The Italian Cook Book Part 10

PUDDING GENOESE

(Budino alla genovese)

Chop together a slice of veal, some chicken breast and two slices of ham and then grind or better pound them, with a small piece of b.u.t.ter, a tablespoonful of grated cheese and a crumb of bread soaked with milk.

Rub through a sieve and add three tablespoonfuls of =Balsamella= (see No. 54) which you will make thick enough for this dish, three eggs and just a taste of nutmeg, mixing everything well.

Take a smooth mold, grease it evenly with b.u.t.ter and put on the bottom a sheet of paper, cut according to the shape of the bottom and equally greased with b.u.t.ter. Pour over the above ingredients and cook in a vessel immersed in boiling water (double boiler).

When taken from the mold, remove the paper and in its place put a gravy formed with chopped chicken giblets cooked in brown stock. Serve hot.

89

LIVER LOAF

(Pane di fegato)

Cut about one pound of veal liver in thin slices and four chicken livers in two parts and put all this in a saucepan with rosemary and a piece of b.u.t.ter. When this is melted put in another piece and season with salt and pepper. After four or five minutes at a live fire, remove the liver (dry) and grind it together with the rosemary. In the gravy that remains in the saucepan put a big crumb of bread, cut into small pieces and make a paste that will also be ground with the liver. Then rub everything through a sieve, add one whole egg and two yolks and a pinch of grated cheese, diluting with brown stock or water. Finally put in a smooth mold with a sheet of paper in the bottom, all evenly greased with b.u.t.ter and cook in a double boiler. Remove from the mold when cool and serve cold, with gelatine.

90

VEAL WITH TUNNY

(Vitello tonnato)

Take two pounds of meat without bones, remove the fat and tendons, then lard it with two anchovies. These must be washed and boned and cut lengthwise, after opening them, making in all eight pieces. Tie the piece of meat not very tight and boil it for an hour and a half in enough water to cover it completely. Previously put into the water one quarter of an onion larded with clover, one leaf of laurel, celery, carrot and parsley. Salt the water generously and don't put the veal in until it is boiling. When the veal is cooked, untie, dry it and keep it for two or three days in the following sauce in quant.i.ty sufficient to cover it.

Grind 1/4 pound tunny fish preserved in olive oil and two anchovies, crush them well with the blade of a knife and rub through a sieve adding good olive oil in abundance little by little, and squeeze in one whole lemon, so that the sauce should remain liquid. Finally mix in some capers soaked in vinegar.

Serve the veal cold, in thin slices, with the sauce.

The stock of the veal can be rubbed through a sieve and used for risotto.

91

STUFFED ITALIAN SQUASH

(Zucchini ripieni)

For a description of the =Zucchini= see No. 32.

To make the stuffed zucchini first cut them lengthwise in two halves and remove the interior pulp, leaving s.p.a.ce enough for the filling.

Take some lean veal (quant.i.ty in proportion to the squashes) cut it into pieces and place it on the fire in a saucepan with a hash of onion, parsley, celery, carrot, a little corned beef cut in little pieces, a little oil, salt and pepper. Stir it often with a spoon and when the meat is brown pour in a cup of water and then another after a while.

Then rub the gravy through a sieve and put it aside.

Chop the cooked meat fine and grind it in the grinder and make a hash of it and one egg, a little grated cheese, a crumb of bread boiled in milk or in soup stock and just a taste of nutmeg. Put this hash inside each half squash and put them to brown in b.u.t.ter, completing the cooking with the gravy set aside.

92

STRING BEANS AND SQUASHES SAUTe

(f.a.giolini e zucchini saute)

Brown in b.u.t.ter some string beans, that have been previously half cooked in water and some raw squashes cut in cubes. Put the squashes in only when the b.u.t.ter is beginning to brown. Season moderately with salt and b.u.t.ter and add some brown stock or good tomato sauce.

93

STRING BEANS WITH EGG SAUCE

(f.a.giuolini in salsa d'uovo)

Take less than a pound of string beans, cutting off the two points and removing all the strings, and then cook them partially in water moderately salted. Take them from the kettle, drain, and brown with b.u.t.ter, salt and pepper. Beat one yolk with a teaspoonful of flour and the juice of half a small lemon, dilute with half a cup of cold broth from which the fat has been removed and put this liquid on the fire in a small saucepan stirring continually. When the liquid has become, through the cooking, like a cream, pour it on the string beans that you will keep on the fire a little longer, with the sauce. The string beans so prepared can be served with boiled beef.

94

STRING BEANS IN MOLD

(Sformato di f.a.giolini)

Take one pound of string beans, seeing that they are quite tender. Cut off the ends and remove the strings. Throw them into boiling water with a pinch of salt and when they are half cooked take them away and put them in cold water. If you have brown stock complete the cooking with this and with b.u.t.ter, otherwise brown a piece of onion, some parsley, a piece of celery and olive oil. When the onion is browned put in the string beans and complete the cooking with a little water if necessary.

Prepare a =Balsamella= sauce (No. 54) with a small piece of b.u.t.ter, half a teaspoonful of flour and half a cup of milk. With this, a tablespoonful of grated cheese and four beaten eggs bind the string beans when they are cold, mix and put in a mold, evenly greased with b.u.t.ter and the bottom covered with paper. Cook in a double boiler and serve hot.

95

CAULIFLOWER IN MOLD

(Sformato di cavolfiore)

Take a good sized cauliflower, remove the stalk and outside leaves, half cook it in water and then cut it into small pieces. Salt them and put them to brown with a little piece of b.u.t.ter and then complete the cooking with a cup of milk. Then rub them through a sieve. Prepare a =Balsamella= (No. 54) and add it to the cauliflower with 3 beaten eggs and a tablespoonful of grated cheese.

Cook in a greased mold and serve hot.

96

ARTICHOKES IN MOLD

(Sformato di carciofi)

Remove the outside leaves of the artichokes, the harder part of all leaves, and clean the stalks without removing them.