Entries Tagged 'italian' ↓

From SFGate

Associated with the southern Italian island of Capri, a famed vacation spot for the moneyed set, insalata caprese requires five ingredients, and five only: tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olive oil and salt. Full stop. Vinegar, especially balsamic vinegar, doesn’t belong.

“You could put me on record as saying that (vinegar) is the most nontraditional thing, and I see it all the time and I cringe,” says Nate Appleman, chef of A16 in San Francisco.

Tomato Bread Salad with BurrataServes 6

Acme Bread Company’s herb slab is a good choice for this recipe. Look for burrata at Cowgirl Creamery in San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace and the Cheese Board in Berkeley, the Pasta Shop in Berkeley and Oakland, and A.G. Ferrari stores throughout the Bay Area.

1/2 pound plain or herbed focaccia, such as Acme’s herb slab, in 3/4-inch cubes

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish

11/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, in 3/4-inch dice

1/2 pound cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, then sliced in 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 small onion, very thinly sliced

16 kalamata olives, pitted and halved

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped

8 to 10 fresh basil leaves

The dressing

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 large clove garlic, finely minced

Kosher or sea salt

3/4 pound burrata or fresh whole-milk mozzarella, cut in 6 wedges

Coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400°. In a bowl, toss the focaccia cubes with the olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet and bake until the bread is lightly toasted, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and capers. Tear the basil leaves into small pieces and add to the bowl along with the focaccia.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and salt. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently but well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Divide the salad among 6 salad plates. Make a small well in the center of each salad and put the burrata in the well. Drizzle some olive oil over the burrata, sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.

A Grandchild of Italy Cracks the Spaghetti Code.  Kim Severson (NY Times: Free reg req)

To understand why I made my sauce the way I did, I needed to start closer to home, with my mother. She has been making spaghetti sauce for almost 60 years, from a recipe she learned from her mother, who had been making it with American ingredients since the early 1900s.

Just How Good Can Italy Get? - New York Times

“On a recent week I divided my days almost evenly between these two regions, on a selfless mission to taste and compare the best of both. In my mind’s eye I cast them as contestants in a sort of bake-off, giving each the same opportunities — refined restaurants, rustic ones, marketplaces, vineyards — to show what it could do. Piedmont wound up with the prize.”