Gremolata (or gremolada) is a simple Italian garnish made of minced parsley, lemon zest and garlic.
Typically, gremolata is served alongside (or on top of) osso buco, but it can also be eaten with fish, chicken, steak or stirred into a pot of fresh fettuccine or soup. Parsley can be replaced with mint or cilantro and orange zest may be substituted for lemon.
Scampi is the Italian word for a prawn. It is also the name of an Italian-American dish called shrimp scampi that makes regular appearances on American restaurant menus and refers to broiled butterflied shrimp that have been brushed with garlic butter or oil (and sometimes a splash of white wine). American shrimp scampi is served over pasta or with bread to sop up the juices.
The Brits make their own typically health-unconscious version of scampi -- battered, deep-fried shelled tail meat that is eaten with tartar sauce.
what you should know
The general makeup of any fresh sausage is ground meat and fat plus seasonings ("not too much of this and just enough of that," as the Joy of Cooking prescribes.)
The basic formula for what we Americans call "Italian sausage" is ground pork + salt/pepper + fennel or anise seed.
hot or sweet From there, Italian sausage diverges into two camps -- hot and sweet. The sweet isn't really (though some do add sugar to the mix), but the hot can be plenty hot depending on how many red pepper flakes you use.
comi ti chiami? Asking for "Italian sausage" in Italy will no doubt solicit this response: "Which one?"
take 2 anise & call me in the AM The Romans used anise as a medicinal herb for digestion -- important if you're eating more than a couple sausages.
play it loose The casing is an integral part of sausage. But you can also make or buy the mixture loose if you're cooking a casserole or sauce for which you have to break up the meat anyway.
my hero Italian sausage is the foundation for many sandwiches, such as this Pittsburgh classic. (Go Steelers!)
what you need
Move beyond just Italian sausage with Home Sausage Making: How-To Techniques for Making and Enjoying 100 Sausages at Home.
For home sausage making, pull out your stand mixer and the meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachments.
While the weather's still cooperating, take your sausages on a picnic and fire them up on a portable grill.
what you do
For a classic sausage sandwich, top the meat with peppers onions, and a dollop of mustard dressing.
Rich and hearty, this sausage, spinach and cheese lasagna is great for potlucks.
Packing for a picnic? You can make a batch of sausage, portobello, and barley pilaf the night before.
For a quick weeknight dinner, try whole wheat penne with Italian sausage, cauliflower and rosemary.
A crispy pita pizza is strong enough to hold up to hefty toppings like sausage, peppers, and carrots.
As the evenings start to cool off, dig in to a white bean soup with sausage and escarole.
This week's Root Source Challenge featured recipe is a Soprano's-inspired dish of Roasted Sausages, Peppers, Potatoes and Onions. Congratulations to Nikki of Nik Snacks!
The Roma tomato, also called the Italian plum, has an elongated oval, egg or pear shape and comes in red or yellow varieties. Smaller Romas may be called "baby Romas." The Roma is a disease-resistant tomato that makes it widely available and popular with home gardeners. At Cookhink, we lump Roma tomatoes in with all "plum tomatoes." (Find some recipes here.)
With few seeds and firm, dense, meaty flesh, Romas have less water content and more pulp than other varieties. This means they break down nicely into tomato sauce and are good candidates for canning, sun- or oven-drying and making tomato paste. Sliced Roma tomato rounds work well as a pizza topping, because they hold their shape and their minimal seeds won't make the pie soggy.
Recipe: Quick Roasted Tomatoes With Basil And Goat Cheese (Kalyn's Kitchen)
Recipe: Gazpacho With Roasted Tomatoes And Peppers (FatFree Vegan Kitchen)
I love the smooth mildness of cooked garlic. This is a quick way to get that while boiling your pasta.
When the salted water comes to a boil and the pasta is tossed in, also toss in any number of unpeeled garlic cloves. If the pasta being used cooks more quickly (like fresh pasta), add the cloves to the boiling water about 2 minutes before adding the pasta. If the pasta -- such as ziti -- takes longer to cook, wait until about 7 minutes of cooking time are left and then add the garlic.
When the pasta is al dente -- after 6 to 9 minutes -- drain it. To peel the cooked garlic, hold the papery tip of the garlic peel in one hand and use a wooden spoon to press downward, towards the root end of the clove. The clove should just pop it out.
Reference: What does al dente mean? (Cookthink)
Reference: What's the point of putting oil in my pasta water? (Cookthink)
Porchetta is a cute Italian word for a stuffed and roasted suckling pig dish that is originally from Lazio but can be found in Italian neighborhoods in the U.S., where it is often called Italian pulled pork.
Traditionally, porchetta is made by deboning a little milk-fed piglet, dousing it in an incredible amount of salt, and stuffing it with its own liver, plus tons of garlic, rosemary, fennel seeds, and other herbs depending on the cook. It is then rolled up and slowly roasted whole (head on for traditionalists) over a wood fire. The meat is then sliced thinly (or pulled) and served cold on unsalted bread.
Porchetta is a rustic dish that you're likely to find at an Italian farmers market, village festival or big group celebration. But you can also make itwith smaller cuts of pork like the shoulder.
Recipe: Pork Shoulder Stuffed With Rosemary, Anise And Garlic (Cookthink)
Reference: What is Boston butt? (Cookthink)
Cioppino is an Italian-American fish stew. The dish is said to have been invented by Italian immigrants from Genoa in San Francisco in the late 19th century.
Based on popular Italian and French seafood stews, cioppino was traditionally made with the catch of the day. This includes white fish and shellfish like mussels, clams and shrimp simmered with white (or red) wine, garlic and tomatoes. Shellfish are left unshelled for extra flavor.
Restaurants catering to tourists on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco often serve cioppino with a bib.
So-called Italian sausage is a style of plump, uncured pork sausage that comes in hot and sweet varieties -- essentially, with or without hot red peppers.
Sold in links and flavor-enhanced with garlic and fennel and/or anise seeds, it can be cooked like any old sausage and is especially popular in sausage-based pasta sauces or eaten in a sandwich with fried onions and bell peppers.
Go to Italy and ask for "Italian sausage," and you will receive either a blank stare or a multitude of options; what we think of as Italian sausage is a generic label specific to the U.S.
Recipe: Pappardelle With Sausage And Yellow Squash (Cookthink)
Recipe: White Bean Soup With Spicy Sausage (Cook & Eat)
Reference: What is chorizo? (Cookthink)
"Al dente" means "to the tooth" in Italian. (Like "terroir", it's one of those concepts that poorly translates into English.) The phrase refers to the desired texture of cooked pasta, which should be soft but still slightly firm at the core of the noodle (or shell or spiral or alphabet letter). Some cooks define "al dente" as "not hard and not soft."
Pasta cooked "al dente" should require some chewing but not crunch or stick to the teeth when chewed. The firm texture should allow you to taste some of the pasta's flavor. Overcooked pasta tends to be mushy and flavorless.
So how do you know when your pasta is "al dente"? In my house growing up, we threw a strand of spaghetti at the wall -- as soon as it sticks, it's done. The problem with that test is that overcooked pasta sticks to the wall, too. So now I just use my teeth: Before I think it's ready, I draw a piece of pasta from the pot, let it cool a few seconds and take a bite. If it's ready, my mouth knows.
Related: What's the point of putting oil in my pasta water?
Related: How to cook garlic for pasta
Strata is a bread pudding-like layered comfort food casserole made with eggs, cheese and stale cubed bread (or sometimes hash browns).
The strata is assembled ahead of time by layering ingredients in a casserole dish and chilling overnight or for 8 hours before bringing it back up to room temperature and baking. A popular one-dish brunch dish, strata can also be made as a side dish. To the basic recipe, you can add infinite combinations of vegetables, fish or meat. Strata is eaten warm.
Pasta alla Puttanesca is an Italian pasta dish invented in the 1960s that was named after the whores of Naples. Whether its racy name is a result of its hot, spicy taste, pungent aroma or the fact that it was a cheap dish that working girls could down between customers is anyone's guess.
Pasta the way a whore -- not your mama -- would make it includes ingredients such as garlic, olive oil, hot dried peperoncino peppers, anchovies, tomatoes, capers and smashed up olives. The dish is garnished with parsley. Sugo alla puttanesca is usually served over spaghetti, but is a willing partner for pasta of any shape or size.
Calzones are easy to prepare at home. While having a pizza or bread stone certainly helps to make a crisp crust, you can bake calzones on a heavy sheet pan with great results.
Start with the best pizza dough you can find, or make some yourself.
Using approximately 6 ounces of dough per calzone results in a good shape and serving size; since the vast majority of pizza shops use 12-ounce balls of dough per pizza, it's also an easy weight to find. Making your own dough can be rewarding, but it's simpler to buy some from a local pizza place or market for a few dollars.
Flatten out the half-ball of dough into a rough oval. It's more important that the dough be stretched to an even thickness than be a uniform shape, since you are going to fold it over and crimp the edges to seal it.
Start your calzones off with a base layer of cheese; fresh ricotta is shown here. The cheese makes a good bed for the rest of the ingredients.
Distribute the calzone fillings of your choice evenly over the cheese, avoiding the urge to overstuff. The calzone will puff up during baking and a large mound of ingredients could cause the dough to split and break. Make sure to leave an appropriate border around the edge for crimping -- about 1 1/2-inches of untopped dough.
Fold, pull and gently stretch the top of the dough oval to cover the ingredients. Lightly press the edges together and prepare to crimp. A few dabs of water may help if your dough feels dry to the touch.
Start to crimp from one edge, gently rolling the dough over your finger and pressing in firmly. The dough will adhere to itself and create a decorative finish as you crimp around the edge.
Not only does the finished edge look nice, but it's firmly closed around the filling and will keep the calzone together as it rises and bakes.
Cutting a series of small vents into the top of the calzone will let steam from the filling to escape, preventing an explosion in your preheated 500F oven.
A light sprinkling of coarse cornmeal helps prevent the calzone from sticking to the pizza peel and baking stone as well as lending a slight crunch to the crust. If you do not have a baking stone, a preheated baking sheet covered with parchment paper works well to create a nice crust on calzones and pizzas.
Wait a few minutes for your baked calzones to cool down and serve with a side of tomato sauce if you'd like.
