Carbonara con prosciutto di San Daniele e formaggio Grana Padano
Carbonara with Prosciutto di San Daniele and Grana Padano Cheese
Serves 6
20ml olive oil
350g Prosciutto di San Daniele, sliced
100ml white wine
500g dried pasta, such as bucatini or penne
5 eggs
6g black peppercorns, crushed in pestle and mortar or coarsely ground in a mill
100g Grana Padano Cheese, freshly grated
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and, when hot, add the sliced Prosciutto di San Daniele and fry until crispy. Add the wine and reduce for a couple of minutes. Set aside.
Now put the pasta into the boiling water and cook until al dente. Beat the eggs and black pepper together. Drain the cooked pasta in a colander, return it to the pan off the heat and add the beaten egg, Prosciutto di San Daniele, and 80g of the Grana Padano Cheese; stir well to combine. Serve in warm plates with some Grana Padano Cheese scattered over the top and 1 slice of Prosciutto di San Daniele.
For the crispy Grana Padano Cheese Basket (Makes 1 Basket):
50g Grana Padano Cheese, grated
20cm oven paperPreheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5. Spread a 2 centimetre thick layer of grated cheese on oven paper. Bake for 6 minutes. After taking it out, allow it to rest until it stops bubbling. Then shape it around the bottom of an upside down bowl and allow it to cool.
Risotto al radicchio con prosciutto di San Daniele e formaggio Grana Padano
Radicchio and red wine risotto with Grana Padano Cheese and crispy Prosciutto di San Daniele
If you cannot find radicchio try chicory (also known as endive)
Serves 6
1 banana shallot or half a medium red onion
150g butter (125g at start, 25g at end)
50ml olive oil
1 radicchio (150g), finely shredded, or, if you cannot find this, try chicory (also known as endive)
50ml sunflower oil
200g carnaroli rice
100ml red wine
50g Grana Padano Cheese, finely grated
150g Prosciutto di San Daniele, cubed
2 litre of vegetable or chicken stock
Drizzle of good aged balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Fry shredded Prosciutto di San Daniele in the sunflower oil until crispy and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.
In a large frying pan, melt the butter and oil together over a medium heat and fry the onion until soft with the thyme. Add the radicchio and cubed Prosciutto di San Daniele, and continue to fry for a few minutes more. Remove the thyme. Add the rice and ‘toast” it for a few minutes, stirring it into the onion and radicchio, and let it crackle for a couple of minutes before adding the wine. Allow the alcohol to burn off for three minutes before adding the first couple of ladlefuls of stock. Continue stirring over a medium to hot heat adding more ladlefuls of stock when you see the bottom of the pan appearing.
When the rice grains start to become translucent with a small white patch in the centre of the grains you are near to finishing (usually around 18 to 20 minutes). Now taste the risotto and add the salt and pepper as necessary. When the rice grains have the merest hint of crunch in the centre stop adding the stock and remove the risotto from the heat. You may choose to leave your risotto fairly soupy as the rice will continue to absorb the liquid over the next few minutes. Stir in the cheese and remaining butter and serve in a bowl drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and topped with two slices of Prosciutto di San Daniele.
Penne al forno con prosciutto di San Daniele e formaggio Grana Padano
Baked penne with Prosciutto di San Daniele and Grana Padano Cheese
Serves 6/8
1 quantity of Classic tomato sauce (see recipe below)
1 quantity of béchamel (see recipe below)
350g grated Grana Padano Cheese
200g Prosciutto di San Daniele, cubed
500g dry penne pasta
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
Mix 300g of the grated Grana Padano Cheese with the béchamel. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente, drain and combine with the béchamel and cheese mixture, then add the Prosciutto di San Daniele and mix well.
In a baking dish, put a layer of the pasta mixture then a layer of tomato sauce. Repeat this, finishing with a layer of pasta on the top. Sprinkle the remaining grated Grana Padano Cheese over the top and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.
Classic tomato sauce:
6 – 8 tablespoons olive oil
½ red onion large or 1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 x 400g cans chopped tomato
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Approx 125ml vegetable stock/water, optional
Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the onion over a medium heat for 5-7 minutes until golden. Add the garlic cloves and cook for about 1 minute, taking care not to burn the garlic. Add the salt and pepper.
Add the tomatoes, and bash them with a wooden spoon to break them up a bit (they will break down during cooking).
Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. The sauce should be thick and not watery. So allow it to reduce. This will concentrate the flavours. If it tastes a bit too tangy add a little vegetable stock or hot water and simmer a bit longer, allowing the tomatoes to cook thoroughly. Adjust the seasoning to taste before serving.
Béchamel:
Make 1 litre
1 litre of milk
1 small onion, peeled and cut in half
1 bay leaf
A good pinch each of nutmeg,
Salt and black pepper
100g butter
70g plain flour
Put the milk, onion, bay leaves, nutmeg, salt and black pepper into a medium saucepan over the heat and bring to a gentle boil.
Meanwhile, make a roux: melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook the butter and flour for a few minutes over a medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove the bay leaves and onion from the milk, then add the roux, whisking furiously. Cook until it thickens. Adjust the seasoning to taste and remove from the heat. Cover the surface of the béchamel with cling-film or a circle of dampened baking parchment to stop a skin forming.
Tip: if, when you come to use the béchamel, you find it too thick add a little milk to thin out. Reheating also helps.
Foglie di verza ripiene con prosciutto di San Daniele e
formaggio Grana Padano
Braised savoy cabbage leaves stuffed with Prosciutto di San Daniele and Grana Padano Cheese
By Giancarlo Caldesi
There are a huge variety of fillings that can be used for this recipe. Think of using up yesterday’s risotto or ragu and cooked rice, or diced porcini mushrooms with rice.
Serves 4
1 savoy cabbage
400g tomato sauce (see recipe below)
For the stuffing
250g ricotta
50g Grana Padano Cheese, finely grated
100g Prosciutto di San Daniele (sliced & cubed)
Half a teaspoon of nutmeg
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cut the base off the cabbage and carefully separate the leaves discarding the first three tough dark green ones. Drop in around ten leaves and boil for around five minutes until softened in the middle part of the stem. Remove the leaves with tongs and put into iced water to stop the cooking. This will help to keep the bright green colour too. After a couple of minutes remove from the water and lay to drip-dry onto a tea towel.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Meanwhile mix the cubed Prosciutto di San Daniele and other ingredients together for the stuffing. Cut a triangle out of the bottom of each cabbage leaf and make little slits with a sharp knife along the thickest part of the backbone of each leaf. Put a tablespoonful of stuffing in each leaf and start by folding in the outside leaves in and then fold over the stem end. Roll up with the thinnest part of the top of the leaf on the outside. If any leaves break, double wrap them using another leaf. Continue until the stuffing is used up.
Pour a layer of tomato sauce onto the bottom of a lasagne dish. Put the cabbage rolls in a single layer in a lasagne dish and pour over the rest of the tomato sauce. Scatter over the remaining Grana Padano Cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until the cabbage leaves are cooked through and the cheese is golden brown.
For the tomato sauce
4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
800g (two standard tins) tinned tomatoes
Soften the onion and garlic with a generous pinch of salt and a good twist of black pepper in the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat for around ten minutes. Add the tomatoes and wash the cans out with 100ml of water. Add this to the pan. Simmer the tomatoes for around 20 minutes, mashing them with a potato masher to break them up. Adjust the seasoning as necessary and remove from the heat.