Pollo e funghi al aceto balsamico (balsamic & mushroom chicken)

For ➍
2 tbs vegetable oil
125 g butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 200 g each
200 g sliced white button mushrooms
½ large onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
150 g cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 tbs balsamico
20 cl red wine
1 ts salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Flatten the breasts by pounding them.
Combine the vegetable oil and 2 tbs of butter in a large skillet over high heat. Once the butter and oil are bubbling, add the chicken breasts to the skillet. Sear on each side until the chicken is golden, about 2–3 m per side, then transfer them to a large baking dish.
Melt the remaining butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, 15 to 20 m. Add the mushrooms, stir, and raise the heat to high. Allow the mushrooms to cook until most of their liquid has evaporated, 15 to 20 m. Add the tomatoes and cook, shaking the pan, for 10 m, or until the tomatoes begin to break down. Add the balsamico, wine, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 m.*
Pour the mushroom mixture over the chicken and place the pan in the top half of the oven for 20 to 35 m, or until the chicken has just cooked through.**
Remove from the oven and serve each piece of chicken topped with mushroom mixture. Serve with pasta or small rösti.

*The mushroom mixture can be made the day before.
**Cook on stove-top for 25-30 m, after browning the chicken. Transfer oil/butter to another skillet and keep the chicken cooking on medium fire with a lid on the skillet. Add the extra butter to the second skillet. Add te mushrooms and prepare them for 10 m, with lid on. Add the tomatoes for 5 m. Add the balsamic and wine and cook for 5 m. Add the mixture to the chicken and cook until chicken is cooked. (Probably 30 m in total, depending on the thickness of the chicken. Tearing the chicken into pieces will reduce the cooking time.)

'Aceto balsamico' (balsamico vinegar) is not a wine vinegar: it is made from grape pressings that never fermented into wine. 900 years ago, vintners in the Modena, Italy region were drinking balsamic vinegar as a tonic.
Sweet white Trebbiano grape pressings are boiled down to a dark syrup and then aged under rigid restrictions in oaken kegs, along with a vinegar mother. Over the years it graduates to smaller kegs made of different wood, taking the perfume of the wood and, as moisture evaporates out, the vinegar further thickens.
Balsamico also comes in a white variation. Balsamico will turn sweet when heated, do not use it in aluminum containers.

Zuni Cafe pasta alla carbonara

For ➍-➎
4 or 5 thick slices (140 g) bacon, cut into small segments
5 tbs extra virgin olive oil
4 large or 5 small eggs, at room temperature, beaten
½ cup (10 cl) fresh ricotta cheese, at room temperature
450 g spaghetti, penne, or bucatini pasta
¾ cup shucked sweet English peas or mature sugar snap peas or double-peeled favas
50 g pecorino romano or pecorino sardo, grated
salt & freshly cracked black pepper

Warm the bacon in the olive oil in a sauté pan over low heat. It should gradually render a little fat, which will mix with the oil.
Meanwhile, lightly beat the eggs with the ricotta.
Drop the pasta into 6 quarts rapidly boiling water seasoned with a scant 2 tbs salt. Stir, and cook until al dente.
When the pasta is about 1 m from being al dente, add the peas or favas to the water, and raise the heat under the bacon. Cook the bacon until it is just crispy on the edges but still tender in the middle. Turn off the heat, slide the pan from the heat, and swirl it a few times to cool it slightly.
Drain the pasta, shake off the excess water, and slide the pasta and peas or favas into the pan of bacon; you’ll hear a discreet sizzle. Place back on the burner (the one you used to cook the bacon, which should still be quite warm). Immediately pour the beaten eggs all over the steaming pasta, add most of the pecorino and lots of cracked black pepper, and fold to combine. Work quickly so the heat of the noodles, bacon and bacon fat slightly cooks the eggs. The eggs and ricotta will coat the pasta and form tiny, soft, golden curds.
Serve in warm bowls and offer the remaining pecorino and black pepper.

Try the original recipe. Or a Japanese fusion recipe.

Frizzone (Italian vegetable stew)

For ➍-➏
3 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, peeled & chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large eggplant, chopped
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 medium carrots, trimmed & chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled & minced
1 500 g can cherry tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1 ts dried oregano
20 cl water
3 tbs fresh basil, chopped
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup olives, chopped
¼ cup salted capers, rinsed
salt & pepper
2-3 ts aged balsamico vinegar

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, wide bottom saucepan.
Add the onion, celery, eggplant, zucchini, carrots, and garlic. Cook, stirring often until the vegetables begin to soften, about 8 to 10 m.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, water, basil, and half the parsley, and cook until the stew has thickened, about 20 m.
Stir in the remaining parsley, olives, and capers.
Taste, and season with salt and pepper.
Stir in the balsamico vinegar.
Serve warm, or allow to cool to room temperature.

Fennel & lemon risotto

For ➋*
1 large or 2 fennel bulbs, base trimmed, outer leaves removed
1 tbs butter, plus a knob
2 shallots or 1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped***
140 g risotto rice
juice of 1 lemon (4 tbs) or 17.5 cl white wine**
55 cl hot vegetable stock**
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbs Parmigiano, grated
8 cooked & peeled prawns***

Chop any green leafy fennel fronds and set aside. Cut off the stalk-like fennel top, remove the outer layers and finely chop both.
Heat 1 tbs butter in a frying pan and cook the onion, garlic and chopped fennel until soft but not coloured.
Add the rice and stir for 1 m. Pour over the lemon or/and most of the wine** and simmer until evaporated. Add 50 cl of the hot stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring between each addition until it is absorbed.
Meanwhile, slice remaining fennel and fry in knob of butter until browned. Add remaining stock and wine and cook until tender.
When the rice is cooked, stir in the zest, Parmigiano and some seasoning. Take off the heat and set aside, covered, for 2 m.
Serve in bowls, topped with the fennel fronds and cooked fennel.
Add the prawns.***

*Double quantities for ➍.
**Add lemon juice, follwed by 12 cl white wine for a sweeter taste.
***Optional.

Read the tip on making a quick risotto.

Strozzapreti al sugo di carne (Italian meat sauce for filled pasta)

For ➏
6 tbs butter
2.5 kg chuck roast, cut into 3 cm cubes
3 onions, halved & thinly sliced
75 cl bottle Chianti or other fruity red wine
750 g can peeled tomatoes with juice
1 cup brewed espresso
500 g strozzapreti* or other twisted pasta

Preheat oven to 200°C. Melt 1 tbs butter in large ovenproof pot over medium high heat. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Working in batches, cook beef until browned, about 4 m per batch.
Transfer beef to large bowl. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 5 tbs butter to pot and melt. Add onions and cook until soft, stirring frequently, about 5 m. Return beef and any accumulated juices to pot. Add wine, tomatoes with juice, and espresso. Bring to boil, cover, and transfer to oven.
Braise beef until tender, about 2 h. Using 2 forks, break beef apart into more manageable chunks. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta.
Stir strozzapreti or other filled pasta into beef mixture and serve.

*'Strozzapreti' means 'strangled priest' or, rather, 'priest choking himself on food'. A similar name, 'strangelopreti' is used in the North for a gnocchi-like food.