Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [123]
For 6 servings
Risotto with Parmesan Cheese, using just 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil, and omitting the butter in Step 6
Chicken Liver Sauce, reducing the butter to just 1 tablespoon
A 6-cup ring mold
Butter for smearing the mold
Smear the mold lightly with butter. As soon as the risotto is done, spoon it all into the mold, tamping it down. Invert the mold over a serving platter, shake it and lift it away, leaving a ring of risotto on the plate. Pour the chicken liver sauce or another suitable preparation into the center of the ring, and serve promptly.
Boiled Rice with Parmesan, Mozzarella, and Basil
Butter and cheese melting in a bowl of hot, boiled rice is one of the unsung joys of the Italian table. The version given below is tossed with butter, Parmesan, mozzarella, and basil.
For 4 servings
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
6 ounces mozzarella, preferably imported buffalo-milk mozzarella
Salt
1½ cups white rice, preferably Arborio
⅔ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
4 to 6 fresh basil leaves, shredded by hand
1. Bring the butter to room temperature and cut it into small pieces.
2. Shred the mozzarella on the largest holes of the grater or, if it is too soft to grate, cut it up very fine with a chopping knife.
3. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil, add a tablespoon of salt, and as the water resumes boiling, add the rice. Stir immediately with a wooden spoon for about 5 or 10 seconds. Cover the pot and adjust heat to cook at a moderate, but constant boil, until the rice is tender, but al dente, firm to the bite. It should take between 15 and 20 minutes, depending on the rice variety. Stir from time to time while the rice cooks.
4. Drain the rice and transfer to a warm serving bowl. Add the shredded mozzarella, mixing it in quickly and thoroughly so that the heat of the rice can string it out. Promptly add the grated Parmesan and stir well so that it can dissolve and cling to the rice. Add the butter, stir once more to melt and distribute it, add the shredded basil leaves, stir again, and serve immediately.
GNOCCHI
THE WORD gnocco in Italian means a little lump, such as the one that might be raised by sharply knocking your head against a hard object. Gastronomically speaking however, gnocchi should be anything but lumpish. Whether they are made of potatoes, semolina flour, or spinach and ricotta, as in the recipes that follow, the essential characteristic of well-made gnocchi is that they be fluffy and light.
Potato Gnocchi
GOOD COOKS in the Veneto, where cloud-light gnocchi are as much a part of the tradition as creamy risotto, are loath to add eggs to the potato dough. Some people do use eggs because the dough becomes easier to handle, but that method, which is called alla parigina, “Paris style,” results in a tougher, more rubbery product.
The choice of potato is critical. Neither a baking potato, such as the Idaho, nor any kind of new potato, is suitable. The first is too mealy and the second is too moist, and if you use either, gnocchi are likely to collapse while cooking. The only reliable potato for gnocchi is the more or less round, common kind known as a “boiling” potato. In Italy, where there are no baking potatoes, and both new and old are of the boiling, waxy variety, you would ask for “old” potatoes if you are making gnocchi.
For 6 servings
1½ pounds boiling potatoes
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1. Put the potatoes with their skins on in a pot of abundant water, and bring to the boil. Cook until tender. Avoid testing them too often by puncturing with a fork because they may become waterlogged. When done, drain them and pull off their skins while hot. Purée them through a