Extra Virgin (29 page)
Authors: Gabriele Corcos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
On a baking sheet, place the potatoes, carrots, garlic, rosemary, and sage. Drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss to coat.
Roast for 50 to 60 minutes, tossing halfway through, until the potatoes are crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and serve.
IMPORTANTE!
To parboil and pan-roast these potatoes: In a pot, combine the whole potatoes with water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the pot and set them aside to cool. Cut the potatoes into ¾-inch chunks and add to a large nonstick skillet with the carrots, garlic, rosemary, and sage. Dress with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and heat on high until the potatoes are crisp and golden, occasionally moving the potatoes by shaking the pan handle. Avoid stirring with a spoon or spatula, so that you don’t break the skin, and the potatoes can achieve a nice sear.
EGGPLANT PARMESAN
MELANZANE ALLA PARMIGIANA
SERVES 8–12
D:
This is one of our favorite dishes. It is so beloved in our family that it’s our New Year’s Eve dinner staple at home. But instead of the smothered-in-sauce-and-cheese version you regularly find in restaurants, ours boasts carefully balanced layers of tomato sauce, mozzarella, and eggplant, and it leaves out the ricotta. Our recipe is a valentine to that meaty purple eggplant, which has a fascinating history: it’s been called everything from an aphrodisiac (a “love apple”) to a cause of insanity. We are mad for our eggplant Parmesan, which is intended as an entree, though light enough to moonlight as a side dish. But it takes some planning and patience, so when you dig in to the making of it, whip up a few batches!
Canola oil, for frying
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 medium eggplants, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
4 cups
Red Sauce
¾ pound part-skim mozzarella cheese, freshly shredded
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
1½ cups fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
Extra virgin olive oil, for serving
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or high-sided skillet, pour in 2 inches of canola oil. Heat over high heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 360ºF. (You can also test by adding a small piece of bread to the oil. If it fries and browns, the oil is ready.)
In a shallow dish, whisk together the flour, salt, and pepper. Working in batches of approximately 8 slices each, dredge the eggplant slices in the flour mixture and add them to the hot oil. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes each, until browned. Using tongs, transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to let cool.
In two 13 × 9-inch baking dishes, place one layer of eggplant slices. Brush each with a thin layer of Red Sauce, top with a layer of mozzarella, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and a sprinkle of basil leaves. Repeat the layering two more times. Make a final layer of Red Sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until bubbling and golden on top. Garnish with a final sprinkling of basil leaves and Parmesan, and a small drizzle of olive oil.
TOMATO, ANCHOVY, AND CAPER PIZZA
TOMATO, MOZZARELLA, AND BASIL PIZZA
BUFFALO MOZZARELLA AND HEIRLOOM TOMATO PIZZA
WHITE PIZZA WITH PROSCIUTTO AND ARUGULA
G:
Pizza-making is a very particular food memory for me. I was twelve years old when my parents tapped me to make all the pizzas for my mother’s fortieth birthday party. For six hours I sweated in front of our family’s big fireplace—a table full of ingredients for toppings in front of me—and made around seventy pizzas. They gave me the equivalent of one hundred dollars, and let me tell you, it was earned.
D:
No tips from your mother’s friends?
G:
Well, yes, many of them were generous. I put a little showmanship into it. It was certainly a more fun way to earn money than pushing a lawnmower up the hills of our property.
D:
And even more fun than making them is eating them, but we definitely get fun out of making pizza at home with our kids. When we have pizza night, it’s as if a map of dough has been laid out, and everyone stakes their claim before it goes into the oven. “I want mushrooms!” “I want tomatoes and mozzarella!” “I want arugula and prosciutto!” Then the pizza comes out, the countries get divided, and everyone’s happy. World peace at the dinner table!
G:
Pizza gets such a bad rap as junk food, when really it’s a wonderful delivery system for fresh ingredients. When you take control of making pizza at home, you can avoid the doughy, oily, meat-laden, and heavily cheesed pies from so many chain delivery places. Making thin-crust pizzas with fresh toppings of your choice leads to a much healthier and tastier experience.
D:
Experiment with flavors, too. It’s how we came up with our
Breakfast Pizza
. There’s very little that doesn’t taste good on baked pizza dough. But remember, although we offer a foolproof recipe for great
Pizza Dough
, you can also buy it at your local grocery store, pizza shop, or neighborhood baker.
G:
If you have a wood-burning oven: Rotate the pizza a few times with the pizza peel while it cooks, since the fire is on one side of the oven. Otherwise, the pizza will cook unevenly. If you are using a pizza stone: Make sure it’s preheated—for a good hour at your oven’s highest temperature—before you bake. If your pizza sticks, it usually means the stone wasn’t preheated enough.
PIZZA DOUGH
IMPASTO
MAKES 4
G:
There’s nothing like the feeling of using your hands to make something that you know will be thoroughly enjoyed later. This recipe comes from Carlo Polpini, a friend of my father’s who was a famous pizza maker in Florence. It’s simple, easy to follow, and works wonderfully, and I’ve been using it ever since I started making pizzas with my father when I was a child. During the rising process, be sure not to let the dough rise too much, otherwise the top will get a little dry and crusty. Kids like to help make this.
1 (¼-ounce) envelope active dry yeast (2¼ teaspoons)
½ cup lukewarm water (approximately 80°F)
4 cups bread flour
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
All-purpose flour, for dusting
In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the yeast, lukewarm water, and ½ cup of the bread flour. Mix well and let it sit for 30 minutes, or until bubbly, like foamy beer.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 3½ cups bread flour and the salt until evenly combined.
Add ¾ cup cold water and the olive oil to the yeast mixture. Turn on the mixer and begin adding the flour mixture in increments, then mix for 5 minutes, until the dough starts creeping up the dough hook and detaching from the sides of the bowl.
Grease a large bowl with oil and transfer the dough to the bowl. Turn the dough to coat its surface with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a tea towel. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Punch the dough down, then let rise another 1 hour.
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and form into discs. On a work surface lightly dusted with flour, use your fingers or the heel of your hand (and a rolling pin, if you prefer) to stretch the discs until they’re 13 inches in diameter. The disc should be very thin, less than ⅛ inch.
IMPORTANTE!
If you’re making pizza within the hour after forming the pizza dough discs, they can be kept at room temperature. Otherwise, place them on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 12 hours before baking, as long as the dough doesn’t rise too much, because acidity will creep in and the flavor will sour. Ideally, though, you should make the pizzas the same day you make the dough.