Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy

I'm part Italian and love to cook Italian food. It is a cuisine I grew up with and feel very comfortable cooking. Lidia Matticchio Bastianich's newest cookbook, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy : a feast of 175 regional recipes, which accompanies a PBS series, is a comfortable cookbook. When I flip through the cookbook I hear Bastianich's voice, providing instruction and encouragement. This is not, however, a cookbook for novice cooks. You do not need to know how to cook Italian food but being comfortable in the kitchen is helpful.



Bastianich goes through Italy region by region with photographs and a little travelogue on each region, as well as notes on regional dishes and plenty of recipes. Within each region the dishes are arranged in a traditional cookbook manner with appetizers and soups coming first, followed by sides and main dishes and perhaps ending with a few desserts. It varies by region, not surprisingly.



It is a good cookbook to just read, and enjoy the photographs but the recipes are enticing too. Each recipe has a head note which can provide useful tips for recipe success or just background on the dish. I love the recommended equipment note that follows the ingredients list -- it lets you know at a glance whether you have the right equipment (or the equivalent) without having to hunt through the instructions. There are also various notes throughout the book which provide extra directions or background.



The rice dishes of Lombardy seduced me -- at first it was the Baked Rice Frittata, but it took too long for a recent Sunday lunch so instead I made the Rice Lombardy-Style, which is rice with cheese and egg. It was quick, easy, very tasty and well received by my family. This recipe, and many others of Bastianich's rice dishes, uses a no-stir rissotto technique. I found that I had to cook the rice longer than the time listed in the recipe, but by following her directions on how to cook rice, it worked out just fine. It seems rather like a rice carbonara (without bacon). The recipe is at the end of this post.



There are some surprising flavor combinations such as a tomato sauce with apple and baked apples with chocolate (which does not appeal to me, despite being a definite chocoholic). Some dishes require special ingredients such as octopus, farro pasta or pane carasau but a list of sources is included. There are many recipes for making your own pasta from all over Italy. Some, but not all, require pasta-rolling machines. Bastianich recommends Scrippelle, a kind of crepe, from Le Marche as a good place to start if you not sure about making your own fresh pasta. As I flip through the book I find many recipes, which I stop and think, ooh, that sounds good but the ones that most interest me are Fregola (from Sardinia) and the Meatless Pecorino Meatballs (from Arbruzzo).



Rice Lomabrdy-Style (Riso alla Lombarda)

Serves 6 or more as first course or side dish



5 1/2 cups hot water or light stock, more may be needed

1 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 cups Arborio rice

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano recommended)

5 oz Gorgonzola, crumble into small pieces (optional0



recommended equipment: a heavy saucepan, such as enameled cast iron, 10 inches wide, 3-to-4 quart capacity, with a cover



Put the water or stock, the butter and the salt in a saucepan, set over high heat, and bring to the boil. Stir in the rice, and bring back to the boil.



Cover the pan, and lower the heat so the water is bubbling gently. Cook for about 14 minutes, until rice is al dente with a creamy consistency like risotto, so you can easily stir in the egg yolks. Adjust the consistency if needed (see note below).



While the riso cooks beat together the yolks and olive oil in a small bowl with a fork, then mix 1/2 cup of grated cheese, to form a paste.



When the rice is fully cooked, remove from the heat. Scrape in the egg and cheese paste, and stir vigorously until thoroughly amalgamated. Stir in the remaining grated cheese and the crumbled Gorgonzola, if you like, reserving some of the the crumbles for a garnish.



Spoon the riso into warm pasta bowls and serve immediately



from A perfect pot of rice note (p. 41)

"... when your rice has cooked the suggested amount of time, remove the lid, give the rice a stir and take a bite. If the rice is perfectly chewy and creamy, turn off the heat and incorporate the finishing ingredients. If it is almost al dente or just a bit loose, cook a couple more minutes, covered.



But if the rice seems dry -- especially if the grains are also undercooked -- stir in 1/2 cup hot water or stock, or more if necessary to loosen the rice, and cook, covered, over low heat for several more minutes, then taste again.



On the other hand, if the riso seems soupy -- and the rice grains are almost fully cooked -- you want to evaporate excess liquid quickly by keeping the lid off, raising the heat, and cooking the rice, stirring constantly, until it thickens."



My notes:

1. I used a whole egg instead of 2 egg yolks as I didn't feel like having leftover egg whites.

2. I cooked the rice almost twice as long as the recipe said, but I had some old Arborio rice.

3. I did not use Gorgonzola but I think it would be wonderful.