I was invited back this week to Casa Barilla in Annandale, the place
where you can learn how to cook fantastic authentic Italian pasta dishes
and watch the masters at work. I love coming to Casa Barilla as it is
such a relaxed and friendly experience. Not only will you meet lots of
like-minded strangers who all share a passion of fresh, healthy Italian
food, you will also always learn something new which will help refine
your own cooking techniques.
This week I attended the Chef’s Series Master Class, hosted by
Mantecato’s young Head Chef Giulio Bertone. Balmain based Mantecato
restaurant is a top address when it comes to risotto, so if you love
this creamy Italian rice dish I urge you to pay this place a visit soon,
as the Casa Barilla guests were all raving to me about the delicious
risotto dishes you can enjoy here. Mantecato, by the way, means the
vigorous whisking-in of butter at the end of the risotto cooking
process, what a lovely name.
Casa Barilla Master Classes always follow the same program: After a
welcome aperitivo of Aperol and some antipasti you find your seat in
front of the open show kitchen. The Head Chef of the night will
introduce himself and will explain which two dishes will be cooked on
the night. Then both dishes will be prepared in front of the audience
with the assistance of Barilla’s very own Andrea Tranchero, with a big
TV screen broadcasting what is going on on the kitchen bench, so that
every guest will be able to follow what’s going on in the kitchen.
After each demonstration guests can enjoy the dishes themselves,
accompanied by matching Italian wines. This gives you plenty of time to
discover all the subtle nuances of the flavours and you can have a
lively chat with the other guests while dining.
Bertone cooks a starter of Eggplant Parmigiana, a beautifully fresh
and zesty composition of eggplants, tomato sauce and yummy mozzarella
cheese, which is a great pasta-free dish and hence gluten-free. It also a
wonderful vegetarian alternative to a traditional lasagna. The
Parmigiana is a traditional recipe from the city of Parma,
coincidentally also the home town of Barilla, over time refined in
kitchens world-wide to now also contain mozzarella cheese. You really
should try this simple yet delicious recipe at home, and if you don’t
like eggplant try zucchini instead.
You will need:
1kg eggplants
1/2 red onion
some basil leaves
100 g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
75 g Barilla Pesto Genovese
300g mozzarella
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar
2 jars Barilla Basilico Sauce
200ml oil to fry
- To prepare, slice the eggplant lengthways and sprinkle with coarse salt. This will help remove some of the water of the eggplant and take off some of the bitter taste. Leave to rest for 1 hour.
- Remove the salt by rinsing the eggplant slices and dry off carefully with paper kitchen towels until entirely dry.
- Heat oil in a deep pan to 170 degrees (if you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, use a wooden stick – when bubbles start building around the stick the oil will be ready), and fry the eggplant on both sides until soft.
- For the sauce, fry some chopped onions in some olive oil and add the basil and the Barilla sauce. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.
- Slice the mozzarella.
- Layer the dish just like a lasagna in an oven-proof square dish: first the oil, then the sauce, followed by a layer of eggplant, then mozzarella and some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Keep repeating until you have 3-4 layers.
- Cook in the oven at 180 degrees for around 30-35mins.
The main dish is a rich and creamy affair, a risoni dish alla
Milanese with Occobuco. The risoni are available from Barilla, tiny
grain-like durum wheat pasta that can be used in soups, but can also
prepared similar to risotto. Since Mantecano is a risotto restaurant we
are treated to a risoni risotto, so to speak, a creamy dish that simply
melts in your mouth. You may want to use risotto rice as an alternative
for more texture and bite, it’s up to you, but the risoni work really
well in this version too.
A word about risotti – did you know that you don’t necessarily have
to slave over the pot for 40 mins, stirring the rice continuously? The
trick is to not stir the risotto at all. Once you do stir it you are
trapped, as you break up the rice grains and this will make them sticky.
Instead, just give the pot a shake from time to time and the risotto
will turn out just fine.
So for this Risoni alla Milanese with Ossobuco you will need the following:
4 Veal Ossobuco (veal ossobuco is smaller than beef ossobuco and obviously a bit more subtle in flavour)
1/3 white onion
1/2 carrot
1 garlic clove
Thyme, sage, rosemary
50ml white wine
0.6g saffron
350g risoni pasta by Barilla
1/2 white onion to toast the risoni pasta
salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil to taste
30g butter
60g parmesan cheese
500ml vegetable stock (approx.)
- In a pot lightly fry the crushed garlic in some olive oil, add the ossobuco and sear on both sides.
- Add the herbs and veggies (cut into large pieces) to the pan with the meat and soften, season with salt and pepper.
- Add the white wine and let the alcohol evaporate.
- Then add the stock to almost cover the ingredients in the pot. Cover with a lid, reduce to a simmer and slow-cook the dish for around 1.5hr. Make sure the stock does not entirely evaporate.
- At the end of the cooking time, remove the ossobuco and plate it up. Remove the garlic and blend the rest of the vegetables to make a sauce.
- For the risoni, lightly fry the chopped onion with some oil, add the pasta and stir-fry everything for a couple of minutes.
- Set the timer to 11 minutes, add the stock and the saffron, just a bit of stock at a time, not everything at once. Ensure that the dish doesn’t dry out.
- Once the time is up, mantecare (if you don’t remember what that means, re-read the post!) the risoni with butter and parmesan cheese.
- Plate up the risoni, place the ossobuco on top of the pasta and pour over some of the sauce. Finish off with some parmesan cheese.
Once again a wonderful night out, complete with new recipes and a Barilla goodie bag. Thank you for the invitation!
If you would like to check out the latest Barilla Cooking School and Master Class Program, have a look at the official website here: http://www.barilla.net.au/casabarilla/casabarilla.htm
To taste some of the fantastic risotto dishes and more, prepared by Head Chef Giulio Bertone, visit Mantecato Risotteria Italiana, Shop 129/85 Reynolds St, Balmain. http://www.mantecato.com.au
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