The Canadian Press
Lidia Bastianich hopes her new book, “Lidia’s Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine,” will help dispel apprehensions some people may have about cooking.
“Just the fact of relaxing in the kitchen and give yourself the confidence that you can do something. You can boil pasta, you can scramble an egg, you can steam some vegetables. You begin that and then you build on that.
“The kitchen is a lot of common sense, the experience of being there. Follow that instinct. If you think it’s right chances are that it is right and it’s right for you because cooking, like our lives, is a collection of memories ‚Äî what did we do with Grandma, with Mom, with whatever along the way? So let those memories, those sentiments, play into it.”
Another myth Bastianich likes to banish is that food is complicated: simple is best.
“The one thing that’s essential is that you pay attention to the primary ingredients, that they are the best, that they are seasonal, and then half of the, if you will, cooking battle is won.”
Here are two easy recipes from her collection of more than 400 in the new book to try at home.
ORECCHIETTE WITH CLAMS AND ZUCCHINI (Orecchiette con Vongole e Zucchine)
Orecchiette is a small ear-shaped pasta. If you can have some zucchini blossoms, chop them coarsely and add along with the scallions.
5 ml (1 tsp) kosher salt, plus more for the pot
50 ml (1/4 cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 medium zucchini, cut into 5-mm (1/4-inch) thick half-moons (about 500 g/1 lb)
1 ml (1/4 tsp) crushed red pepper flakes
125 ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
24 littleneck clams, scrubbed
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and chopped (about 250 ml/1 cup)
500 g (1 lb) orecchiette
125 ml (1/2 cup) chopped fresh Italian parsley
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil. When oil is hot, add garlic. Cook until garlic is light golden, about 2 minutes. Add zucchini and season with salt and red pepper flakes. Cook until zucchini just begins to wilt, about 4 minutes.
Add white wine and bring to a simmer. Add clams and scallions, stir and cover pot. Begin cooking pasta in boiling water. Cook clams until they all open, 5 to 6 minutes, discarding any that do not open. Uncover, and increase heat to high to reduce and concentrate sauce while pasta finishes cooking.
When sauce is ready and pasta is al dente, remove pasta with a spider and transfer directly to sauce. Add parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Toss to coat pasta in sauce, adding a splash of pasta water if it seems dry. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 servings.
CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT CAKE (Torta Gianduia)
Guests will no doubt view slices of this rich cake as the highlight of a meal.
125 ml (1/2 cup/1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking pan
All-purpose flour, for baking pan
125 g (4 oz) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
175 ml (3/4 cup) skinned hazelnuts, lightly toasted
6 large eggs, separated
30 ml (2 tbsp) sugar
1 jar (13-oz) chocolate-hazelnut spread, such as Nutella, room temperature
Pinch kosher salt
15 ml (1 tbsp) brandy
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F). Butter and flour a 23-cm (9-inch) springform pan.
Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Let it cool slightly. In a food processor, grind hazelnuts until fine but not pasty.
In a mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites until foamy. Add sugar and beat until whites form stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. In a clean bowl, with the paddle attachment, beat butter and chocolate-hazelnut spread until light, about 2 minutes. Add yolks, salt and brandy, and mix until smooth. Add melted chocolate and ground hazelnuts, and mix until smooth. Remove bowl from mixer.
Stir about a quarter of the egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it, and then gently fold in remaining egg whites. Don’t overmix. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake until a tester comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
Let cake cool for about 10 minutes, then open spring and remove side ring. Let cake cool thoroughly before serving. Slide a broad metal spatula, or two, under cake to separate it from metal pan bottom, then lift and set cake on a serving plate.
Makes 8 servings.
Source: “Lidia’s Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Great Italian Cook” by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich with Tanya Bastianich Manuali (Appetite by Random House, 2015).
