Writing especially for italy magazine, award-winning Italian chef, tv personality and restaurateur Aldo Zilli shares some recipes to warm the cockles of your heart.
February is the month for two big celebrations in Italy, one is for the love birds – St Valentine’s – and the other is carnevale. This is a big celebration time all over the country and every region has a different traditional dish or dessert, mine was always ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and served with tomato and basil. The masks and floats are amazing, especially if you happen to be in Venice where they really go to town! My recommended recipe is also very good this time of the year. So buon appetito and I hope you recreate it for your loved one on Valentine’s day or for your friends on Martedì Grasso.
Gnocchi with Wild Boar
As a kid this was the first recipe I learned with my mom and is still nowadays my favourite. Gnocchi is a very versatile way of using potatoes and you can pretty much use any pasta sauce to go with it. Coming from Abruzzo, a region in Italy where wild boar was a staple food because of the mountains and the National Park, the wild pigs were easy targets for the hunters. It is quite a bit more expensive than normal pork but worth every penny as the flavour makes up for it.
Ingredients for the Gnocchi (serves four people)
Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 40 minutes
*) 1kg large floury potatoes such as King Edward’s
*) salt to taste
*) 2 egg yolks
*) 200g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
*) 1 litre water, chicken stock, for poaching
Cook the unpeeled potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water for 30 minutes until soft. Drain and allow to cool slightly for you to handle. Peel the potatoes and mash or press through a potato ricer into a bowl. Season with salt then beat in the egg yolks and flour into the potatoes, a little at a time. This will form a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
Tip out onto a well floured board, then roll the dough into long sausages about 1cm thick, cut into sections about 2cm long. Place each piece on a fork and press down with your thumb and roll onto board, leaving grooves on one side of the gnocchi.
In a large pan, bring the water or stock to the boil and add gnocchi, about 40 at a time and cook until they rise to the surface. Then cook for another 50-60 seconds; remove with a slotted spoon to a large bowl, keep warm while cooking the remaining gnocchi. Repeat this procedure until all the gnocchi are done.
Ingredients for the Wild Boar Ragù (serves four people)
Preparation time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour
*) 1tsp olive oil
*) 500g diced wild boar
*) 1 onion, chopped
*) 1 clove garlic, crushed
*) 4tbsps good red Italian wine
*) 2 jars tomato passata
*) salt and freshly ground black pepper
*) flat leaf parsley and freshly grated parmesan for topping
Heat the oil in a saucepan then add the boar, onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until browned. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and then add the passata.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 50 minutes on low heat until the meat is tender. Add seasoning to taste. Mix with gnocchi and serve immediately.
Serve topped with chopped parsley and grated parmesan.
