Lidia’s From Our Family Table to Yours – More Than 100 Recipes Made with Love for All Occasions
Lidia Bastianich’s newest cookbook is co-authored by her daughter, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, and is full of family stories and passed-down recipes. Lidia shares the dishes she cooks for the ones she loves the most. I’ve had the good fortone of meeting Lidia several times, and I always hope she’ll come to one of our Les Dames d’Escoffier Conferences, as she’s a fellow Dame, but no sign of her yet. We dined in Del Posto, her restaurant in New York and it was fantastic.
In Lidia’s From Our Family Table to Yours Lidia presents traditional recipes that graced her table as a young girl—Prosciutto and Onion Frittata, Rigatoni with Sausage and Cabbage—alongside the new creations—Sweet Potato Chickpea Gnocchi with Gorgonzola, Cheesy Baked Chicken Wings—that she makes for her children and grandchildren today. Bringing together more than a hundred delicious, flavorful, and easy-to-make Italian recipes, this cookbook celebrates the dishes that Lidia’s family repeatedly turns to. From Crespelle with Herb Pesto to Penne with Sausage, Mushrooms and Ricotta, Vegetable Polpette to Mimosa Cake, this book is the next best thing to a seat at Lidia’s kitchen table.
From the best-selling, award-winning “doyenne of Italian cooking” (The New York Times),
We were lucky to receive a few recipes for publication and hope you’ll try them.
Eggplant Rollatini – Rollatini di Melanzane – Serves 4 to 6 by Lidia Bastianich
Eggplant rollatini is more of a southern-Italian dish, but although she was from the north, my mother, Grandma Erminia, loved it. Her mother, Rosa, made plenty of ricotta from the milk the family goats gave. Ricotta is so versatile in the kitchen, and I love cooking with it, from appetizers to desserts. It makes everybody happy, but at our house, especially when a bubbling pan of eggplant rollatini is delivered to the table, there are extra-big smiles. I would make these eggplant rollatini for Grandma Erminia on her birthday, and at other times, too, as she got on in age (God blessed her to live to be a hundred). They were light and soft, so easy for her to eat. She always asked if there were some left for tomorrow and I always made sure to have some extra saved for her.
FOR THE EG G PLANT ROLLATINI
3 small eggplants (each about 4 inches wide, about 1 pound total weight)
Vegetable oil, for frying
All-purpose flour, for dredging
Kosher salt
12 ounces good-quality fresh ricotta
6 ounces fresh mozzarella, shredded
11/2 cups freshly grated Grana Padano
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 large egg, beaten
FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 pints ripe grape or cherry
tomatoes, halved crosswise
Kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
IPreheat the oven to 400 degrees.
For the eggplant rollatini: Trim the stems and ends from the eggplants.
Remove strips of peel about 1 inch wide from the eggplants, leaving about half the peel intact. Slice the rounded sides from two opposite sides so that the eggplant sliced will lie flat. Slice the now flattened eggplant a scant
1/2 inch thick lengthwise (to get about sixteen slices). Chop the ends you cut off, and set them aside.
Heat about 1/2 inch vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the edge of an eggplant slice sizzles on contact. Spread some flour on a plate. Season the eggplant slices with salt, and dredge them in the flour.
Fry, in batches without crowding, until they’re tender and golden, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet.
For the filling: In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, shredded mozzarella, 1/2 cup grated Grana Padano, the parsley, and the egg. Season with 1 teaspoon salt, and stir to combine. Lay the eggplant slices out on your work surface with the top end toward you. Divide the filling among the slices, and roll them up. For the tomato sauce and to serve: Carefully pour the oil out of the skillet and wipe it clean. Add the olive oil, and heat it over medium heat.
Add the reserved chopped eggplant, and cook until it’s lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Scatter in the garlic, and cook until it’s sizzling, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, and season with 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to wilt on the edges, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and simmer until the tomatoes have broken down and the mixture is saucy, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the basil.
Nestle the rolls, seam side down, in the sauce, spooning a little of the sauce over each as you go. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup grated Grana Padano. Bake until the rollatini are browned and the sauce is bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.
Leek and Ricotta Tart – Crostata di Porri e Ricotta – Serves 6 to 8 by Lidia Bastianich
When I was growing up, in the springtime, when my grandma’s goats were kidding, there was always abundant goat milk, and Nonna Rosa, my mother’s mother, made loads of ricotta on those spring days. We ate ricotta for breakfast, for dessert, and as a snack, and we made stuffed pastas, ricotta gnocchi, cheesecakes, and tarts with it. On Sundays, when my grandma had a little more time, she would bake, and a ricotta tart like this one was easy and fast. She made it with different spring vegetables from the garden, but one of my favorites was this version, with leeks. The kid goats were my pets, and I loved playing with them. Nonna Rosa had a pile of old clothes, which she ripped into strips and used to tie the tomato plants, the artichokes, and other vegetables. But we used the cloth strips to tie decorative bows on the kids and on the foals, when we were lucky enough to catch one.
FOR THE DOUGH
11/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1/4 cup freshly grated Grana Padano
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg yolk (save the white for the filling)
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into bits
FOR THE FILLING
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the baking pan
2 large leeks, white and light-green parts, halved vertically, sliced 1/2 inch thick
4 scallions, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly
ground black pepper
1 large egg white (yolk used in dough)
1 cup good-quality fresh ricotta
1/2 cup freshly grated Grana
Padano, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 large egg, beaten, for an egg wash
For the dough: Combine the flour, grated cheese, sugar, and salt in a food processor, and pulse to combine. Beat the egg yolk in a spouted measuring cup with 1/3 cup cold water.
Scatter the butter pieces over the flour, and pulse until the mixture is lumpy. Drizzle in the egg-yolk mixture, and pulse just until the dough comes together, adding a little more water or flour if needed. Move the dough to a floured counter, and knead it a few times to bring it together. Form it into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until just firm, about 1 hour.
For the filling: Melt the 3 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, and cook, stirring often, until they’re tender, about 10 minutes. Add the scallions, and continue to cook until they are wilted but the green parts are still bright green, about 4 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper, and let it cool.
Beat the egg white in a large bowl until foamy. Add the cooled leeks, the ricotta, 1/2 cup grated cheese, parsley, and nutmeg. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir to combine.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the bottom third.
Butter a 9-inch cake pan. Roll the dough on a piece of parchment to a circle about 12 to 13 inches in diameter, and lay it in the buttered pan. Add the filling, and spread it to an even layer. Fold the overhanging edges in to make a crust on the edges. Brush the crust with the egg wash, and sprinkle all over with grated Grana Padano.
Bake until the filling is set and deep golden brown and the crust is golden on the edges, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Serve it warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges.
