Cucina DiBella

Calciuni del Molise - Chestnut Fritters

If you read my last post, then you know that I was lucky enough to get my hands on a family recipe from Molise via an acquaintance of my mom.  To my delight, I was also given a recipe for pizzelle, but unfortunately wasn't able to make them since I don't have a pizzelle iron.  So, that post will have to wait till i get my hands on one.  In the meantime, I found this delicious recipe from Molise for Calciuni, or Chestnut Fritters.  You can also find this dessert under the names Calcioni, Caggionetti, and several others.  They are made in a fashion quite similar to the calzones from earlier in the week, and are almost like a dessert ravioli.  Stuffed with a mixture made primarily from chestnuts, almonds, and honey, these fritters are amazing.  I sprinkled mine with some powdered sugar and cinnamon to finish them off. Note: the original recipe gave me very dry dough, so I had to increase the amount of water that I used, which is reflected in the recipe below. This recipe is also often made with candied citron, which I left out.

 

Calciuni del Molise

Adapted from Italian Regional Cookingby Ada Boni, published 1969, Dutton (New York)

-Makes 15 fritters-

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white wine

1/4 pound chestnuts

1 1/2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted

1 1/4 teaspoons semi-sweet chocolate

2 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoon Amaretto liquor

1 pinch cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Oil for frying

Powdered sugar for garnish

Cinnamon for garnish

Process:

1. Put the flour in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and add the egg yolks, water, wine, and olive oil.  Mix the components slowly until a dough has formed.  Once the dough is formed, put it on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.  Cover the dough and set aside.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Carefully, using a paring knife make an X on one side of each chestnut.  This will help you remove the skin later.  Add the chestnuts and let boil for about 10 minutes.  Drain the chestnuts and using a parking knife, remove the shell and then the skin from the chestnuts.
3. In a food processor, chop the toasted almonds until finely ground.  Add the chestnuts and continue to grind until no large pieces remain.
4. Put the ground chestnuts and almonds in a bowl. Grind the chocolate in the food processor until no large pieces remain.  Add to the chestnuts and almonds.  Add the honey, Amaretto, cinnamon, and vanilla to the nut/chocolate mixture.  Stir well. 
5. Roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick.  Using a 3-4 inch circle cookie cutter (using the open end of a drinking glass works as well), cut out circles from the dough.  You should be able to get 15 rounds.
6. Place about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon (depending on the size of your rounds) in the center of each circle.  Fold one end over and pinch tightly around the edges to close.  Make sure that you seal it fully and that you don't over-fill the rounds, or the filling will escape when frying.
7. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan.  Fry the calciuni a few at a time until golden brown on each side (takes a couple minutes).  Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain.
8. Arrange on a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Ryan's rating of Calciuni del Molise - 4.5

Stuffed Peppers

For this recipe, I got unbelievably lucky.  My mom happens to know someone whose family is actually from the Molise region.  I was thrilled to have someone who could suggest some traditional dishes from the region.  However, they took it a step further and actually provided me with some of their family's recipes!  This recipe for Stuffed Peppers is one that the Villani family enjoys as part of the seven fishes dinner held on Christmas Eve.  Personally, I'm not sure I'd be able to last a whole year between servings! Simple, as many Italian dishes are, the quality of ingredients speaks for itself.  There is really no need to experiment and add anything to this dish, but I made some exactly as the recipe dictated, and for the rest I added a little freshly grated parmigiano reggiano to the top.  Both were excellent.  Though you can't really tell from my pictures, the stuffing is full of flavor from the garlic, anchovies and parsley. 

Thanks so much to Tarie and Robert Villani for sharing their family recipe with me. I hope I did it justice!

 

Stuffed Peppers

Recipe from Helen Villani courtesy of Tarie and Robert Villani

Ingredients:

6 medium green bell peppers

5 cups bread cubes (use day old bread)

3-4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1 can anchovies, chopped

extra virgin olive oil

Optional: Fresh grated parmigiano reggiano

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash the peppers. Cut a hole around the stem. Remove the stem and seeds.  Use a spoon to scoop out the ribs. 
3. In a bowl, combine the bread, parsley, garlic, and anchovies.  Mix together.  Sprinkle with olive oil and toss to coat; do not saturate the bread with oil.
4. Put 1/4 to 1/2 cup of olive oil in a baking pan.  Lay the peppers on their sides in the pan.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally to cook evenly.
5. Optional: Add some fresh Parmigiano Reggiano at the end of the cooking time and allow it to melt over the pepper.

Ryan's rating of Stuffed Peppers - 4.5.  Delicious!

Chicken and Sausage Skewers

Aside from lamb, one of the common food items in Molise is rabbit.  From what I hear, or read online at least, rabbit is delicious.  One of the traditional ways to serve it is on skewers with sausage.  Spiedini di Coniglio in Italian, these skewers are a breeze to throw together.  Plus, kebabs or skewers of any kind are always a fun way to present food!

Personally, I wasn't quite sure my palate was up to eating rabbit, and I also didn't have time to find a butcher who sells it near me.  So, instead I used chicken, which my research told me is a good substitute for most rabbit recipes.  Since I already know that chicken and prosciutto go well together, I decided to give it a try.  The original recipe did say to use salt on the chicken before wrapping it in the prosciutto, but given the saltiness of the prosciutto itself, I left this out. I thought it was delicious with no sauce, but just the delicate taste of the olive oil drizzled on top.  Delicious!

Chicken and Sausage Skewers

Adapted from Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking by Micol Negrin, 2002

-Makes 6 Skewers-

Ingredients:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

4 pieces prosciutto

1/2 pound hot Italian sausage, or 2 links

12 bay leaves

Olive Oil

Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut the chicken into pieces (You want about 12 pieces for 6 skewers).  I cut mine into short strips, but you could cut them into chunks as well.
3. Wrap the chicken with some prosciutto. 
4. Cut the sausage into 12 pieces.
5. Assemble the skewers by alternating pieces of chicken, sausage, and bay leaves.  Use 2 of each item on each skewer. 
6. Put the skewers on a baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil.
7. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the chicken and sausage are cooked through. 

Ryan's rating of Chicken and Sausage Skewers - 5.

Isernian Calzones

Ok, people. Break out the maps of Italy that I know you all keep on hand. Today we're moving on to the region of Molise. Molise is the second smallest region in Italy, and is located directly south of Abruzzo on the Adriatic coast.  Until 1963, Molise was actually part of the Abruzzo region, and so in many people's minds the two regions are still linked.  However, while many of the food characteristics in Molise are similar to that of Abruzzo, such as the abundance of lamb, Molise has plenty of recipes all its own.

The antipasto dish that I made from Molise has a slightly hazy moniker.  I most frequently found them to be referred to as Isernian Calzones, or Calzoni d'Isernia after the town of Isernia in Molise.  However, calzones really are a pizza folded in half and baked, while these are much smaller (hence why they make such a good antipasto) and are fried.  I also found a similar recipe that referred to these as ricotta stuffed ravioli. But, they are definitely bigger than ravioli, use a dough that is more bread than pasta, and are fried rather than boiled. I tried making my own name, but Triangle Shaped Fried Cheese and Pancetta Stuffed Dough just didn't do it for me. So for simplicity's sake, we'll stick with Isernian Calzones. I stuffed mine with ricotta, mozzarella, and pancetta and ate them with a little bit of marinara sauce.  You could easily change around the ingredients though and instead use scamorza or provolone or thick sliced prosciutto.  If you really want to get crazy, you could change things up altogether and stuff them with things like mozzarella, roasted red peppers and chicken, or broccoli and cheese.

I have to give a warning here.  This recipe was one of the more time-consuming ones.  It took me about 2 hours from start to finish, but I was also taking my sweet time doing it.  The dough is very firm, and without a pasta machine, takes awhile to roll out.  The good news is that once you've tackled this dough you've gotten your arm workout in for the day. Aside from the lengthy process of rolling out the dough, I'm also Type-A to the extreme, so I actually got out a ruler to make sure each square that I cut out from the dough was perfect.  Plus, I fried them one at a time in a small pot to use less oil. Ok, so it's not a time-consuming recipe, I'm just really slow at cooking. If someone tries this, I'd be interested to see how long it takes a normal person.

Isernian Calzones

Adapted from Mario Batali

-Makes 12 Calzones-

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

1/4-1/2 cup water

4 ounces pancetta

8 ounces ricotta

2 egg yolks

1 cup mozzarella, grated or diced into small cubes

1 teaspoon parsley

pinch of salt 

pinch of pepper

oil for frying

Process:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.  Add the eggs and slowly incorporate until a dough forms.  The dough will be very firm, and you will likely need to add some water to incorporate all of the flour.  Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water slowly until the flour is incorporated. Don't add too much water or the dough will become sticky. 
2. Once the dough is formed, knead for about 5 minutes.
3. Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut the dough into squares that are 4 inches by 4 inches. You should be able to get about 12 squares.
4. Cook the pancetta in a skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes until well browned. 
5. Combine the ricotta, egg yolks, mozzarella, pancetta, parsley, salt and pepper together in a large bowl.
6. Place some of the filling in the center of each square of dough.  Fold the dough over to form a triangle.  Use the tines of a fork to pinch together the seams of the dough.  Be careful not to over-stuff the dough, or the filling will come out during frying.
7. Fill a heavy-bottomed pot with about 3 inches of oil.  Heat oil to about 350 degrees. Once the oil is hot, drop the calzones in (1 at a time if using a smaller pot, or just a few at a time using a larger pot).
8. Remove the calzones when they have gotten a golden brown color on both sides using a slotted spoon.  Let them drain on a paper towel.
9. Serve warm with marinara sauce.

Ryan's rating of Isernian Calzones - 4.5.