Cooking in Mezzomonte

[mezzomonte]

Involtini di Melanzane

Ingredients:

2 eggplants, 300 grams Ricotta cheese, olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, medium onion, Milk, Milk bread, Salt & Pepper

Preparation:

Cut the eggplant into thin slices and place in baking tray covered with baking paper. sprinkle some olive oil, salt and black pepper. Grill until slightly brown.

Pour milk over milk bread until well soaked.

Filling:

Saute the onions with the olive oil till soft and golden, adding a little water if needed. Add the Ricotta, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. 

Take the bread and squeeze to remove the liquid. Add it to the pan and mix well. Let it cool before handling.

Roll the filling into the eggplant and place them in a baking tray with the overlapping side facing down,

Place in broiler until nice and brown.

Serve cold or at room temperature adding a few drops of olive oil.

Enjoy the simplicity! 

[mezzomonte]

Fiori di Zucca

This appetizer is very common in rome, and it's served in local restaurant together with Filetti di baccalà fritti.

Ingredients:

Fresh Zucchini flowers, flower batter, Mozzarella cheese, Anchovies & frying oil.

Prepare the batter: Mix in white flower, sparkling water and salt. Egg is optional. Mix until the batter is fluid and runny. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

Wash the Zucchini flowers and let them dry. Open them gently and empty them. Fill with chopped Anchovies and Mozzarella cubes. Twist the head until the flower closes back.

Dip the flowers in the batter and quickly deep fry them. Let cool and enjoy. 

[mezzomonte]

Pasta Matriciana

Pasta Matriciana is a recipe originally from Amatrice, a small town in Lazio region in the center of Italy. It was adapted by the Romans and it's now part of the culinary tradition of Rome. Once Pasta Amatriciana is now referred to as Pasta Matriciana.

Please meet our close friend for the next couple of days. 

Here is a recipe for 4 people, or 2 really hungry ones.

600 grams of Bucatini or Spaghetti pasta

200 grams of Guanciale ( Pig's chick). First sliced and then chopped into small stripes Olive oil  1 small onion About 8 large tomatos chopped into cubes 150 grams of Pecorino Romano cheese Salt & Pepper

Heat oil in pan. Add the sliced Guanciale until it gets transparent. Remove from pan, and in the same oil add the onion and sauté on low-medium flame. When transparent add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and sauté for additional 10 minutes. Add the Guanciale and cook for 20-30 minute.

Cook the pasta in salty water and remove from the flame when it's "al dente", cooked but still a little bit hard. Time it according to the pasta cooking time, so it's ready when the sauce is ready. 

Strain the pasta, add a little bit of the cooking water to the sauce and add the pasta. Mix it well and grate some Pecorino cheese while mixing.

Serve to a bowl, add more Pecorino cheese and black pepper.

[mezzomonte]

Adding some color

Hey,

After a few days of cooking and shooting, I found myself in need to freshen up the silverware and service plates. Flaminia and I went to visit her mother Paula who let us look at her closet and pick up whatever we fancy. Grazie Paula!

[mezzomonte]

Crostata di Frutti di Bosco

Day 4

Once again, an easy lazy day here in Mezzomonte.

This Crostata is one of Flaminia's favorites. So easy to make and it has a long shelf life, although it usually disappears after one day.

Ingredients

For the Pasta Frolla.

500 grams of white flour

300 grams unsalted butter in room temperature

200 grams powdered sugar

80 grams egg yolk

Fresh vanilla from a pod

Just enough lemon zest

A pinch of salt

For the filling.

Any kind of homemade marmalade.

Preparation:

Make a circle from the flour, put sugar inside and pour the egg yolks, salt, vanilla and lemon zest.

Cut the butter into cubes and place them around the flour circle. This will help mixing the ingredients in a consistent way.

Start working. Mix the ingredients inside the circle but avoid mixing in the flour. Once mixed, start mixing in the flour and the butter. Keep kneading only until the dough is mixed and uniform, but don't over knead. 

Compact the dough into a loaf about  3 c"m thick. Wrap in baking paper and cool in fridge for at least one hour. This dough is hard to handle in room temperature.

Preheat the oven at 170 degrees.

Grease a round tart pan with butter. 

Take the dough and start rolling on a floured surface while  adding flour each time you feel the dough starts to stick to the rolling pin.

Roll the dough on the rolling pin and unroll it gently over the pan. Press it with your fingers around the pan, cut the excess leaving a small bit for the crust. Push it into the pan.

With a fork, pinch the surface of the dough to help the baking process. 

Pour any kind of marmalade spreading it evenly on the dough.

Use the left overs of the dough to decorate the top of the crostata. 

Brush the exposed dough with a mixture of egg yolk & milk. 

Bake for 35 minutes.

Enjoy!!

[mezzomonte]

Day 3 - Lasagna con Radicchio Rosso & Radicchio Rosso Al Vino

Day 3 here in Mezzomonte.

Flaminia had some guests who ordered dinner, so quickly she assembled these two terrific dishes. She was so quick, I didn't even have the time to shoot the preparation. or maybe I was too slow??

Anyways, here are 2 super easy and beautiful dishes. 

Don't think about your diet!

Lasagna Con Radicchio Rosso.

Fresh lasagna sheets, Béchamel sauce, smoked Provola cheese, Gorgonzola Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, onion, olive oil, black pepper, salt, garlic, red chicory, esscarole & spinach.

Prepare Béchamel sauce. if you can't be bothered, buy one. 

In a saucepan sauté the onion, garlic with olive oil. add chopped vegetables. Keep sautéing, add salt & pepper. When veggies are almost done add the Gorgonzola cubes and let it melt while stirring. Once melted, take it off the flame.

Before assembling the dish, align all the ingredients on a table in separate plates.

In a personal baking bowl, place thin layer of béchamel, a sheet of lasagna (let it bleed a little bit off the bowl's edges), vegetables, béchamel, Provola cubes, Parmesan cheese and black pepper. Repeat once again and place a slice of Chicory on top. 

Brush the excess lasagna sheet with a mixture of egg & milk, to give it a nice color.

Sprinkle some crushed all spice pepper and cinnamon powder.

Bake in oven at 180 degrees celsius around 20 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. before taking it out, broil it for an additional minute to give it a nice color. 

serve with a drizzle of olive oil. 

Radicchio Al Vino Rosso 

Cut the Chicory into quarters. Place on a baking pan with baking sheet. Sprinkle salt, olive oil and a little bit of red wine on top. Let it penetrate the leaves and finish with some black pepper. 

Place in oven and cook at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Eat hot or cold. 

[mezzomonte]

Day 2 - Carciofi sotto Olio

Erez & I decided to make marinated Artichokes. We headed to the market in Panzano and bought a tray of fresh artichokes. Purple ones. A few regular size and a lot of baby ones, which are perfect for marinating.

We headed back to Mezzomonte and started working. it took us a while, but it was fun.

Flaminia was very pleased watching us work while she continued with her duties.

Here is the recipe:

Carciofi sotto Olio

Originated in Southern Italy for the quality olive oil.

Ask your greengrocer for a smaller artichokes that would not have the hairy core.

Peeling and cleaning:

Prepare a bowl with plenty of lemon juice.

Peel the artichoke until you feel the soft leaves start showing up. Cut them around two thirds of the body and place them immediately in the lemon juice to prevent oxygenation.

After cleaning the artichokes, make sure they don't come in touch with water! place them on a dry kitchen towel. Try to avoid any contact with water!!!

Cooking:

Boil white wine & white vinegar with spices such as Bay leaves, whole black pepper, whole all spice, garlic, hot chili pepper, mint, lemon, salt.

Cook until soft in the outside, but still firm in the inside, about 7 minutes.

strain and let cool.

Sterilize a jar in advance. (Boil it in a pot or put it in a microwave with a little bit of water)

Place artichokes in jar, pack them firmly and add fresh spices between layers. Cover entirely with high grade extra virgin olive oil.

Wait at least 3 to 4 days before eating, longer the better. Place in a cool place.

Once jar is opened, use a clean fork/spoon to draw the artichokes to prevent contaminating the oil.

Enjoy & remember... Tuto va bene!

[mezzomonte]

First Day.

Lovely sunny day after a few consecutive rainy days. Lucky me.

Today I was just getting used to the slow pace of Casa Mezzomonte. Drinking coffee, lazing around and taking a few photos of of the surroundings. Franco, the 70 years old gardener was also around, so he received a portrait as well.

No cooking yet. but eating, yes!

[mezzomonte]

On my first visit to Mezzo Monte, I visited Flaminia and we discussed the possibility of me coming in the spring time and be her guest for 2 weeks. I explained her my idea. I'll come and be your guest, you'll cook and teach me what you do, and I, in return, will document the whole process and make her a small book from the whole process.

We agreed that we have to make a test shoot and see how this works, so on my last day I arrived for an afternoon coffee and Pinoli cake. the first take wasn't really successful, so I asked Flaminia if I can step inside her dining room and take a look at her silverware and service plates. We found some really cool forks and knifes and Erez brought an old piece of wood that was lying in the sun throughout the winter. we reorganized the shot, and suddenly it worked!

After this casual shooting session, we all decided that it would be great fun to come here in Spring and do this for 2 weeks. 

[mezzomonte]

How I got to know Mezzo Monte

Mezzo Monte is a small rustic family run lodge on a hilly forested mountain in Chianti Valley, Italy.

It is run by Flaminia Cipriani, a cook, originally from Roma who moved here and lives in this rustic homy lodge.

I met her in 2011 when I came to visit my friends Licinia & Erez, whom I knew from living in NYC. Flaminia is Licinia's mom, and Erez is Licinia's husband. 

I was looking for a dream place in Italy where I could learn to cook, get away from it all and concentrate on my food photography. Mezzo Monte fit the bill perfectly. 

So here we are, from today and the following 2 weeks, I'll be posting here about my experience in this dream place. I will learn to cook Tuscan and Roman food straight from the source and will document the process here. stay tuned for daily photos and recipes.