Tag: bread

Ravioli: the Food of Kings and Peasants

The word ‘ravioli’ (plural of ‘raviolo’) refers to all kinds of filled Italian pasta where a thin layer of dough wraps around a filling (‘ripieno’, in Italian). Ravioli are either boiled and dished out with sauce (a popular first course) or served in broth (a classic dinner option, especially during winter). The pasta layer, generally egg-based and rolled into a thin sheet, serves as more than an enclosure – it overextends around the filling and binds with the sauces or gains flavor from the broth. Common fillings may include anything from meat, to cheese, to vegetables and vary greatly among the countless regional recipes. Special types of deep-fried sweet ravioli also exist, perpetuating a tradition that goes back to the earliest written documents on filled pasta.

The recipe book “Liber de Coquina” (Naples, end of 13th century) defines “torta” as a thick pie shell used as a sealed pot and not meant to be eaten. The torta was filled with a mixture of minced meat, grains, vegetables, and spices, and placed in the bread oven(1). Large and elaborate versions of the torta – made of multiple layers and decorated with plums – were served in important banquets, whereas simpler preparations were accessible to everybody.

Inspired by the idea behind the torta, pasta makers started to incorporate similar types of fillings into their pasta shapes. The word ‘tortello’ (small torta) was used to refer to the pasta enclosure, whereas the word ‘raviolo’ (probably from late Latin rabiòlæ) was generally used to refer to just the filling. In addition to being boiled and served with sauces, the savory-filled tortelli were also fried and served with sugar and honey(1).

As a testament to its ancient origins, filled pasta changes name and often also shape, size, and fillings based on the region of Italy. Here is a list of the most popular kinds:

    • Agnolotti (Piedmont, and other northern Italian regions) are made by layering two sheets of dough and cutting out a circle (a) or a square (b), or by folding a circle or square of dough in half (creating a half-circle shape (c) or a rectangle). If the folded agnolotti are pinched, they are called “al plin” (e). Agnolotti are usually relatively large (∅ 50 mm). The traditional Piedmontese style is filled with braised beef, ham, spinach, Parmigiano and egg, and served with the gravy from the beef or with butter (with optional sage or truffle) and Parmigiano(2).
Circular pasta cutter
  • Anolini (provinces of Parma and Piacenza) are medium-sized (∅ 40 mm) and generally round (a, in the picture below) or almost half-circle shaped (d), cut with a circular pasta cutter. Usually, anolini have meat-based fillings and are served in broth or with a sauce made from beef.
  • Cappelletti (Emilia-Romagna, but especially Romagna) are slightly larger than ‘tortellini’, about 30 mm in diameter. They are obtained by placing the filling in the middle of squares of pasta dough, then by folding the dough diagonally to form a triangle, and by wrapping it around a finger until the opposing corners overlap and can be pressed together (h). The name ‘cappelletti’ means small hats in Italian, from the resemblance of the finished product to small paper hats. The filling generally includes different kinds of meat (pork, veal, prosciutto) and Parmigiano. Cappelletti are normally had in chicken broth.
  • Casoncelli (Lombardy, and particularly Val Camonica, Bergamo, and Brescia) are medium-sized (∅ 40 mm), generally in the shape of a half-circle (c), or of a candy wrapper. The fillings used in casoncelli vary substantially based on the area in which they are made, even from town to town. The ones from Bergamo are filled with veal, sausage, raisins, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper), Parmigiano, and breadcrumbs. They are generally served with melted butter (with optional ‘pancetta‘) and sage.
  • Fagottini or Sacchetti are a modern creation, their shape is obtained by closing squares of pasta dough to form small bags (i) around meat-based or vegetarian fillings.
  • Pansotti (Liguria) are quite large (∅ 50 mm) and made by cutting squares or circles of dough and folding them in half (c, f). The name means “big bellies” in Italian dialect. Traditionally, the Genoa-style pansotti are filled with ricotta, Parmigiano, endive, turnip, and garlic, and served with a sauce made with walnut, milk, and bread(2).
  • Ravioli (the whole of Italy) are usually square with a side of about 40 mm. They are made by layering one sheet of pasta dough, small lumps of filling, and another sheet of pasta dough. A common variety is filled with spinach, ricotta, and Parmigiano(2), a type of filling which is called ‘di magro’ (literally, “lean” in Italian). This name was introduced by the Catholics to indicate that the filling doesn’t contain meat and this dish is allowed to be consumed during Fridays in Lent. Another variety is the Neapolitan-style, filled with ricotta, Parmigiano, parsley, and egg, and generally served with tomato sauce and Parmigiano(2). Ravioli with meat or fish-based fillings are also popular.
  • Tortelli (all northern Italy) are commonly square and flat (b) with a side of 50 mm, but they may also be round (a), or half-circle shaped (c). In some cases, they may also look like big ‘tortellini’ (g). A famous kind of tortelli from Lombardy is ‘Tortelli con la Zucca’, filled with pumpkin, Parmigiano, bread crumbs, ground ‘amaretti’ (almond macaroons), and eggs, and usually served with butter and sage(2). Tuscan-style tortelli, instead, have a meat-base filling. Just like in Medieval times, sweet versions of tortelli also exist; nowadays, however, they tend to have more neutral fillings (e.g.: ricotta and cinnamon) and they are sometimes cooked in the oven instead of being fried in oil. A different kind of sweet tortelli is ‘Tortelli Cremaschi’ (from the city of Crema), which have a sweet filling, savory pasta dough, and savory serving sauce (butter and Parmigiano). The filling is made with ground ‘mostaccini’ (spiced hard cookies typical of Crema), ground ‘amaretti’, raisins, candied citron peel, lemon zest, egg, Parmigiano, Marsala liquor, nutmeg, and (optional) ground mint. This dish is served on special occasions and during the traditional mid-summer festival.
  • Tortellini (Emilia-Romagna, but especially Emilia and particularly the cities of Bologna and Modena) are quite small (∅ 20 mm) and have a shape similar to ‘cappelletti’ except that they are usually made starting from a circle of pasta instead of a square (g). The name is a diminutive of ‘tortelli’. The filling is usually meat-based (mortadella, prosciutto, veal, Parmigiano, egg(2)). Tortellini are commonly served with tomato sauce or in meat broth.
  • Tortelloni (northern Italy), are generally a larger version (∅ 30-40 mm) of tortellini (g) or cappelletti (h), but they may also be a larger version of the flat tortelli (b). Tortelloni may have several types of fillings, both meat-based and vegetarian. A well-known filling is mushroom-based (with porcini mushroom, ricotta, onion, Parmigiano), served with butter and sage(2).
Common shapes of Italian filled pasta

(1) “Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History” by Alberto Capatti and Massimo Montanari – Columbia University Press. ISBN: 978-0-231-12232-0
(2) “The Silver Spoon” – Phaidon Press. ISBN: 978-0-714-84531-9

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Panino, the Italian Sandwich

In Italy, just like in all Europe and North America, a ‘panino’ (Italian for sandwich) is a popular lunch option, and in some cases also a quick dinner alternative. Italian bars often press-grill their sandwiches to enhance the flavors, turn the bread more fragrant and crunchy, and melt any cheese. However, at home, or when bakery-fresh bread is available, the Italians enjoy non-grilled sandwiches just the same.

This article describes both styles of Italian sandwich: the world-famous grilled sandwich (known as Panini) and the less known un-grilled version.

Going back to the word “panini”, in Italian it refers to all sandwiches – and it’s plural. «One sandwich» translates as ‘un panino’ (from ‘pane’, bread). «Two sandwiches» translates as ‘due panini’ and shouldn’t be re-pluralized as Paninis – it causes native Italians to cringe!

A “Panini” press

Grilled panini are prepared in a “Panini” press (called ‘piastra’, literally: plate). In Italy, they generally feature established combinations of fillings, though these combinations don’t have universally assigned names. Common types of bread used are: ciabatta, francesino (a small French-style roll), and in some cases focaccia. Classic fillings combinations are:

  • mozzarella, tomato (plus arugula and/or prosciutto cotto or crudo);
  • prosciutto cotto or crudo, fontina, salsa rosa (“pink sauce”, made of mayonnaise, ketchup and whiskey);
  • prosciutto cotto or crudo, brie (plus lettuce and/or tomato);
  • prosciutto cotto, brie, olive tapenade;
  • prosciutto crudo or bresaola, goat cheese or stracchino (plus lettuce and/or tomato);
  • speck (smoked cured prosciutto from Tyrol), brie, salsa rosa;
  • speck, goat cheese, arugula;
  • grilled vegetables and cheese (see below for a recipe).

When Italian panini are offered outside of Italy, they tend to differ quite substantially. The biggest no-no’s are the use of:

  • More than one kind of meat (although it may happen in some cases, this is very unlikely in Italy);
  • Large amounts of meat (in Italy, more than a few slices would be considered overpowering);
  • Too many ingredients (in Italy, it’s never more than 3 or 4 in total);
  • Any kind of dressing (oil and vinegar are for salads, not for sandwiches!);
  • Honey-mustard, barbecue sauce, spicy mayo (since they don’t exist in Italy).

For un-grilled Italian sandwiches, bread rolls that are light and crunchy are generally used (for instance the michetta, known in some parts of Italy as ‘rosetta’ or ‘tartaruga’). As far as fillings go, they generally include one feature ingredient, for instance:

  • prosciutto ‘crudo’ (raw, cured pork);
  • prosciutto ‘cotto’ (Italian ham);
  • coppa, also known as capicollo (also cured pork);
  • salame (cured sausage);
  • Italian bologna (not to be confused with Baloney!) and other kinds of mortadella;
  • pancetta (Italian bacon);
  • bresaola (cured beef);
  • porchetta.

Sometimes, fresh greens and/or cheese may be added to complement the flavor. For instance, prosciutto crudo may be had with ‘stracchino‘ and arugula; prosciutto cotto with fontina. Other classic options include cold frittata (e.g.: with herbs or roasted zucchini), or cold breaded veal cutlet.

~~~~~

Now, onto the recipe for the grilled panino in the picture above – a slight variation on the grilled vegetables and cheese theme, thanks to the addition of spicy roasted onions.

Ingredients for 2 panini
– One small onion (sliced)
– 2 bell peppers, red or yellow (seeded and each cut in 4 wedges)
– 2 zucchini (sliced)
– 100 g provolone, scamorza or fontina (sliced)
– one handful of fresh arugula (washed and dried)
– 1 tablespoon of olive oil
– salt and cayenne pepper

Preparation
– In a non-stick pan, roast the onion in olive oil at medium heat for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature and cook for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and cayenne pepper.
– Using a sandwich press, grill the bell peppers (lightly sprinkled with salt) for 20-30 minutes at medium heat.
– When the peppers are ready, put them aside and peel off the skin (it should come off easily – if it doesn’t, let the peppers rest for 10 minutes in a sealed zip-lock while they are still warm).
– Grill the zucchini (also sprinkled with salt) for 10-15 minutes at medium heat.
– When the zucchini are ready, put them aside and roughly wipe the grill clean, while keeping it turned on.
– Assemble the sandwich by layering the cheese, the grilled vegetables, and the roasted onions.
– Warm up the sandwiches in the press until the cheese melts. Then add the fresh arugula and serve.

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Bruschetta, Properly Pronounced :)

Bruschetta , plural ‘bruschette’ (brus-ket-teh), is a very popular appetizer born in the 16th century in central and southern Italy, which then spread to the entire country and eventually followed the Italian emigrants around the world.

Classic bruschetta can be made in several ways, but it’s always based on a salad of fresh diced tomatoes on a toasted slice of rustic bread. The name bruschetta, in fact, derives from ‘bruscare’, Roman dialect for the verb to toast. Traditionally, a hint of garlic is added by rubbing a peeled garlic clove onto the char-roasted bread. However, it can also be added in small amounts directly to the tomato salad.

Bruschetta can also be made with other toppings (e.g.: cooked beans, stewed mushrooms or bell peppers, tuna salad). In Italy, however, these are substantially less common than the classic tomato topping. Unless otherwise specified, the term ‘bruschetta’ refers to the tomato version and always to the whole preparation (bread plus topping), never to just the topping. So, no bruschetta burger, please!

For the best results, the bread has to remain crunchy. To this effect, the topping should be not too soggy and it should be put on the bread only a few minutes before serving. Some restaurants even have do-it-yourself bruschette, where a tomato salad is served in a bowl along with toasted bread.

This recipe describes a variation of the classic where a few extra ingredients are added.

Bruschetta

Yield: 2-4 servings (as an appetizer)

Total Time: 25 minutes

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Bruschetta

Ingredients

  • 4 Roma tomatoes
  • (optional) ½ shallot
  • 1 ½ cloves of garlic
  • 3-4 leaves fresh basil
  • 1 T olive oil
  • ½ T balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 4 slices of artisan bread
  • (optional) some ground black pepper

Preparation

  1. Gather the ingredients. Wash and prepare the tomatoes for peeling by removing the bottom and by cutting a cross on the top. Slice and toast the bread.
  2. Blanch the fridge-cold tomatoes by dipping them in boiling water for 30 seconds, and then cooling them off quickly in cold water. The skin will come off easily.
  3. Remove the seeds and the cores, then dice the tomatoes.
  4. If using shallot, cut it into small dices.
  5. Cut the garlic into small dices. Slice the basil leaves by first rolling them up.
  6. Dress the bruschetta topping with balsamic vinegar, salt and olive oil.
  7. Place a generous amount of tomato salad on each bread slice. If desired, sprinkle with ground black pepper. This appetizers goes well with a full-bodied white wine, such as Malvasia Bianca, Soave, or Vernaccia.
https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2011/06/bruschetta.html

The Mystery of Bread

The smell of bread… Freshly baked bread has such an evocative fragrance. Italian bread, just like most artisan kinds of bread, is usually made of just yeast, flour, water, and salt.

The Chemistry

Yeast. The kind most commonly used is baker’s yeast, which is also used for brewing alcoholic beverages (in fact in Italian it’s called ‘lievito di birra’, beer leaven). Unlike sourdough (a symbiotic combination of a lactobacilli culture and yeasts that naturally develops when a mix of flour and water is left at room temperature for a certain amount of time, and where lactic acid is produced as a byproduct), baker’s yeast is a cultivated form of just yeast (Saccharomyces) and it’s preferred because not sour.

As part of the leavening process, the yeast eats the sugars contained in the flour and transforms them through an enzymatic process in dextrose and fructose, while producing carbon dioxide (CO2) and alcohol. The CO2 is responsible for the rising of the bread, but the fermentation itself and the caramelization of the sugars that occurs in the oven are responsible for the resulting flavor and smell. To lengthen the fermentation and increase the flavor, a starter (also called pre-ferment or ‘mother dough’) is often used. The classic Italian starter is called biga (a thick mixture of baker’s yeast, flour, and water that gets prepared ahead of time and then added to the fresh yeast). As an alternative, a portion of dough from a previous batch can be used.

Flour. Flour from several kinds of grains can be used (including rye, barley, corn), but Italian bread mostly uses high-gluten wheat flour. The gluten content is fundamental to give “structure” to the bread so that it holds its shape while rising and that prevents it from collapsing during the baking.

The salt is responsible not only for the taste but also for the color of the bread. Common table salt or sea salt is added near the beginning of the mixing process, but avoiding direct contact with the yeast. Tuscan bread is an exception where salt is completely absent.

Regular drinking water mediates between yeast and flour. The minerals naturally contained in Italian water also affect the bread’s flavor and texture.

The Cultural Significance

Now that we have the complex chemistry of bread out of the way, let’s talk about what bread means to the Italians.

Bread is very dear to the Italians; it’s so dear that it is synonymous of ‘good’ (a common Italian saying calls a good-natured person “good like bread”, ‘buona come il pane’). Bread is considered essential to every meal (except of course for meals which are made of bread, like pizza), so much that it traditionally represents the center of the banquet and every other food that is served with it is generally referred as ‘companatico’ (something that goes with bread). And since bread is a given in every meal, it’s free in restaurants (or, better, it’s included with service), and refilled as needed without charge.

Italians eat bread without any butter. As a result, people generally take one bun or bread slice from the basket where it’s served, place it directly on the tablecloth by their plate and eat it with hands, one bite-sized chunk at a time (biting off directly is instead a big no-no).

All Italian bread would probably be considered as ‘fancy’ in North America, there is, in fact, nothing like the standard day-to-day sandwich bread. The closest thing is called “pan carré”, French for ‘square bread’, a long-preservation preparation meant to be toasted, somewhat popular in Northern Italy, but that doesn’t compare with traditional Italian bread.

Bread used to be bought fresh every day at a bakery. And since bakeries used to be closed on Sundays (pretty much like everything else in Italy), on Saturday people would buy double amounts and accept to eat stale bread the next day. Now of course bread can also be bought in superstores, and many people freeze it and every day they thaw the desired amounts (if properly bagged and frozen when very fresh, bread remains almost unaltered for a few weeks).

Is there such a thing as Italian bread?

Not really. Bread in Italy comes in a big variety of shapes and kinds, from small rolls to big loaves, which vary across the peninsula. The most known kinds of Italian bread include:

  • “michetta” o “rosetta” (Lombardy): round shaped bun, with flat base and star incision. Completely empty inside because of the long leavening.
  • “biova” (Piedmont): slightly heavier than michetta because only partially empty and slightly denser.
  • “carasau” (Sardinia): a flatbread, extremely thin and crunchy.
  • “francese”, “francesino”: French-style bread (loaf or bun).
  • “ciabatta” (not ciabbata!), classic denser bun, rectangular shaped, used for instance to make “panini” (singular “panino” !), grilled sandwiches where the bread is cut horizontally and filled with one type of cold cut or ham and optionally cheese and roasted vegetables.
  • “filone”, “sfilatino”: similar to a baguette.

Special bread featuring the addition of other ingredients (from simple milk or oil to olives, raisins, or grapes) is also quite common. It has to be noted that the law imposes the use of the “Special Bread” label for any kinds of bread containing more than 4.5% of fat.

Focaccia (not foccacia!) can be considered a type of special bread containing olive oil. The most basic focaccia is simply sprinkled with coarse salt, but there are many variations (even a sweet one covered with sugar). The most famous focaccia comes from Liguria, and particularly the city of Recco (topped with Crescenza cheese).

A slice of classic Panettone
A slice of classic Panettone

Panettone is also a type of special bread, definitely the most representative sweet bread, a typical Christmas cake that originated in the city of Milan, but is common all throughout Italy (though usually only around the Christmas time). Panettone contains eggs, butter, sugar, raisins, and candied citrus peel and its complex preparation requires different stages of leavening.

A typical preparation that uses a slice of toasted bread as its base is the famous bruschetta (brus-‘ket-ta, not bru-‘shet-ta!). The most classic bruschetta is topped with diced tomatoes, garlic, onion and olive oil and originates in Central and Southern Italy.

Two other regional specialties (both from Emilia Romagna) are Piadina (a flatbread which is traditionally eaten with fresh creamy cheese and cold cuts) and ‘gnocco fritto’, fried dumpling which is also eaten with cold cuts or cheese. Both kinds of bread can also be served as desserts (usually with chocolate spreads, gnocco fritto can also be served with honey).

Finally, several preparations are based on stale bread, either diced and softened in milk or grated. One preparation typical of the eastern Alps is Canederli (though originated in Germany and Austria), bread dumplings usually containing cheese and smoked cured meat, served in broth or with melted butter.