An elegant-yet-easy hors d’oeuvre: Place tablespoons of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on a cookie sheet, garnish with a walnut and bake; for more dimension, drizzle the crisps with artisan honey.
Photo: Kieran Scott / Savour Italy
Italian Trilogies - Good Things Come in ThreesBy Carole Kotkin
When it comes to the affinity of wine and food, the oft-used word "pair," implying a marriage of two items, is somewhat misleading. In actuality, the wine, itself multifaceted, is being matched with what is essentially a sum of many interlocking parts. With dozens of varietals to play off, the possibilities seem virtually endless.
The same holds true for cheese. The individual profile of a particular cheese - its texture, aroma, flavor and the length of its finish - determines not only what wine may enhance it, but which comestibles might also ultimately complement it. That's not to say, however, that for every cheese there's a gastronomic equivalent of a soul mate. Sometimes, multiple partners, each with distinct but nevertheless ancillary character traits, may be invited into the relationship.
The Italians, producers of some of the finest cheeses in the world, understand this so well that they've gone beyond pairs to create simpatico trilogies. Consider the classic caprese salad, the best of which is served in Campania, where the ingredients are prime. Where would the bufala di mozzarella and tomato be without the minty crispness of fresh basil to enliven the former and add depth to the latter? The layering of a third ingredient turns a simple duet into something magnificently orchestral.
Granted, the presence of a third ingredient can make choosing a wine to sip even more difficult. In the case of the seemingly simplistic caprese, do you accent the creamy mozzarella or the herbaceous basil?
Indeed, today's more knowledgeable epicures appear to be up to the challenge of searching out the ideal counterpoint, with results that are often harmonic. For instance, one of Campania's softly crisp whites -- Greco or Falanghina -- have just enough body to stand up to the creamy cheese and a judicious amount of "greenness" to complement the tomato's bite and the basil's herbaceousness.
One of the best ways to construct - or deconstruct - a trilogy is to first analyze the cheese, then examine how its flavor and texture can be played off by something sweet-tangy and something nutty. The traditional Italian food trilogies that follow, by no means definitive, are wonderful stimuli for sparking your own gastronomic imagination:
Parmigiano-Reggiano o Honey o Walnuts
Next to pasta, Parmigiano-Reggiano may be the single gastronomic item that is most identified with Italy. This raw milk cheese has been consistently, even prodigiously, produced for at least 700 years in a region of north-central Italy comprising the provinces of Parma, Modena, Reggio-Emilia and parts of Bologna and Mantua, where there are about 9,000 dairies and approximately 600 cheese makers.
It is also undeniably one of the purest and most important elements in the country's cuisine; made from only milk, rennet and salt, and aged from 18 months to three years, it is, on its home turf, one of the first solid foods fed to babies.
When young, Parmigiano-Reggiano is rich and flavorful. Texturally, it is flaky and crumbly with a slight nutty graininess (what the Italians refer to as grana), with the famous crunch that comes from the crystallization of the amino acids in the milk as the cheese ages. The older the cheese, the more grain and crunch there will be.
Flavor differences result from the length of the aging process, but also emerge from the cheese in accordance to the season it is produced. (The character of the milk varies depending on the vegetation on which the cows feed.) The spring cheese is complex and herbaceous; the fall cheese rich and full flavored; the winter cheese delicate, sweet and intensely buttery; and the summer cheese sharp and slightly acidic.
When it comes to pairings, Nancy Radke, a featured guest speaker at the 2002 Fairmont Banff Springs Festival of Wine & Food and director of the U.S. Information Office for the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano, the consortium that certifies the authenticity of this cheese, offers this advice: "A perfectly floral Parmigiano with aromas of honey and roses can be paired with honey, either wildflower, chestnut or orange. The crystalline texture of the cheese marries well with the sticky-sweet texture of the honey."
And much like the Parmigiano, honeys can offer a diversity of flavor profiles ranging from light and delicate to dark and intensely perfumed. A colony of bees can travel more than 50,000 miles and tap up to two million flowers to make one pound of honey. As a result, most honey is blended and usually called "wildflower" because no one can distinguish which nectars it contains.
It's preferable, then, to pair Parmigiano-Reggiano with honey from the same source - namely, Italy. Paul Ferrari, owner of A.G. Ferrari Foods, an 80-year-old Italian specialty food chain in Northern California, notes, "Italian bees are reputed to produce the best honey because they can reach deep down into the flower. There is a limited amount of this clean, pure honey, and the flavors change each year based on where the bees go."
Ferrari's executive chef, Gianluca Guglielmi, elaborates, "Each type of honey has its own signature flavor. Along the coast, where the eucalyptus trees grow, the honey tastes refreshing, almost like menthol. There are pale gold honeys from valleys of wild acacia; a thick, mild, creamy honeysuckle honey; and sweet thyme honey from Sicily that tastes of lemon and vanilla."
Whereas most of the honey sold commercially in the United States has been flash-heated and filtered for extended shelf life, compromising character and flavor, Ferrari and Guglielmi source more optimal alternatives. Separately, they travel to Italy almost every month to scout out new products - Ferrari looks for retail items while Guglielmi searches for the country's artigiani, small artisan producers. One such discovery is the honey of Daniele Devalle and his wife, Maria Luisa Ballauri, who harvest, filter, package and sell the final product themselves. Ferrari found them by spotting some hives near the village of Dogliani in Piedmont, and then following the bees, a detour that proved providential. "The Devalles produce a burnished liquid, slightly bitter Miele di Castagno made from chestnut nectar that, when served with Parmigiano-Reggiano, is a marvel of rich and compatible flavors," Guglielmi enthuses.
Likewise, Ihsan Gurdal, a native of Turkey and proprietor of Boston's premier food shop, Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, goes abroad a few times a year - to northern Italy, the Pyrenees, the French Alps, everywhere there are artisans handcrafting foods. His goal is to find sources for handmade cheeses and their pairing partners, and his parameters are simple: that they taste the way they should with flavors they are meant to have, made without preservatives or mass production.
In addition to cheese, Formaggio Kitchen has long been known for its specially selected inventory of companion delicacies, including six different mostardas (a sweet-and-sour condiment made of various fruits from Italy's Lombardy region); agrumia (orange rind); and senapata (mustard seeds and quince paste). Gurdal takes pride in his gastronome's cache, which features bitter chestnut honey from Corsica, rich Milanese strawberry honey and delicate macchia honey. The latter is from the village of Cara di Tirreni near Salerno where nectars are gathered from the flowering macchia, the fragrant underbrush that covers the cliffs along the Mediterranean. "I have cheeses and honeys never seen in the United States before. It's like being in Italy," he exults. >
When you add a layer of sweetness to this cheese, the wine pairing becomes more complex, but Tuscany's finest after-dinner drink, Vin Santo, makes an ideal foil.
To combat honey intolerance and to further enhance the sensation of being abroad, factor in noci, or walnuts, to the Parmigiano-Reggiano-plus equation. This savory nut, which in Italy is harvested primarily in the foothills of the Apennines in the area between Sassuolo and Formigine in Emilia-Romagna, is tailor-made for the wine aficionado. Linda and Fred Griffith, authors of Nuts, report that Bacchus, god of wine, turned one of his lovers into the first walnut tree. And just as cabernet sauvignon rules the wine world, the walnut is considered the king of nuts. Indeed its Latin name - juglans regia - which translates roughly to "royal acorn," implies it all.
For mythical intents and purposes, walnuts are credited with many powers: They make women fertile, cure rabies and prevent seizures. In the secular world, rich in omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids, they reduce the incidence of heart attacks and coronary heart disease. Happily, they also partner beautifully with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Radke says, "Meaty, toasted walnuts confirm the nutty flavor in the cheese." That validation can be the basis for many savory recipes, including Parmigiano! cookbook author Pamela Sheldon Johns's chicken breasts crusted with coarsely chopped walnuts and finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
The rich, oily textures of walnuts have an equivalent synergy with honey, which Gene Opton, author of the classic compendium Honey, writes "is so complex in nature that it invites people to examine it as they do wine." Her recipe for walnut-honey bread is a superb base for cookbook author Annabel Langbein's version of frico, shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano studded with walnuts and baked until lacy and crisp.
In general, Parmigiano-Reggiano is truly one of the world's most wine-friendly cheeses, matching up with everything from Prosecco to well-fruited Barberas and Dolcettos. >
Gorgonzola o Figs o Pignoli
The Gorgonzola of Lombardy is among the greatest blue cheeses in the world. During the 12th century, it was made and aged in rocky caves in Gorgonzola, a small town near Milan. Originally, its veining occurred naturally (via mold that lurked on the walls of the caves). Today cheeses are injected with mold-producing bacteria to speed the process along. Happily, this modern twist has had little detectable adverse affect on the quality of the cheese.
In flavor, Gorgonzola can range from strongly pungent and salty to quite mild and buttery. Variations result from age and storage conditions. "Gorgonzola dolce is a young, creamy, unpressed, sweet, lightly washed cheese with hints of blue," Gurdal explains. "It's an easy-going cheese that pairs wonderfully with stone fruits, pears, figs, olives or pine nuts." Gorgonzola dolce has the potential to become aged Gorgonzola naturale (also called piccante) with a thicker, drier rind, a whiter interior and bluer streaks, and a sharper, spicier taste.
Its degree of age also determines the best wine match. With sweeter versions, especially when paired with ripe fruit, try a spumante from Asti. Its light, refreshing sweetness will complement that quality in the cheese and the fruit sugars, and add a palate cleansing benefit to boot. The more piccante and Stilton-like the cheese, the more the match should lean toward an extracted, almost raisiny red like those found in the Veneto. Look for Amarones or Valpolicellas that are marked Recioto.
However, the rules may change a bit if you cook the cheese. "Cooking or melting Gorgonzola breaks down the lactic acid, which makes it milder and sweeter," Rhonda Carano, an avid cook and co-proprietor of California's Ferrari-Carano, observes.
Perhaps that's why heated Gorgonzola works so well with foods that have a higher sugar content, a complement that John Besh, executive chef of Restaurant August in New Orleans, showcases. "The accompaniments [to Gorgonzola] are often sweet: Fruit, marmalade, honey and quince paste come to mind. I love Gorgonzola with grilled figs. The figs are marinated in honey-lavender vinaigrette before grilling and that adds a different dimension."
Scott Conant, executive chef-co-owner of L'Impero in Manhattan, and a fervent advocate of Old World culinary traditions, pairs Gorgonzola with something sweet and perhaps lightly stewed or chewy such as figs or marmalade. "Each combination has its own breath," he says. "Some strong cheeses make your tongue itch, but the creaminess of the Gorgonzola makes it more palatable."
All figs go uncommonly well with cheese, but in general only three varieties are available: Black Mission, which are purple, deeply sweet and rich; Calimyrna, which are amber-colored and honey-flavored; and Kadota, which are green and fragrant, with a light, sweet flavor. For a savory-sweet dessert, bake a fig cake, such as the one profiled in Langbein's Savour Italy, and serve it with Gorgonzola dolce. With the Gorgonzola naturale, however, dried figs are often preferred to fresh because of their concentrated flavor.
Buttery, soft pignoli, or pine nuts, subtly counter the graininess of figs and the bite of the cheese, and add a touch of mystique to the trilogy. The pale yellow kernels possess a delicate, slightly oily flavor. They are best known for their role in pesto, but on their own they add dimension and crunch to any dish, especially when toasted. When baked, they impart character and richness to cakes and cookies.
Included in ancient Mediterranean diets because of an implied aphrodisiacal property, European pine nuts were cultivated by the Romans, and remnants of them were found among the ruins of Pompeii.
Today pine nuts are a relative rarity - the tree starts producing nuts at the age of 25, but becomes commercially viable only after 75 years - and are still harvested by hand from the stone pine, Pinus Pinea,
a technique that authors Linda and Fred Griffith call "labor intensive, difficult and primitive. In the United States, collection of the native pinon is haphazard... foragers find it is simply too time-costly and time-consuming to collect them. [Plus] the crop is unpredictable," note the Griffiths.
In other words, pignoli are the Gucci handbags
of the nut world, and for that reason alone are desirable. "Pine nut lovers," write the Griffiths, "are always ready to pay whatever price the market demands" - up to $20 per pound. But the flavor and texture are the nut's selling points. And when it comes to their role in the trilogy, their ability to accessorize a pasta dish dressed with Gorgonzola sauce and capped by figs is worth the high price.
Mascarpone o Pears o Hazelnuts
Although creamy and delicious Mascarpone is not technically a cheese, it is generally referred to as such and is usually sold in the cheese section at specialty grocers. No rennet or curds are involved in its making; instead, it is made by heating cream, and adding acid such as lemon juice or vinegar, which coagulates the cream. The whole is then strained through cheesecloth. When finished, it resembles very thick sour cream in appearance, but tastes considerably sweeter. The sweetness in the cheese comes from the high lactose content, as well as the absence of sodium, which is mostly lost through the draining process.
Mascarpone has been made in Lombardy since the 16th century, but because it is highly perishable, it was not among the fare brought to the United States by the early Italian immigrants. It finally attained stardom on our domestic restaurant scene in the 1980s as the principle ingredient of tiramisu, the wildly popular dessert that combines ladyfingers soaked in espresso with mascarpone, sugar, egg yolks and cocoa powder.
There is more to Mascarpone, however, than tiramisu. Because of its high butterfat content, Mascarpone works well in all sorts of desserts and sauces. It also figures into various torte, the multilayered savory "cakes" that alternate tiers of cheese with herbs, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts.
More simply, Mascarpone is a luscious accompaniment to fresh fruit. For instance, the mellow sweetness of a velvety ripe pear is a wonderful counterpoint to its inherent creamy texture. Chef Guglielmi fondly recalls the large, delicate, thick-skinned but juicy Decana pears from Piedmont, but recommends Bosc as the best domestic pear to harmonize with Mascarpone. Homestyle Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo, in its cookbook Into the Sauce! From Our Cucina to Your Kitchen, recommends poaching Bosc pears to tenderize the texture, which makes them an even better fit with Mascarpone.
The distinctive hazelnut is a natural accompaniment to Mascarpone, adding a textural contrast. The tender and sweetly flavored nut (tonda entile della Langa), once grew in profusion in Piedmont, which produces what the Griffiths call "the largest and finest quality you can find." Today farmers, responding to the boom in Italian wines, are gradually turning the land of hazelnuts into that of vines; most of the hazelnuts consumed in the states are grown in Oregon (where they're often called filberts). Worldwide, though, Italy is the second-largest producer, behind Turkey and ahead of the United States.
The hazelnut has a strong, unmistakable presence in sweet and savory dishes and it can overpower the main ingredient if the proportion is not right. But the Griffiths, who recommend stirring hazelnut paste into a creamy mushroom soup, note, "When incorporated [judiciously], hazelnuts add an awesome depth of flavor."
Mascarpone and its accompaniments generally require a delicately sweet, light wine. Italy's sweet wines, with the exception of those from Asti, are usually quite rich. Prosecco offers a better bridge.
In short, the search for balance is good advice that applies to any of the trilogies. Too much of any one ingredient can unhinge the matches, yet when carefully poised, like three points on a triangle, each supports the other, and the ideal wine makes the whole go down beautifully.
Food Editor Carole Kotkin is a Miami-based cooking instructor and consultant who co-authored Mmmmiami - Tempting Tropical Tastes for Home Cooks Everywhere.
Frico
Adapted from: Savour Italy - A Discovery of Taste
by Annabel Langbein
courtesy of Graphic Arts Center Publishing
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- About 18 fresh walnut halves
Heat oven to 400°. Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place about 18 small, loose handfuls (about 1 tablespoon each) of grated cheese on sheets, allowing room for cheese to melt and spread. Place a walnut half in the center of each mound.
Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until cheese is lacy and golden. Lift off sheets and serve with artisan honey for dipping.
Makes 18
Walnuts with Honey & Peperoncini
Adapted from: Nuts: Sweet and Savory Recipes from Diamond of California
by Tina Salter
- 4 cups walnuts
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons walnut oil
- 1 tablespoon crushed dried red chilies
- 11/4 teaspoons salt
Preheat oven to 300. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; coat with vegetable oil spray. In a large bowl, combine honey, sugar, oil, chiles and salt. Add nuts, stirring to coat evenly.
Spread mixture in an even layer on prepared sheet. Bake, stirring once or twice, until nuts are glazed and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool. Break nuts apart, if needed.
Place nuts on a serving dish with a generous wedge of Reggiano-Parmigiano. Leftover nuts can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
Makes 4 cups
Parmigiano-Crusted Lemon Chicken
Adapted from: Parmigiano!
by Pamela Sheldon Johns
courtesy of Ten Speed Press
- 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh marjoram
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 large eggs beaten w/ 1 tablespoon milk
- Flour for dredging
- 2 teaspoons honey
Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly oil a 13x9" baking dish. Place chicken in a shallow dish and sprinkle both sides with lemon juice.
Spread the bread crumbs on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool.
In a medium bowl, combine the Parmigiano-Reggiano, walnuts, lemon zest, parsley, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, salt and pepper. Add the toasted bread crumbs and mix well.
Dip each chicken breast into the beaten egg, dredge in the flour, dip in the egg again and coat with the bread crumb mixture, pressing to coat well. Place in a single layer in the prepared baking dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until juices run clear when the breasts are pierced with a knife.
Drizzle with honey and serve at once.
Serves 4
Gnocchi with Gorgonzola, Pine Nuts & Fresh Figs
From Carole Kotkin's Kitchen
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup Mascarpone
- 6 ounces Gorgonzola
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 dozen gnocchi, either homemade or commercial brand
- 6 to 8 fresh figs, quartered
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Warm a small, dry skillet over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and stir until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
Bring the cream to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook until the quantity is reduced by one-third, 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the cheeses to the reduced cream. Heat gently. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the pine nuts.
Cook gnocchi in large pot of boiling salted water until gnocchi are tender and rise to surface, about 5 minutes.
Using slotted spoon, transfer cooked gnocchi to warm platter. Spoon sauce over gnocchi. Garnish plate with figs. Sprinkle with parsley.
Serves 6
For the Gnocchi:
- 21/4 pounds russet potatoes
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Pierce potatoes several times with fork. Microwave until tender, turning once, about 16 minutes total. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop potato flesh into bowl; discard potato skins. Mash potatoes until smooth. Mix in egg. Sift flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg over potato mixture; stir to combine. Knead gently. Divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece on work surface into 1/2"-diameter rope. Cut dough into 1-inch lengths and make grooves in each piece with fork.
Cook gnocchi in large pot of boiling salted water until gnocchi are tender and rise to surface, about 5 minutes.
Serves 6
Gorgonzola with Grilled Figs & Candied Pine Nuts
Adapted from a recipe by John Besh
of Restaurant August
- 4 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon egg white
- 2 dashes fine sea salt
- 2 dashes cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons rosemary honey
- 1 tablespoon 30-year-old sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon walnut oil
- 2 pinches coarse sea salt
- 4-5 figs, halved
- 4 ounces Gorgonzola
In a small mixing bowl, toss together pine nuts, sugar, egg white, fine sea salt and cayenne pepper. Place the pine nuts on a non-stick sheet tray and bake for 6 to 8 minutes in a 375 oven. Remove the tray from the oven and let cool.
In a small mixing bowl, using a whisk, blend together the honey, vinegar, olive oil, walnut oil and coarse salt. Toss the fresh figs with the vinaigrette and grill for 3 to 5 minutes.
Place several warm grilled fig halves on a dessert plate with a portion of Gorgonzola, sprinkle with candied pine nuts and serve.
Serves 2
Harvest Fig Cake
Adapted from: Savour Italy - A Discovery of Taste
by Annabel Langbei
courtesy of Graphic Arts Center Publishing
- 10-12 fresh figs
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons butter
- 11/2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup ground toasted pine nuts
- 8 ounces Gorgonzola dolce
Cut figs in half and sprinkle with first measure of sugar. Put aside.
Heat oven to 350 . Beat together butter and second measure of sugar until creamy. Add eggs, lemon rind and vanilla extract. Gently stir in milk, flour, baking powder and pine nuts to form a smooth batter.
Divide batter between two 8" or 9" diameter springform pans. Arrange figs, cut side up, on top. Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes; reduce heat to 325 and cook for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, or until an inserted wood skewer comes out clean.
Serve warm with a garnish of Gorgonzola dolce.
Makes 2 cakes
Cream of Hazelnut-Mushroom Soup
Adapted from: Nuts by Linda and Fred Griffith
- 1-1.4 ounces dried porcini mushrooms, thoroughly rinsed
- 2 cups boiling water
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 plump shallots, coarsely chopped
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2/3 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts, ground into a paste
- 1 cup heavy cream, plus more for garnish
- Generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- Kosher salt and white pepper to taste
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup Mascarpone
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts
- 2 tablespoons minced pears
Put porcini mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 1 hour, then remove and carefully squeeze excess liquid into the bowl. Chop mushrooms and set aside. Pour mushroom water through a coffee filter and reserve.
Melt the butter in a large, heavy saucepan. Add the shallots, creminis, porcinis and soy sauce. Cover and braise over low heat, stirring often, until the creminis are very tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover and add the reserved mushroom liquid and the stock.
Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Add the hazelnut paste and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Using a stick blender or food processor, purée the mixture thoroughly.
Stir in 1 cup heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Reheat until just hot, not boiling. Add the lemon juice and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, blend together sour cream, 1 tablespoon heavy cream and chopped nuts.
Ladle into heated soup bowls. Garnish with a dollop of nut cream and chives.
Serves 6 to 8
Poached Pears
Adapted from: Into the Sauce! From Our Cucina
to Your Kitchen, courtesy of Buca di Beppo
- 6 Bosc pears
- 3 cups cold water
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- 1 cup sugar
- Juice of 1 large lemon
- 6 ounces Mascarpone
- 1 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts
- 2 cups Honey Sauce (recipe follows)
Peel and core pears, leaving the stems intact. Place cored pears in cold water and set aside. Mix 3 cups of water, vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears. Heat syrup over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Stir in lemon juice. Drain the pears and add to the syrup.
Cook over medium heat in covered pan, turning occasionally, until the pears are tender, about 30 minutes. Cool pears in the syrup to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold.
Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and place each on a dessert plate. Spoon honey sauce over the pears; sprinkle hazelnuts over the honey. Add a generous dollop of Mascarpone.
Serves 6
For the Honey Sauce:
- 2 cups honey
- Zest of 4 lemons
- Zest of 4 oranges
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
In a saucepan, heat the honey to a simmer over low heat. Add lemon and orange zest, ground cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir well and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes 2 cups
Walnut Honey Bread
Adapted from Honey by Gene Opton, courtesy of Ten Speed Press
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup honey, mild or dark
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 11/2 cups unbleached white flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces
Butter and flour a 9x5" loaf pan. In a large saucepan, heat the milk. Add the honey and sugar, stirring until the sugar is melted and homogeneous. Cool. Mix in the butter and egg yolks. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the honey mixture and mix thoroughly. Stir in the walnuts. Pour into the pan and let stand 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325°. Bake about 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a rack to cool. Wrap well and store. It tastes better the second day. Serve with Parmigiano-Reggiano.
- CK
Cheese and Condiment sources
Zingerman's: (888) 636-8162 or www.zingermans.com
Formaggio Kitchen: (888) 212-3224 or www.formaggiokitchen.com
Artisanal Cheese Center: (877) 797-1200, (212) 239-1200 or www.artisanalcheese.com
A.G. Ferrari: (877) 878-2783 or www.agferrari.com
For more information, visit www.ilovecheese.com
