Cookbook 195: The Italian Home Cook

A new (well it was when I bought it) cookbook by Silvia Colloca? Of course I was going to buy The Italian Home Cook: The 100 recipes you need to know, as soon as I could. I find Silvia Colloca’s recipes great, and her TV shows and stories fascinating. I also wish I could look like she does, but I can’t run/jog (thanks hEDS) so that isn’t going to happen.

From this book I cooked one vegetable side/snack dish (do want to make again), a chicken dish and a sweet dish which was strange, but I would make again. There are lots of very tasty recipes in this book that I want to try, so I will be cooking from it again. Overall 4 out of 5 stars.

Ceci Croccanti Con Spezie (Roasted chickpeas with spices and herbs) (serves 4 as a snack)

Ingredients:

• 440g dried chickpeas soaked overnight in plenty of water until doubled in size
• 80 – 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• salt flakes
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp chilli flakes

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 220C. Grease a large baking tray
2. Drain the chickpeas well, then dry thoroughly with paper towel. Place them in a bowl and toss with the olive oil and salt
3. Transfer the chickpeas and oil to the prepared tray and transfer to the oven to roast for 30 – 35 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy. Remove from the oven and immediately season with the oregano, lemon zest and chilli flakes. Place them in a serving bowl and serve straight away to enjoy the crunch. (As they cool the crunch will subside and the chickpeas will become creamy and nutty, which is still rather divine. If you want to re-crisp them, put them back in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes).

Notes on this recipe:

• Simple and very tasty. These were devoured in minutes by the household and more wanted. Sadly I hadn’t soaked more chickpeas
• Cookbook note: You can also use canned chickpeas, just make sure you drain them well and dry them thoroughly.

Polla Alla Cacciatora (Hunter-style chicken stew) (serves 4)

[no photo, I forgot to take one]

Ingredients:

• 80ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 chicken marylands
• 2 golden shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 150ml dry white wine
• 600g passata
• 40g pitted black olives
• 40g capers, in vinegar or salt, rinsed and drained
• 1 – 2 flat-leaf parsley sprigs
• salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
• crusty sourdough, boiled new potatoes or soft polenta to serve

Method:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken marylands and brown on both sides for 3 – 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and set aside.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Add the shallot, celery and carrot and cook for 1 – 2 minutes or until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Return the chicken to the pan and deglaze with the wine, scraping up any bits caught on the base. Allow it to bubble away for 1 – 2 minutes to cook out the alcohol. Add the passata, 200ml of water, the olives, capers, and parsley springs. Don’t add any seasoning as the olives and capers are already salty. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 30 – 40 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through.
3. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce is thickened. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper. Top with the chopped parsley and serve as is or with some crusty sourdough, boiled potatoes or soft polenta.

Notes on this recipe:

• I hate olives and capers, but can appreciate the flavour they add to tomato based dishes as long as it is not overwhelming. This was good.
• I’d personally just make this with 8 chicken chops (chicken thighs with bone in) next time as they are easier to manage than chicken maryland pieces.

Torta Di Pane Con Cioccolato E Ciliegie (chocolate and cheery bread cake) (serves 8 – 10)

Ingredients:

• 300g crustless stale bread
• 400ml milk
• 100g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp lightly scented extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 100g type 00 or plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp Marsala (or milk if you want to keep the cake alcohol free)
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
• 200g pitted cherries
• 100g dark chocolate (70% cacao), broken into pieces
• fresh cherries to serve

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a slice tin with baking paper (the size is up to you – if using a small one, the cake will be taller, if using a larger one, the cake will be flatter and the cooking time a little less)
2. Soak the bread in the milk in a large bowl and mash it up with your hands until it looks like pulp. The more you reduce it to a pulp, the better the consistency of the cake.
3. Add the caster sugar, olive oil and eggs to the milk and bread mixture and whisk well. Tip in the flour and baking powder and stir to combine, then mix in the cocoa, Marsala or milk, and vanilla. The batter will look runny and a little lumpy (because of the bread).
4. Pour the cake batter into the tin, place the pitted cherries on top (they will sink into the batter in the oven) and bake for 30 – 35 minutes (according to the size of your tin) or until the top is puffed and slightly cracked, but there is still a slight wobble in the middle. As it cooks down the cake keeps cooking and the top settles. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. While the cake is cooling, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water) and stir occasionally with a metal spoon until melted.
6. Drizzle the chocolate over the cake, top with some fresh cherries and enjoy.

Notes on this recipe:

• I made this during cherry season in Australia, so had access to fresh cherries. There is no reason why you couldn’t make this cake with preserved (tinned/canned) cherries, or even frozen cherries that have been defrosted.
• It is an interesting cake texture wise from the inclusion of bread as a start. It was tasty and we did eat it all. Definitely a fun experiment, and probably a great recipe for making with children.
• If using preserved cherries, you could use some of the liquid from that instead of the Marsala/milk bit.