Molto Gusto_ Easy Italian Cooking - Mario Batali [39]
Scant ¼ cup rinsed canned chickpeas
¼ cup Pomì strained tomatoes
½ cup grated fresh mozzarella
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley
Cook the guanciale in a small sauté pan over medium heat until it has rendered its fat and is golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.
Combine the guanciale and chickpeas in a small bowl, mixing well. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the parbaked pizza crust, leaving a ½-inch border. Scatter the mozzarella over the sauce, then scatter the chickpeas and guanciale over the top. Broil as directed, then scatter the parsley over the pizza, cut into 4 slices, and serve.
Benno (Pesto)
6 tablespoons Basil Pesto (Pasta)
½ cup grated fresh mozzarella
Spread the pesto evenly over the parbaked pizza crust, leaving a ½-inch border. Scatter the mozzarella over the pesto. Broil as directed, then cut into 4 slices and serve.
Riley (Cauliflower)
1 cup small cauliflower florets (about ½ inch across)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Maldon or other flaky sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
¼ cup Pomì strained tomatoes
½ cup grated fresh mozzarella
Preheat the broiler. Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil on a small baking sheet and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread out in a single layer on the baking sheet and broil, stirring occasionally, just until lightly browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Remove from the broiler. (Leave the broiler on.)
Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the parbaked pizza crust, leaving a ½-inch border. Scatter the mozzarella over the sauce, and scatter the cauliflower over the top. Broil as directed, then cut into 4 slices and serve.
Miles (Broccoli)
1 cup small broccoli florets (about ½ inch across)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Maldon or other flaky sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
¼ cup Pomì strained tomatoes
½ cup grated fresh mozzarella
Preheat the broiler. Toss the broccoli with the olive oil on a small baking sheet and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread out in a single layer on the baking sheet and broil, stirring occasionally, just until lightly browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Remove from the broiler. (Leave the broiler on.)
Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the parbaked pizza crust, leaving a ½-inch border. Scatter the mozzarella over the sauce, and scatter the broccoli over the top. Broil as directed, then cut into 4 slices and serve.
7
GELATO & SORBETTO
Man or woman cannot live on antipasti, salads, bruschetta, pasta, and pizza alone…you also need gelato! Dessert in Italian culture is as often eaten during the afternoon, or even as a midmorning snack, as it is after a meal. But if there is one single contribution that Italian culture has made to the international world that is really, truly “made in Italy,” it is gelato. There are thousands of places across America with excellent shakes and sundaes and soft-serve and the myriad other frozen dairy variations that we categorize under ice cream, and they are justly renowned for their deliciousness, but there is something about the pure extracted flavor and the delightful taffy-like mouthfeel and pull that makes Italian gelato something very special—and that is what we serve at Otto. It is through the genius of our “gelataia” Meredith Kurtzman that we offer here recipes she has painstakingly developed and perfected both in simple form as pure flavors and in the more composed desserts called coppette.
You do not need to buy an expensive Italian gelato maker for these recipes—you can use an inexpensive cylinder-batch ice cream freezer. You can buy an expensive table-top model if you want, but the machine is not nearly as important as the components of these recipes, the first of which are magnificent raw products and the second of which are the formulas that Meredith agreed to share in the following pages.
It is always best