Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [190]
Beef Patties Baked with Anchovies and Mozzarella
For 6 servings
½ slice of good-quality white bread
3 tablespoons milk
1½ pounds ground beef, preferably chuck
1 egg
Salt
Fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs, spread on a plate
Vegetable oil
A bake-and-serve dish
Butter for greasing the dish
6 whole canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained of juice, OR fresh tomatoes (see note)
Oregano, 1 teaspoon if fresh, ½ teaspoon if dried
6 slices mozzarella, each cut ¼ inch thick
12 flat anchovy fillets (preferably the ones prepared at home as described)
Note You can use fresh plum tomatoes if they are at the height of their season and very ripe and meaty.
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Trim away the bread’s crust, put the milk and bread in a small saucepan, and turn on the heat to low. When the bread has soaked up all the milk, mash it to a pulp with a fork. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
3. Put the chopped meat in a bowl, add the cooled bread and milk mush, the egg, and some salt, and gently knead the mixture with your hands without squeezing it. When all the ingredients are evenly combined, shape it gently and without squeezing into 6 patties about 1½ inches high. Dredge the patties in the bread crumbs.
4. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the patties in a single layer. Pour in enough vegetable oil to come ¼ inch up the sides. Turn on the heat to medium high and when the oil is hot, slip in the patties. Sliding them in with a spatula will avoid splashing hot oil out of the pan. Brown the patties on both sides, cooking them about 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other. Turn them carefully to avoid their breaking up.
5. While the meat is being browned, smear a bake-and-serve dish with butter. When the patties are ready, transfer them to the dish, using a slotted spoon or spatula.
6. If using fresh tomatoes, skin them raw with a peeler. Split the tomatoes in half lengthwise, scoop out their seeds, cut from each tomato a strip ½ inch wide, and set it aside to use for garnish. Cover each patty with both halves of a tomato, sprinkle with salt and oregano, top with a slice of mozzarella, and over the mozzarella place 2 anchovy fillets, crossing each other. Where the crossed anchovies meet, place the reserved strip of tomato.
7. Put the baking dish on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes or more until the mozzarella melts. Serve at table directly from the baking dish.
Ahead-of-time note The baking dish with the patties may be prepared several hours in advance, before proceeding to the final step.
Tuscan Meat Roll with White Wine and Porcini Mushrooms
For 4 to 6 servings
A 2- by 2-inch slice of good-quality white bread, trimmed of all the crust
2 tablespoons milk
1 pound ground beef, preferably chuck
1 tablespoon onion chopped very, very fine
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
2 tablespoons chopped prosciutto OR pancetta OR boiled unsmoked ham
⅓ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 egg yolk
Fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs, spread on a plate
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
⅓ cup dry white wine
A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted as described, and chopped into coarse pieces
The filtered water from the mushroom soak, see instructions
⅔ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped, with their juice, OR fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1. Put the bread and milk in a small saucepan, and turn on the heat to low. When the bread has soaked up all the milk, mash it to a pulp with a fork. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
2. Put the ground meat in a bowl and crumble it with a fork. Add the bread and milk mush, the chopped onion, salt, pepper, the chopped prosciutto, pancetta,