Italian tagged posts

Dazzle your dinner guests with my delicious, and definitely festive, Chestnut Stuffed Veal Marsala. The sweet vanilla notes from the chestnuts in the stuffing marry beautifully with the added hint of vanilla in the Marsala wine sauce (which is a breeze to make).

Chestnut Stuffed Veal Marsala with Crisp Sage Leaves

Serves 4 (6 veal rolls – 1 ½ rolls per person)

The stuffing can be made ahead and freezes well. However, if you are making the stuffing on the same day you are serving the veal, treat your guests to crisp sage leaves – a great way to use up the rest of the sage.

Crisp Sage Leaves (optional garnish)

Be sure to set aside 8 sage leaves to use in the stuffing, before you fry up the remaining leaves. Fry just before you prepare the veal, then set aside at room temperature.

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil
1 bunch fresh sage, large stems discarded, leaves dried thoroughly (save 8 sage leaves to use in stuffing)
Sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. In a small sauté pan over medium heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Carefully add leaves to pan, one at a time to make a single layer (you will have to fry leaves in at least two batches); fry for 5 to 7 seconds – leaves will crisp up as they cool; immediately remove leaves from pan with a slotted metal spatula to a paper towel-lined plate.
2. Repeat with remaining leaves. Season with sea salt. Serve at room temperature.

Chestnut Stuffing

This stuffing can be made a day ahead or even frozen for up to 2 weeks; defrost completely, in the refrigerator overnight, before stuffing veal. Look for peeled, ready-to-eat chestnuts in packages in the produce or international section of your local grocery store. Here is a link to the brand I’ve been using, which is available at Loblaws and Longo’s: www.dan-d-pak.com/products/chestnuts-2/

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
8 sage leaves, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 package (100g) peeled, ready to eat chestnuts
⅓ cup panko bread crumbs – whole wheat or white
½ teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat; add onion and celery and sauté, stirring frequently, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add sage and garlic; sauté, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat.
2. Finely chop chestnuts in small food processor; add to onion mixture in pan. Add bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Stir well then remove to medium-sized bowl.
3. Let cool before stuffing veal. Stuffing can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator overnight or frozen up to 2 weeks. Defrost thoroughly in refrigerator overnight and bring to room temperature before stuffing veal.

Veal:

If you’ve made the stuffing ahead, all that is left to do is to stuff, roll, and cook the veal and sauce –which should be done just before serving. Give yourself enough time to roll the veal. It’s easy to do if you are not panicked. I don’t fuss with string (but feel free if you like); and toothpicks would prevent the rolls from being properly seared. To keep the rolls from opening, roll the veal up tightly, tucking the sides in while rolling and pulling the end snug around the roll; then be sure to sear seam side down first and handle gently with tongs. If your veal is long and narrow and you cannot tuck the sides in as you roll, don’t fret; if you handle the veal rolls gently, an insignificant amount of stuffing may fall out into the pan while searing – just be sure to scrape it out when you drain the fat out of the pan.

This recipe calls for dry (not sweet) Marsala, which is a fortified wine. Sperone Fine I.P. Dry Marsala from Italy (available at LCBO) works well in this recipe and is nice to sip on. Campbell’s has added a No Salt Added broth to their line of ready-made, tetra pack chicken and beef broths. Be sure to use it or homemade chicken stock for this recipe; reducing the sauce intensifies its saltiness; low sodium and regular ready-made broths are too salty. The amount of Marsala and broth will seem like a lot but the sauce reduces down to ⅔ cup, which is just enough.

Ingredients:

6 veal scaloppini, ¼” thick and ideally wider rather than long and narrow
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil (you can use the same oil you cooked the sage in)
1 tablespoon butter

Sauce:
2 cups dry Marsala wine (not sweet)
1 cup no salt added chicken broth or homemade broth
½ teaspoon vanilla

Final Touches:
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, optional

Directions:

1. Season one side of veal with salt and pepper. Place about 3 tablespoons of stuffing in the centre of the one scaloppini; spread out evenly to within ¼” of edges; roll up tightly, tucking sides in as you roll if you can, and pulling end snugly around roll. Repeat with remaining rolls. Dredge rolls lightly in flour.
2. Heat oil and butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the foaming butter begins to settle down, shake off excess flour and place veal rolls in skillet seam side down and sear just until golden brown, about 30 seconds; using tongs carefully flip to the other side and sear until golden about 30 seconds more; repeat with remaining 2 sides. Remove veal to a plate; cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Carefully drain fat from pan. Return pan to medium heat; add sauce ingredients; adjust heat to a low simmer. Return veal to pan; cover and simmer gently until cooked through, about 6 minutes, turning gently with tongs every 2 minutes. Leave sauce in pan but remove veal to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
4. Increase heat to medium high, bring sauce to a boil; boil rapidly, stirring frequently, until reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes; skim out any bits with skimmer. Remove from heat and stir in final touches. Return veal to pan briefly, just to roll in sauce to evenly coat and to warm through.
5. Place 1 veal roll on each dinner plate; carefully slice the remaining two rolls diagonally in half; place ½ roll on each dinner plate. Strain sauce and pour into a small (1 cup) pitcher to serve on the side. Serve immediately with Crisp Sage Leaf garnish and instruct guests to drizzle sauce over veal.

Pane Fresco is an Italian bakery and café in downtown Burlington, owned and operated by artisanal baker Marc Albanese and his wife, Felicia. It’s my sister’s favourite local spot for breakfast or lunch. She took my dad to Pane Fresco recently. After he told me that the Slow Braised Beef Brisket Panini was the best sandwich he has ever had, I knew I had to check it out.

So, I treated my sister to a birthday lunch at Pane Fresco. It was a little early for her birthday but because the Toronto International Film Festival was in full swing, I thought perhaps we might spot George Clooney amongst the baguettes. A girl can dream! During the 2009 TIFF, Pane Fresco was asked to prepare lunch for George Clooney to eat on his jet trip back to Los Angeles.

Pane Fresco’s spacious outdoor patio offers a pretty view of Lake Ontario at the end of Locust Street. The interior of Pane Fresco is tiny but charming. Its black and white tiled floor and dark wood paneling reminds my sister and me of the little French bistros or breakfast cafés we love to frequent when we’re in Montreal. There is additional seating in the lobby of the adjoining office tower (though not quite as charming).

And here is my lovely and charming sister.

While ordering at the cash, you will be enticed by the myriad of pleasures that Pane Fresco has to offer: the aroma of fresh bread baking in the oven or the daily special (such as weekday Daily Quiche, Slow Roasted Prime Rib on Saturdays, or Chicken Parmigiana on Wednesdays). Freshly baked pizza in a variety of irresistible flavours is carried out of the oven on wood paddles and laid out beside you. Biscotti and baked treats line the counter. The chalkboard menu is full of temptations.

Pane Fresco offers traditional favourites, as well as a variety of interesting artisanal breads, such as 9-Grain Loaf, Guinness Beer Sour Dough Rye and Fig, Raisin & Walnut Filone. Dough is made from preservative-free, natural ingredients, shaped and molded by hand using old world techniques, and then baked in a European oven, right in front of you.

My sister’s favourite sandwich is the Francese: a generous sandwich of shaved Virginia ham piled high on rustic baguette, spread with Dijon mustard and mayonnaise, and topped with brie cheese and baby greens.

I ordered the Slow Braised Beef Brisket Panini that my father raved about. The chef’s focus on flavour and quality ingredients makes the Slow Braised Beef Brisket a showstopper. Chewy, rustic baguette with a pleasing mouth-feel is loaded with thinly shaved, tender beef moistened with a flavourful jus and then topped with crispy onions, brie cheese, horseradish aioli, and baby greens.  It’s definitely the most delectable shaved beef sandwich I have ever had!

It looked so good when it was delivered to my table that I rushed to take the photos, anxious to take the first bite – and I blew the photos. So here is a cell-phone photo I took of a second Slow Braised Beef Brisket Panini that, on another day, I ordered to-go for my son and his monster-sized after-school appetite. What I may be lacking in photography skills, I make up for in the mom department. Ah, but think of the hungry boys we left drooling in our dust at the kiss’n’ride. Sorry guys!

But I digress, back to the birthday lunch. My sister and I also shared the seasonally available Panzanella Salad. Beautiful heirloom tomatoes (red, yellow, and green) were perfectly ripe, sweet, and juicy. Light and crunchy garlic parmesan croutons, crisp cucumbers, red onion, and baby arugula were dressed in a well-balanced vinaigrette. It is a sparkling salad.

Mr. Albanese’s artisanal-bread-making talent shines through again in his pizzas. Varieties range from traditional to innovative. In the Brie and Prosciutto pizza, the salty prosciutto plays against the sweetness of the fig jam, caramelized onions, and light balsamic glaze. Baby arugula adds a punch of pepper. Just a touch of mozzarella and brie cheese keeps things light so that the crust can play the lead role: a crunchy outer layer, sprinkled lightly with a touch of sea salt, sets the stage for the chewy, flavourful interior.

Breakfast is served seven days a week. Oh, wouldn’t I love to spread out a newspaper, sip an Italian coffee, and enjoy a leisurely breakfast of two fresh eggs, extra-thick maple bacon, roasted asparagus, chef’s home fries, toasted baguette, and a fresh fruit garnish that is plated up when you order The Classic. Pain Perdu is the breakfast special on Saturdays. Belgian Waffles with mixed berries, real whipped cream and maple syrup are served on Sundays.

It’s the perfect spot for a quiet breakfast on your own or a nice lunch with someone you care about. I think I may need to celebrate my sister’s birthday more often, say once a month? George, olive ya’ but it’s Pane Fresco’s star-quality Italian home cooking that will keep me coming back for more.

www.pane-fresco.ca

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