoy

Steps

To prepare the Genoese focaccia, pour the Manitoba flour and 00 flour into a bowl. Mixed with a spatula, then make a slight hole in the center and pour almost all the water. Stir again to let the water absorb, then add the malt and the salt all together. Stir, then pour in the remaining water and work again with the spatula until you get a homogeneous paste. Once the salt has integrated into the flour, you can add the crumbled brewer's yeast.

A few more rounds of spatula and the dough is ready to transfer it to the work surface and continue to work by hand, rather vigorously. If there is a little unabsorbed flour left, it does not matter: it will be absorbed by working it, applying pressure with the palm of your hand while kneading, just to "tear the dough" by replicating the movement of the machine. After a few minutes, when you see that the gluten mesh takes shape, so the dough is more homogenous and almost elastic.

Pour the oil on the dough and continue to work on the surface to absorb all the oil while kneading vigorously. Depending on the type of flour used, while working, it may be necessary to sprinkle with very little flour. In all it will take 13-15 minutes, to obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture. You can cover it and let it rest for a few minutes. 

Remove the tea towel and close the dough by rolling it on the surface, you will notice that in a few seconds it will become smooth. Divide the dough into two 500 g pieces, give a rectangular shape by crushing it with your hands and give it a three-fold. To do this, you can fold the dough on itself, bringing a flap inwards and then folding again, leaving a line underneath and rolling it to finish, so that the closure remains in contact with the workbench, lightly dusted with flour. Repeat the same operation for the other half of the dough. Cover with a cloth and let it rest for about 30 minutes. 

Remove the tea towel, take one of the two loaves and keep the other covered. Grease the first 30x40 pan with 15 g of oil, without going into the corners because it will go there alone. Place the dough on a floured surface, press it with your fingers to spread it out, always using only the index, middle and ring fingers then 3 fingers of the hand. Then move on to rolling out the dough with a rolling pin, turning the dough from time to time in order to maintain a rectangular shape. Pass your hands under the dough, then turn them so that the backs of your hands lift the dough to lay it without damaging the dough on the pan until it covers 70-80%. Cover with a cloth and let it rest for another 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, repeat the same operation for the second loaf of dough

Sprinkle the focaccia with a little flour, mash well with your fingertips, spreading the dough all over the pan, starting from the perimeter to create a small edge. It is important that the dough adheres well to the pan, in this way when you pour over the brine, it will not end up on the bottom. Smooth the surface as much as possible with the palms of your hands. Cover again and let it rest for an hour. 

Prepare the brine by mixing water and salt together, until it is well dissolved. Uncover the focaccia, sprinkle it with very little flour and with the three fingers (index, middle ring finger) impress the typical holes by making a good pressure and pushing towards the edges: the fingers must not be perpendicular to the dough, but slightly inclined. You will have to leave about 1 cm between one hole and another. When you have almost finished making all the holes, turn the pan, in this way it will be easier to make all the holes even along the remaining edge

Now pour 30 g of oil and 90 g of brine into the center of each focaccia. Then spread it gently with your hand to fill all the holes. Let it rise for another 40-45 minutes, this time without covering it. Bake in a static oven preheated to 230 ° for 15 minutes (if the oven is very powerful, we recommend changing the timing, but not the temperature for your oven). When the surface is golden, you can take out your focaccia! Let it cool for a few minutes, cut it and serve it!

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Season veal shanks all over with salt and pepper. If you have butcher's twine, you can tie a length of it tightly around the circumference of each shank; this can help them hold their shape during cooking, but is not absolutely necessary.
2. Add flour to a shallow bowl. In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Working in batches, lightly dredge shanks all over in flour, shaking off excess, and add to Dutch oven; be careful not to over-crown the shanks. Cook shanks, turning occasionally, until lightly browned on both sides, about 4 minutes per side; lower heat as necessary at any point to prevent scorching. Transfer browned shanks to a platter and repeat with remaining shanks; add more oil to Dutch oven at any point if it becomes too dry.
3. Add butter to Dutch oven, along with onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until vegetables are softened and just starting to turn a light golden color, about 6 minutes.
4. Add wine, stock, and tomatoes to Dutch oven, along with veal shanks and any accumulated juices. Try to arrange the shanks in as even a layer as possible (a little overlap is okay to make them fit). The liquid should nearly but not totally cover the shanks; if it doesn't, add more stock or water until it does. Add thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.
5. Prepare a parchment paper lid following these instructions Cover shanks with parchment lid and transfer to oven. Cook for 2 hours.
6. Meanwhile, for the Gremolada: In a small bowl, stir together parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. Set aside.
7. Remove parchment paper lid from shanks and continue cooking until they are fork-tender, about 1 hour longer. If the pot becomes too dry, add more stock or water as needed to keep it moist; evaporation and reduction are good, but the pot shouldn't go dry. Feel free to move the shanks around so that any that are submerged can be exposed to the oven air. During the last 20 minutes of cooking, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10ml) gremolada, depending on how strong you want the lemon and garlic flavor to be.
8. Carefully transfer shanks to a platter. (Using a spatula and tongs together can help prevent them from falling apart.) Using a spoon, carefully scrape off any excess fat on surface of braising juices. The liquid should be saucy and thick; you can adjust the consistency by adding either water or stock to thin the sauce, or simmering it on the stovetop until more fully reduced. Discard thyme and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
9. Remove twine from shanks, if used. Serve shanks on plates, spooning braising sauce on top and passing remaining gremolada at the table for diners to sprinkle as a garnish to their own taste; make sure to offer small spoons for scooping out marrow from bones. Osso buco is traditionally served with Risotto alla Milanese.

Steps

1. Set a casserole dish wide enough to hold the meat in one layer over a high heat, and add the oil. Put the flour on to a small plate and season generously, then use to coat the meat. When the oil is hot, add the meat to the pan and brown well on both sides until golden and crusted. Set aside on a plate.
2. Turn the heat down and add three quarters of the butter to the pan. When melted, add the onion, carrot and celery, plus a sprinkle of salt, and cook until soft. Add the garlic halves, lemon zest and sage to the pan and cook for a few minutes more.
3. Turn up the heat then add the wine to the pan. Return the meat, standing it on top of the vegetables, and bubble until the wine has reduced by half. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer.
4. Turn the heat right down, cover and simmer for one and a half to two hours, carefully turning the meat over every 30 minutes, until it is tender enough to cut with a spoon. Meanwhile, mix together the gremolata ingredients.
5. Dot with the remaining butter and allow to melt into the sauce, then serve with the gremolata and risotto alla milanese or wet polenta.

Steps

Marinara

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Heat oil in a large heavy ovenproof pot over medium. Cook garlic, stirring often, until golden, about 4 minutes. Add onion, anchovies (if using), and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until slightly darkened, about 2 minutes. Add wine, bring to a boil, and cook until almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, breaking up with your hands, and their juices; add basil and oregano and stir to combine. Swirl 1½ cups water into one tomato can, then the other, to rinse, and add to pot; season with salt. Transfer pot to oven; roast sauce, stirring halfway through, until thick and tomatoes are browned on top and around edges of pot, 2–2½ hours.
2. Let sauce cool slightly. Pass through the large holes of a food mill or process in a food processor until mostly smooth. Taste and season with salt.

Eggplant and Assembly

1. Lightly season eggplant slices all over with salt; place in a single layer on several layers of paper towels inside a rimmed baking sheet. Top with another layer of paper towels and more slices; repeat as needed. Top with a final layer of paper towels, then another rimmed baking sheet; weigh down with a heavy pot. Let eggplant sit until it has released excess liquid, 45–60 minutes. This step gives the eggplant a creamy texture when baked.
2. Meanwhile, pulse panko, oregano, pepper, and ¾ cup Parmesan in a food processor until very finely ground. Transfer to a shallow bowl.
3. Preheat oven to 350°. Place flour in another shallow bowl and eggs in a third shallow bowl. Working one at a time, dredge eggplant slices in flour, then dip in egg, allowing excess to drip off. Coat in breadcrumbs, packing all around, then shaking off excess. Place on wire racks.
4. Heat ⅔ cup oil in a large skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high. Cook as many eggplant slices as will comfortably fit in pan, turning once, until deep golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels and immediately press with more paper towel to absorb oil. Working in batches, repeat with remaining slices, adding remaining ⅔ cup oil and wiping out skillet as needed. Let cool. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
5. Toss chopped herbs, low-moisture mozzarella, and remaining ¾ cup Parmesan in a medium bowl. Spread 1 cup sauce over the bottom of a 13x9" baking pan; top with a layer of eggplant slices (trim as needed). Drizzle 1 cup sauce over and sprinkle with one-third of cheese mixture. Add another layer of eggplant, followed by 1 cup sauce and half of remaining cheese mixture. Repeat layers with remaining slices, sauce, and cheese mixture. Cover with foil and bake on a rimmed baking sheet until eggplant is custardy, 45–60 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and arrange fresh mozzarella over eggplant. Increase oven temperature to 425° and bake, uncovered, until cheese is bubbling and browned in spots, 15–20 minutes longer. Let rest 30 minutes. Top with basil leaves just before slicing.

Steps

Gnocchi

1. Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with water about 2 inches above the top of the potatoes. Bring the potatoes to a gentle boil.
2. Boil the potatoes until they are knife tender about 30-40 minutes. Try to keep the skins from rupturing so the potatoes don’t absorb any water and don’t overcook them.
3. Let the potatoes cool a bit so that you can handle them. Peel them. If they’re too hot to handle use a kitchen towel to hold the hot potato when you peel them.
4. Put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill while the potatoes are still hot. Mashing the potatoes works in a pinch but the gnocchi won’t be as light.
5. Spread the riced potatoes on a cookie sheet or a flat baking pan in a single layer to cool and allow some of the moisture to evaporate. The drier the riced potatoes the lighter the dough will be.
6. Bring a big pot of very well-salted water to a boil.
7. Put the riced potatoes in a mound on a flat work surface. Create a well in the middle.
8. Crack the egg onto the work surface in the well. Beat the egg well. (I don’t salt fresh pasta doughs including gnocchi because I think salt toughens the dough. I’d rather the gnocchi absorb salt in the boiling cooking water. But, if you want add about 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the egg before you beat it.)
9. Slowly start to incorporate the egg into the ring of riced potatoes.
10. When fully incorporated spread out the mixture and sprinkle some of the flour over the top.
11. Knead the flour into the potato mixture.
12. Repeat with another dusting of flour until the dough holds together and is smooth and soft. Try to use as little flour as possible for light gnocchi.
13. Sprinkle some flour on the work surface so the dough doesn’t stick. Knead the dough to create a smooth dough ball.
14. Cut the dough ball into 6 pieces.
15. Flour the work surface again if necessary and roll each piece into a rope of 1/2 inch diameter.
16. Cut the rope into ½ inch pieces. Make sure you have enough flour on your work surface so that the pieces don’t stick together.
17. Using the back of a fork press the piece over the tines with your thumb and press downwards to push the gnocchi off the fork. You’ll create indentations from the tines on the back of the gnocchi and a concave indentation on the other side from the pressure of your thumb. Great shape and texture to absorb the sauce.
18. Spread the gnocchi on a floured cookie sheet or flat baking pan as you make them.
19. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water, gently stir to make sure they don’t stick together and gently boil the gnocchi until they rise to the top of the water.
20. Remove the gnocchi with a spider or mesh ladle and place them in the sauté pan with the sauce of your choice

Pesto Trapanese

1. Put the garlic, almonds, pepper flakes, basil leaves, tomatoes and then the sea salt in a food processor or blender.
2. Blend for about a minute or so, scrape down the sides and then blend again until no large bits are visible.
3. While the machine is running gently stream in the EVOO until the pesto is smooth and well blended.

Gorgonzola Sauce

1. Heat the cream stirring frequently so a skin doesn’t form on top.
2. When the cream is reduced and thickened add the gorgonzola and stir until the gorgonzola is melted and well blended with the cream.
3. Mix in sea salt and pepper to taste.

Pizzaiola Sauce

1. Put the olive oil and garlic in a cold sauté pan big enough to hold the cooked pasta your using.
2. Heat the pan over medium-high heat until the oil sizzles and the garlic just begins to take on some color.
3. Add the tomatoes and salt and mix with the EVOO and garlic.
4. Simmer to evaporate some of the liquid and the sauce thickens.
5. Stir in the oregano.
6. Continue cooking for about 30 minutes.
7. Remove the garlic before using the sauce, or not. Your choice.

Steps

1. Peel the skin of the aubergines and cut into strips (around half cm thick). Place the pieces in a large bowl and mix with salt (do that for each eggplant)
2. Cut the bellpepper into thin strips and add to the aubergines, mix well
3. At night, drain the aubergines from all the water that came out and place in a colander and weigh down with a dish and something heavy on top
4. The following morning move the drained aubergines into a new bowl and add 1 liter of water and 1/2 liter of white vinegar and leave for 30 min
5. Meanwhile peel and chop the garlic, the chilis and the celery into small pieces
6. Drain the aubergines and squeeze the water out of them using your hands and place in a mason jar. Layer the aubergines with some pieces of the yellow bellpepper, pieces of garlic, chili, celery and some oregano. Once a jar is full, pour in the olive oil till it covers the aubergines