Mushroom, Parmesan Cheese, and Truffle Salad

One of the happiest coincidences of autumn in Italy is the contemporaneous appearance of white truffles and wild mushrooms. Among the best things it leads to, and easiest to prepare, is is this luxurious salad.

Fortunately, the basic salad of mushrooms and parmigiano-reggiano is so good that one needn't forego it just because truffles may not be available or are too expensive. Just skip the truffles. If you can obtain fresh porcini, the wild boletus edulis mushroom , and if they are firm and sound (not wormy), by all means use them. If you cannot, of the cultivated mushrooms, the brown-skinned variety known as cremini is the most desirable to use because its flavor more closely recalls that of porcini. But if cremini is not available either, good-quality white button mushroom are quite acceptable.

What there can be no substitute for is the parmigiano reggiano cheese and the olive oil. The latter should be a fruity extra virgin olive oil, if possible from the central Italian regions of Umbry or Tuscany. The oil absorbs flavor from the mushrooms, cheese, and the truffle, if any, and wiping the plate clean at the end with a good, crusty piece of bread may be the best part of all.

For 4 servings

1/2 pound firm, sound fresh mushrooms (see introductory note above)
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup celery cut crosswise into 1/4 -inch slices
2/3 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, shaved into flakes with a vegetable peeler or on a mandoline
OPTIONAL: a 1-ounce or larger white truffle
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (see introductory note above)
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

1. Wash the mushrooms quickly under cold running water. Do not let them soak. Pat them thoroughly dry with a cloth or paper towels. Cut them into very thin slices, about 1/8 inch thick, slicing them lengthwise so that the center slices have a part of both the stem and the cap.

2. Put the sliced mushrooms in a shallow bowl or platter and toss immediately with the lemon juice to keep them white. If you own a truffle slicer, use it to slice the optional white truffle very thin into the bowl. Otherwise, use a vegetable peeler in a light sawing motion.

3. Toss with the olive oil, salt, and peeper. Serve promptly.

Penne col Sugo di Funghi Coltivati
Penne with mushroom sauce

With ingredients available in any supermarket, this sauce elicits from cultivated champignons mushrooms some of the muskiness, the depth of flavor one might associate with rare and expensive porcini.

The mushrooms undergo two cooking stages: the first one draws away and evaporates their flavour with that of wine, anchovies, tomatoes, and parsley. An essential finishing touch is to drizzle the sauced pasta with a little raw olive oil.

For 4 to 6 persons

1 pound fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus additional for tossing the pasta
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
Salt
Black pepper in a grinder
1/3 cup dry white wine
4 flat anchovy fillets, chopped, or 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1/2 cup canned Italian peeled plum tomatoes, drained and cut up
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 pound penne (quill-shaped pasta)

1. Wash the mushrooms under cold running water and pat dry immediately with a soft kitchen towel.

2. Cut the mushrooms into the thinnest possible lengthwise slices without detaching the caps from the stems. No slice should be any broader than 1 inch; if any of the mushrooms is particularly large, cut in half or quarters before slicing

3. Choose a lidded skillet or sauté pan large enough to accommodate all the mushrooms later. Put in the butter, the 1/3 cup of oil, and the chopped onion and turn on the heat to medium high, leaving the pan uncovered.

4. When the onion becomes translucent, add the garlic.

5. When the garlic becomes colored a pale gold, add the mushrooms, salt, and a liberal grinding of pepper. Stir thoroughly and lower the heat to medium. Cook the mushrooms in the uncovered pan until all the liquid they will throw off has evaporated.

6. Add the wine. Stir thoroughly 2 or 3 times.

7. When the wine has evaporated, add the anchovies, tomatoes, and parsley. Stir thoroughly, cover the pan, cook for another 10 minutes.

8. Cook the pasta in abundant boiling salted water. Drain when it is barely tender but still firm to the bite. Transfer immediately to a warm serving bowl and toss with the mushroom sauce. Pour a little bit of olive oil in a thin stream over the pasta, toss again, and serve at once.

Costolette di Vitello alla Guido Reni
Grilled veal chops stuffed with vegetables and cheese

Guido Reni was the glory of seventeenth-century Bolognese painting, and the veal chop that borrows his name is, appropriately, one of the glories of Bolognese cooking art today. Grilled veal chops can be so good, but they can also be so dry. This recipe is a masterly solution to the problem.

The chop is divided in half to obtain two slices of meat joined at one side only, where they meet the bone. The slices are flattened to the thinness of scaloppine. It is not difficult to prepare the chops yourself, following the directions in the recipe, but if you have an accomodating butcher, he can do it for you.

Parboiled green beans, tomatoes, cheese and basil are placed between the two flaps of the chop, which are then stitched together with toothpicks.

They grill in no time, because the meat is so thin, and the fragrant, soft, moist stuffing does wonderful things for the veal. Although they are best grilled -and most of all over a charcoal or wood fire- the chops can also be sautéed in a pan with butter and vegetable oil.

For 4 persons

12 fresh, young green beans
Salt
2 fresh, ripe, firm plum tomatoes
4 veal rib chops, at least 1 inch thick
1/4 pound fontina or mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1. Trim both ends away from all the green beans and wash them in cold water. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt, and, when the water resumes boiling, drop in the green beans. Cook for just a few minutes and drain while the beans are still rather firm to the bite.

2. Skin the tomatoes with a peeler, cut them lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide slices, and remove the seeds with the tip of a paring knife. Toss them in a strainer 2 or 3 times to shake off any juice.

3. Cut the veal chops in half horizontally, stopping at the bone, obtaining from each 2 parallel slices of meat attached to 1 bone. Fold back one of the slices and pound the other one as thin as possible, moving the pounder outward from the bone. Turn the chop over, fold back the flattened slice, and pound the other one.
Take care not to pound a hole trough the meat. Repeat the operation with the other chops.

4. Divide the tomatoes and cheese into 4 equal parts. Place 1 part of each in between the 2 halves of each chop together with a basil leaf, liberal grindings of pepper, and 3 green beans. No part of the stuffing must protrude beyond the edge of the chop, so cut the green beans and trim the cheese slices to fit if necessary.

5. Seal the borders of the chops, skewering each chop with 3 round toothpicks.

6. Brush olive oil on both sides of each chop.

7. Place the chops on the hot grill. Cook for about 2 minutes on one side, sprinkle with salt, turn over, sprinkle the other side with salt, and cook for about 1 minute longer. Do not overcook because the thin slices of veal will dry out if overdone.

Ahead-of-time-note : The chops can be prepared several hours ahead of time up to the point where they are ready for grilling.

Zucchine Trifolate al Timo
Sautéed zucchini with thyme

For 4 to 6 persons

1/2 pounds fresh, young zucchini, soaked in water for 20 minutes
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup onion chopped fine
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 bouillon cube, crumbled
Salt
Black pepper in a grinder
2 teaspoons thyme

1. When the zucchini have soaked the recommended amount of time, wash them in several changes of cold water, rubbing them with your hands or with a stiff brush to dislodge all grit.

2. Trim away both ends from each zucchini and cut into sticks about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick.

3. Put the oil, butter, onion, and parsley in a sauté pan and turn on the heat to medium. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the onion wilts, but without letting it become colored.

4. Add the zucchini sticks, the crumbled bouillon cube, a pinch of salt, grindings of pepper, and thyme. Stir well and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the youth and freshness of the zucchini, until they are tender. Serve at once or even lukewarm.

Torta di Carote
Carrot Cake

The outstanding features of this butterless, flourless carot cake are its consistency -firm, but not leaden, satisfyingly chewy, yet moist; and its flavor -nutty, aromatic, and fresh.

6 to 8 portions

9 ounces shelled, unpeeled almonds
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
9 ounces carrots, peeled and cut up into
1-inch pieces
1/4 pound ladyfingers, made crisp in a 325° oven for 20 minutes
1 teaspoon cream of tartar (sold by drugstores as potassium bitartrate) mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda, or 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon Amaretto liqueur
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, separated
A 10-inch springform pan
1 tablespoon butter for greasing the pan
Whipped cream topping made with 1 cup heavy cream and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)

1. Turn on the oven to 350°

2. Put the almonds and sugar in a food processor or blender and chop very fine. Transfer to a mixing bowl large enough to accommodate later all the other ingredients.

3. Chop the carrots as fine as possible in the processor or blender and add to the bowl, mixing them with the almonds.

4. Break up the ladyfingers into small pieces and chop them in the processor or blender until very fine , then mix with the other ingredients in the bowl.

5. Add the cream of tartar and bicarbonate mixture or the baking powder together with the liqueur and the salt and mix thoroughly.

6. Mix the egg yolks with the other ingredients in the bowl.

7. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Take 1 or 2 tablespoons of beaten egg white and mix it into the cake batter in the bowl to soften it a bit. Then fold in the remaining egg whites gently.

8. Grease the bottom of the springform pan with butter and pour in the batter, leveling it without pressing it. (Note: if you are not using a springform pan, line the cake pan with buttered wax paper before pouring in the batter. This will make it easier to remove the cake when baked.)

9. Place the pan in the uppermost level of the preheated oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Begin checking for doneness after 50 minutes by inserting a knife in the cake. When the blade comes out dry, the cake is done.

10. When the cake is lukewarm, remove it from the pan. serve at room temperature, with whipped cream, if desired. If it is not consumed the same day, wrap the cake, when completely cooled, in aluminum foil. It will keep up to a week, without refrigeration.