Limoncello: A Taste of Sicily

Sipping Limoncello after dinner on hot summer evenings has become a very pleasant custom in Sicily as well as in the rest of Italy.

Limoncello is a Mediterranean liquor made with lemon peels marinated in alcohol. The description of Limoncello given by the Los Angeles Times journalist, Charles Perry, fits perfectly: “A taste of a thousand lemons, it’s colder than ice, and it explodes in your mouth with all the freshness and optimism of lemons”.

The origins  of this delicious lemon liquor date back to the early 19th century when it was first produced on the Amalfi coast in Southern Italy. Today it is made throughout the peninsula but the Southern regions with their warm climate are the most renowned in producing it.

Sicilian Limoncello is more intense than that made anywhere else. Its color is more vibrant, it’s sweeter on the palate and has a more pronounced lemon flavor. Making homemade Limoncello is very common among Sicilian families. It can be kept for months in the freezer and because of the high alcohol content it will not freeze.

There are many different recipes for homemade Limoncello, the quantity of alcohol and sugar may vary according to personal taste. It takes about a week for the alcohol to draw the flavor from the lemon zests. But the result is worth the wait!

Here is a recipe my mother handed to me, which is quite easy and irresistibly good. Differently than other recipes, we use small green lemons (instead of yellow ones) that give nice flavor, aroma and a beautiful green color. It is very important that the lemons are organic and freshly picked.

Ingredients

• 1000 ml pure alcohol (Everclear in th U.S.),
• 800 gr. (4 cups) sugar
• 1000 ml. (4 cups) water
• 10 lemons

Method

Rinse and dry the lemons, then peel the zest off. You must avoid peeling the pith which is the white part of the lemon because it would give a bitter flavor to our Limoncello. It takes a little patience to peel the lemons, it’s easier if you use a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler. Put the peel in the alcohol in a hermetic glass container and let it macerate for a week.

After a week, strain the alcohol and discard the peels. Set the alcohol aside while you prepare a syrup heating the water and the sugar, letting it simmer for 5 minutes. Let the syrup cool off and then add the alcohol which has become a nice green color. Pour into bottles and freeze.

By Maria Lina Bommarito

Get Ready for San Giuseppe Day

March 19 is Saint Joseph or also San Giuseppe day in Italy. People called Giuseppe, Giuseppa, Pippo, Peppino, Peppina, Giusi, Pino, Pina, etc… celebrate their name day.

If you want to celebrate this day the Italian way, here we propose a recipe that we published a few years ago: Zeppole di San Giuseppe.

Ingredients for 8 people:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 package yeast
Pinch salt
2 cups water (room temperature)
1 cup raisins
6 cups canola oil
1/2 cup sugar

Method

Mix flour, yeast, salt, raisins and water in a bowl. Let rest for about 2 hours. The dough should be almost liquid. With a spoon, scoop dough and make a ball. In a heavy pot, heat oil. Add the dough to hot oil and deep fry until golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar and serve the zeppole. Enjoy!

Save the Date: Fabrizia Lanza in the US again

February 9, 2011 7:00 pm

to

February 15, 2011 9:00 pm

Fabrizia Lanza is returning to the U.S. for a quick trip in February. First, she travels to Chicago, where she will be cooking at Rhapsody on Feb. 9 and Pelago on Feb. 10. From there, she moves on to San Francisco, where she will host a dinner at A16 on Feb. 15.

About Fabrizia Lanza

Fabrizia Lanza is a cooking teacher, art historian and daughter of one of Sicily’s oldest aristocratic families. She joined her mother at the eponymous Anna Tasca Lanza cooking school, located in Vallelunga, site of the family’s renowned Regaleali vineyard. The cooking school celebrates Sicily’s traditional dishes, from the aristocratic cuisine of Palermo to the ingredient driven foods of the countryside.

To make reservations for the dinners, contact the restaurants directly!

Here is a recipe for buccelati that Fabrizia is sharing with us:

For the dough:

• 1 kilogram all-purpose flour
• 200 grams sugar
• 250 grams lard
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 15 grams ammonia
• Milk as needed

For the filling:

• 300 grams dried figs, minced
• 100 grams walnuts, chopped
• 50 grams pistachios, chopped
• 1 jar homemade tangerine marmalade
• 300 dl vino cotto

For the icing:

• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• Juice of 2 lemons

Mix the dough ingredients together to obtain a soft and smooth dough similar to the one for fresh pasta. You should be able to knead and roll it on a work surface without it sticking.

Combine the stuffing ingredients in a large pan and cook for a few minutes until the figs soften and the mixture thickens. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll the dough into a large, very thin circle. Fill a pastry bag with the fig filling. At a distance of about four fingers from the dough’s edge, pipe a circle of filling, then fold the edge of dough over to enclose the filling. Cut out the “rope” that you have made and pinch to seal. Cut the “rope” into 3-inch portions. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Before baking, make little cuts on the edges of the cookies so that the filling can vent. Bake until the cookies are slightly golden. While the cookies cool, mix together the confectioners sugar and lemon juice, then glaze the cookies and decorate with colored sprinkles.

Biancomangiare

This past summer I was at the beach. My friends started talking about an ancient dessert, easy to prepare: biancomangiare. Until this past August, I did not know that this was the name of that sweet treat that my grandmother used to prepare for me and my grandpa when I was visiting them in the afternoon. Apparently this dessert has medieval origins and it is even mentioned in The Leopard by Giuseppe Tommasi di Lampedusa.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 lemon, zest grated
• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup of finely ground pistachio

Method

Combine the sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest in a container. Add the milk, little by little, and stir continuously. Filter the mixture through a strainer to eliminate possible lumps and cook it over medium heat until it becomes creamy. Add the finely ground pistachio and pour it into ramekins. Refrigerate it at least for one hour and garnish with extra pistachio nuts to serve.

Benvenuta vendemmia – Photo of the day

Vendemmia stands for wine grape harvest. Here is a vintage picture of my best friend’s family back in Sicily. It is vendemmia in 1983. How many memories of how we were and how much I miss this period of the year!

We were picking up the grapes and driving our parents crazy. In the late afternoon, we crushed the grapes together with adults by bare feet at the palmento (old traditional stone winery) and were always stung by bees. It does not sound like lots of fun, but it was. I remember how sticky we were and how our moms were  cooking the grape must to make mostarda, an ancient Sicilian dessert.

Mostarda

Ingredients

• 8 cups cooked must
• 2 cups starch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts

Method

Cook the must until about half of it evaporates. Then add the starch little by little and bring to a boil. Stir until the must reaches a certain consistency. When it is ready, pour it into a plate and let it cool down. Mostarda can be eaten as a pudding or let it rest under the sun to dry for a few days.

A hearty bowl of pasta e fagioli

With the arrive of the fall and the temperature cooling down, I decided to prepare a soup we usually cook during the cold winter days: pasta e fagioli.

I used a traditional family’s  recipe (see below) that my my mom was passed along by my grandmother, and so on. The beans must be soaked  into cold water overnight, so that the skin becomes tender. Try to cook the pasta (I like linguine, chopped into small little pieces) with the broth you take aside from the cooked beans. I guarantee that this  will make the world of a difference. After a long stressful day, there is nothing better than having a warm soup filled with vitamins and fiber!

The wine I suggest for this plate is a Cosiè Red Blend ’07 of Nero d’Avola, Frappato and Pignatello, all local Sicilian grape varieties. It is a wine with a vigorous structure, yet with rounded tannins, a complex bouquet of aromas and an alluring flavor of ripe red fruits and spices.

By Maria Lina Bommarito

Ingredients

• 2 whole carrots, slivered and diced
• 1 big onion, chopped
• 4 ounces celery, diced
• 2 cups red kidney beans
• 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 1/2 lb of pasta

Method

• Rinse the beans and place them into a pot
• Add 2 cups of water
• Cook over high heat
• After the water starts boiling, lower the heat and cook at low heat
• Season with salt and olive oil
• Separate some of the broth to cook the pasta apart
• Add chopped the onion, carrots, celery and some tomato sauce
• Continue cooking until the beans are nice and creamy

Serves 4

A fresh tomato salad – Photo

Is that simple? Yes, it is: I picked some ripe tomatoes in my parents’ garden, sliced and sprinkled them with oregano and salt. The final touch is to toss the tomatoes with some olive oil. And of course, this is in Sicily!

Swordfish rolls (involtini di pesce spada) by chef Paolo Torre

We recently “met” chef Paolo Torre on Twitter and started emailing back and forth. We found out that he has Sicilian origins and over 45 years experience cooking in some of New York’s finest restaurants, including 20 years with his own establishment. On his blog you will find great recipes, articles, restaurant reviews and posts of interesting Italian cookbooks. He agreed to share with us the swordfish rolls or involtini di pesce spada recipe, a typical Messinese dish. Enjoy and do not forget to visit his Website for more cooking ideas!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons capers, chopped
• 12 pitted gaeta olives, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 skinless swordfish steaks about 1/2 inch thick
• Salmoriglio (see below) or lemon wedges

Method

• Start a fire in a charcoal grill, or pre-heat a gas grill. Soak 4 wooden skewers in cold water.
• Combine bread crumbs, capers, olives, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and mix well.
• Place each swordfish steak between two pieces of wax paper and pound gently with the flat end of a meat pounder to 1/4 inch thickness.
• Cut each steak in half.
• Place one-eighth of the bread-crumb mixture near one end of each piece of fish and roll it up as neatly as possible, tucking in the ends. Thread the fish onto a pair of wooden skewers held parallel to each other, 4 rolls per pair of skewers.
• Brush the fish with the remaining olive oil and grill over high heat until firm to the touch, 8-10 minutes, turning once.
• Remove rolls from skewers and serve with the salmoriglio on the side for drizzling or lemon wedges.

Salmoriglio Recipe

• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Juice of 4 lemons
• Salt & pepper to taste

Combine garlic, oregano, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and mix well.

Sicily’s Traditions for Easter: the Marzipan Lamb

Among all the traditions that Sicily preserves for Easter, I still remember the Easter Marzipan Lamb (agnello pasquale in Italian, agneddu pasquali in sicilian dialect). My grandfather used to give one to me every Easter. In fact, the marzipan lamb is an Easter tradition: you cannot find it any other time of the year. I used to prefer it the chocolate eggs, even if so sweet.

I am not quite sure where the tradition of the marzipan Easter lamb started in Sicily, but the town of Favara (Agrigento province) has been organizing a festival every year since 1997. The festival, a spectacle of colors, flavors and sweetness, gathers some of the best pastry chefs of the island. Apparently, some of the recipes of the Easter lamb are dated back to 1800.

To make the base of the marzipan dough:

2 1/4 pounds (1 k) blanched almonds

2 1/4 pounds (1 k) sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 cup cinnamon water (see above)

A great wine to pair with this dessert is the Donnafugata Ben Rye’ Passito di Pantelleria. You can find more information about the history and tradition of the marzipan Easter lamb at http://italianfood.about.com/od/italiandesserts/r/blr0732.htm.

Sicily and its traditions: the “Zeppole di San Giuseppe”

Growing up in a small town of Sicily, I remember that it was lots of fun on Saint Joseph’s Day (Il Giorno di San Giuseppe), every March 19. It was a day off from school and my mom was cooking the yummy crespelle, better known as zeppole di San Giuseppe or sfingi.

I remember the nice smell in the house and the sweet taste of the raisins and sugar contrasting with the simplicity of the fried pasta dough. I miss those flavors and tend to be profoundly fond of the memories now that I live in New York City.

The feast of San Giuseppe is still a big day for my family back in Sicily because it is also father’s day and my sister Pina‘s name day. Pina is a short form derived from the name Giuseppe. My sister was supposed to be named after my grandmother Peppina, but my father mistakenly registered her with the short form at the city hall the day she was born. My mother was upset at the moment, but soon she dismissed my father’s behavior as emotional. Many other relatives and family’s friends in Sicily are named after San Giuseppe. Therefore, you can easily imagine how this day turns into a very big feast.

I already published this recipe, but I want to make sure to revive the tradition…

Ingredients for 8 people:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 package yeast
Pinch salt
2 cups water (room temperature)
1 cup raisins
6 cups canola oil
1/2 cup sugar

Method

Mix flour, yeast, salt, raisins and water in a bowl. Let rest for about 2 hours. The dough should be almost liquid. With a spoon, scoop dough and make a ball. In a heavy pot, heat oil. Add the dough to hot oil and deep fry until golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar and serve the zeppole. Enjoy!

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