Italian Culture

Antipasti

Roasted balsamic-glazed shallots

Home-baked

Lets eat already!

Cannoli!

He's Italian, right?

Garlicky Garlic Pasta

My dad always made this when I was a kid.  He still makes it, but I'm not a kid.

1lb wheat fettucini
A boat load of garlic, then a few more cloves
12oz whipping cream
1/2 stick of butter
2 bunches of scallions
a few handfuls of crimini mushrooms
Parmesan
Salt
Black Pepper

First, melt the butter and fry the whites of the scallions, the mushrooms, and half the garlic.  Once the flavors mingle and get to know each other, add the the whipping cream and the rest of the garlic.  Whisk the sauce for a little bit.  Let that sit for a little while, whisking every so often.  Once you think the flavors are all good friends with each other, grate a bunch of parmesan until the sauce is at your desired consistency.  Add salt and black pepper to taste.  Boil the fettucini at some point, but not too early or too late, obviously.  Make sure you boil it with a splash of oil, too, so it doesn't stick together--this is too often overlooked.  Combine the pasta with the sauce and voila!

Gnocchi


Since gnocchi is one of my all-time favorite foods, and Italian is my favorite cuisine, and gnocchi is Italian, I figured I owed it to gnocchi and Italy to give homemade gnocchi a go. My indulgence in gnocchi is generally limited to restaurants, and the occasional store-bought variety, though I have yet to find a brand that truly matches up to the real thing. I was pretty damn nervous about making this, given what a painstaking and finicky process making your own gnocchi can be.  Many gnocchi recipes use a potato ricer or potato mill, though you can also hand mash the potatoes (it just can take a lot longer to get the consistency right). It's all about the consistency, and although I can't claim to be a gnocchi expert (well, I can claim it, I just can't back it up) after my single gnocchi-making experience, I did recognize my downfall was in cooking too many potatoes. I figured since Potluck Culture has gotten so popular and has become so well-attended (people are lining up in the streets! There's a 2-year waiting list just to be invited), I'd better make a ton, which equals roughly 4 lbs of potatoes. This was a mistake. It takes an absurdly long time to knead all that dough, and mine never fully lost its stickiness. While it did taste pretty damn good nonetheless, there was so much that we had to make huge gnocchi, which were pretty soft and kind of fell apart when tossed with the pesto (fresh basil, shaved parm, walnuts &olive oil). No matter how much flour I added, it just wouldn't quite make up for the mass quantity of potatoes. Less is more.

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/how-to-make-gnocchi-like-an-italian-grandmother-recipe.html

2 lbs potatoes (I used close to twice this amount, thinking I'd just double- don't make my mistake!)
Egg
1 c. flour

Pesto or any light sauce - don't over sauce b/c gnocchi's delicate and you want the flavor to stand out.
When you've been kneading the dough all night and you're covered in flour and you don't even know who's @ this potluck b/c you're stuck in the blazing hot kitchen kneading gnocchi dough and guzzling wine (don't forget the wine, an essential ingredient to gnocchi-making. Just not for putting in the gnocchi.) while dancing around singing Mambo Italiano, then it's time to call in the big guns (ie. Chris & Pippa) to help you roll it out, boil/toss in sauce and get it on the damn table. Look out for Gnocchi: Take Two (the True Story), featuring far fewer potatoes and hopefully less time. Buon appetito!


Roasted Shallots with a Balsamic Reduction

This is the best smelling, best tasting Italian veggie side on the planet. I got my shallots at the O.N.E. farmers market hours before the potluck. $3/lb for organic shallots, dude, try and beat that. The sauce is sweet and tangy, and the roasted shallots make your apartment smell like heaven.

Ingredients:
whole shallots, peeled
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
brown suga
butter

First cut the ends of the shallots and peel them. Melt some butter and mix in sugar, salt, and pepper, then toss the shallots around in this mixture. Caramelizing, mmmmm. Toss the shallots in the oven at about 425. Put a bunch of balsamic in a saucepan. You want to reduce it to about a third of the original volume. Reducing is pretty easy, just cook the stuff on medium heat, add a little brown sugar if you want, and just stir it around making sure it doesn't burn. You know its done when its all dark and syrupy. Cover the shallots with the reduction and serve either warm or room temp.

Eggplant Parmesan
Linguini Bolognese
Bruschette