Delicious Italian Dishes by Mrs. W. G. Water - HTML preview

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Italian Vegetables Dishes

No. 1. Asparagi alla salsa Suprema (Asparagus)

Ingredients: Asparagus, butter, nutmeg, salt, supreme sauce

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gravy, lemon, Parmesan.

Cut some asparagus into pieces about an inch long and cook them in

boiling water with salt, then drain and put them into a saute pan

with one and a half ounce of melted butter and sautez for a few

minutes, but first add salt, a pinch of nutmeg, and a dust of

grated cheese. Pour a little supreme sauce over them, and at the

last add a little gravy, one ounce of fresh butter, and a squeeze

of lemon juice.

No. 2. Cavoli di Bruxelles alla Savoiarda (Brussels Sprouts)

Ingredients: Brussels sprouts, butter, pepper, stock, Bechamel

sauce, Parmesan, croutons.

Take off the outside leaves of half a pound of Brussels sprouts,

wash and boil them in salted water. Let them get cool, drain, and

put them in a pie-dish with two ounces of fresh butter, a quarter

pint of very good stock, a little pepper, and a dust of grated

Parmesan. When they are well glazed over, pour off the sauce,

season with three tablespoonsful of boiling Bechamel sauce,

and serve with croutons fried in butter.

No. 3. Barbabietola alla Parmigiana (Beetroot)

Ingredients: Beetroot, white sauce, Parmesan, Cheddar.

Boil a beetroot till it is quite tender, peel it, cut into slices,

put it in a fireproof dish, and cover it with a thick white sauce.

Strew a little grated Parmesan and Cheddar over it. Put it in the

oven for a few minutes, and serve very hot in the dish.

No. 4. Fave alla Savoiarda (Beans)

Ingredients: Beans, stock, a bunch of herbs, Bechamel sauce.

Boil one pound of broad beans in salt and water, skin and cook them

in a saucepan with a quarter pint of reduced stock and a hunch of

herbs. Drain them, take out the herbs, and season with two glasses

of Bechamel sauce.

No. 5. Verze alla Capuccina (Cabbage)

Ingredients: Cabbage or greens, anchovies, salt, butter, parsley,

gravy, Parmesan.

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Boil two cabbages in a good deal of water, and cut them into

quarters. Fry two anchovies slightly in butter and chopped

parsley, add the cabbages, and at the last three tablespoonsful of

good gravy, two tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan, salt and pepper,

and when cooked, serve.

No. 6. Cavoli fiodi alla Lionese (Cauliflower)

Ingredients: Cauliflower, butter, onions, parsley, lemon,

Espagnole sauce.

Blanch a cauliflower and boil it, but not too much. Cut up a small

onion, fry it slightly in butter and chopped parsley, and when it

is well coloured, add the cauliflower and finish cooking it, then

take it out, put it in a dish, pour a good Espagnole sauce

over it, and add a squeeze of lemon juice.

No. 7. Cavoli fiodi fritti (Cauliflower)

Ingredients: Cauliflower or broccoli, gravy, lemon, salt, eggs,

butter.

Break up a broccoli or cauliflower into little bunches, blanch

them, and put them on the fire in a saucepan with good gravy for a

few minutes, then marinate them with lemon juice and salt, let them

get cold, egg them over, and fry in butter.

No. 8. Cauliflower alla Parmigiana

Ingredients: Cauliflower, butter, Parmesan, Cheddar, Espagnole,

stock.

Boil a cauliflower in salted water, then sautez it in butter, but

be careful not to cook it too much. Take it off the fire and strew

grated Parmesan and Cheddar over it then put in a fireproof dish

and add a good spoonful of stock and one of Espagnole, and

put it in the oven for ten minutes.

No. 9. Cavoli Fiori Ripieni

Ingredients: Cauliflower, butter, stock, forcemeat of fowl,

tongue, truffles, mushrooms, parsley, Espagnole, eggs.

Break up a cauliflower into separate little bunches, blanch them,

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and put them in butter, and a quarter pint of reduced stock. Make

a forcemeat of fowl, add bits of tongue, truffles, mushrooms, and

parsley, all cut up small and mixed with butter. With this mask

the pieces of cauliflower, egg and breadcrumb them, fry like

croquettes, and serve with a good Espagnole sauce.

No. 10. Sedani alla Parmigiana (Celery)

Ingredients: Celery, stock, ham, salt, pepper, Cheddar, Parmesan,

butter, gravy.

Cut all the green off a head of celery, trim the rest. Cut it into

pieces about four inches long, blanch and braize them in good

stock, ham, salt, and pepper. When cooked, drain and arrange them

on a dish, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and Cheddar, and add one

and a half ounce of butter, then put them in the oven till they

have taken a good colour, pour a little good gravy over them and

serve.

No. 11. Sedani fritti all'Italiana (Celery)

Ingredients: Same as No. 163, eggs, bread crumbs, tomatoes.

Prepare a head of celery as above, and cut it up into equal pieces.

Blanch and braize as above, and when cold egg and breadcrumb and

sautez in butter. Serve with tomato sauce.

No. 12. Cetriuoli alla Parmigiana (Cucumber)

Ingredients: Cucumber, butter, cheese, gravy, salt, cayenne.

Cut a cucumber into slices about half an inch thick, boil for five

minutes in salted water, drain in a sieve, and fry slightly in

melted butter, then strew a little grated Parmesan over it, and add

a good thick gravy, put it into the oven for ten minutes to brown,

and serve as hot as possible.

No. 13. Cetriuoli alla Borghese (Cucumber)

Ingredients: Cucumber, cream, salt, Bechamel sauce, butter,

Parmesan, cayenne pepper.

Cook a cucumber as in No. 165, braize it for five minutes, add to

it a good rich Bechamel, mixed with cream and grated

Parmesan Spread this well over the cucumber, and put it into the

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oven for ten minutes keeping the rounds of cucumber separate, so as

to arrange them in a circle on a very hot dish. Care should be

taken not to cook the cucumber too long, or it will break in pieces

and spoil the look of the dish.

No. 14. Carote al sughillo (Carrots)

Ingredients: Carrots, stock, butter, sausage, pepper.

Boil some young carrots in stock, slice them up, and put them in a

stewpan with a sausage cut up; cook for quarter of an hour on a

slow fire, then stir up the fire, and when the carrots and sausage

are a good colour add a good Espagnole sauce, and serve.

No. 15. Carote e piselli alla panna (Carrots and Peas)

Ingredients: Young carrots, peas, cream, salt.

Half cook equal quantities of peas and young carrots (the carrots

should be cut in dice, and will require a little longer cooking),

then put them together in a stewpan with three or four

tablespoonsful of cream, and cook till quite tender. Serve hot.

No. 16. Verze alla Certosine (Cabbage)

Ingredients: Cabbage, butter, salt, leeks or shallots, sardines,

cheese.

Any vegetable may be cooked in the following simple manner: Boil

them well, then slightly fry a little bit of leek or shallot and a

sardine in butter; drain the vegetables, put them in the butter,

and cook gently so that they may absorb all the flavour, and at the

last add a dust of grated cheese and a tiny pinch of spice.

No. 17. Lattughe al sugo (Lettuce)

Ingredients: Lettuce, Parmesan, bacon, stock, butter, croutons of

bread, gravy.

Take off the outside leaves of a lettuce, blanch and drain them

well. Put on each leaf a mixture of grated Parmesan, salt, little

bits of chopped bacon or ham, add a little good stock, cover over

with buttered paper, and cook in a hot oven for five minutes. Then

drain off the stock and roll up each leaf with the bacon, &c., put

them on croutons of fried bread and pour some good thick gravy over

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them.

No. 18 Lattughe farcite alla Genovese (Lettuce)

Ingredients: Lettuce, forcemeat of fowl or veal, ham, Espagnole

sauce.

Prepare a lettuce as above, and spread on each leaf a spoonful of

forcemeat of fowl or veal, add a little cooked ham chopped up, roll

up the leaves, and cook as above. Drain them on a cloth, arrange

them neatly on a dish, and pour some good Espagnole sauce

over them.

No. 19. Funghi cappelle infarcite (Stuffed Mushrooms)

Ingredients: Mushrooms, bread, stock, garlic, parsley, salt,

Parmesan, butter, eggs, cream.

Choose a dozen good fresh mushrooms, take off the stalks and put

the tops into a saucepan with a little butter. See that they lie

bottom upwards. Then cut up and mix together half the stalks of

the mushrooms, a little bread crumb soaked in gravy, the merest

scrap of garlic and a little chopped parsley. Put this into a

separate saucepan and add to it two eggs, half a gill of cream,

salt, and two tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan. Mix well so as to

get a smooth paste and fill in the cavities of the mushrooms with

it. Then add a little more butter, strew some bread crumbs over

each mushroom, and cook in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes.

No. 20. Verdure miste (Macedoine of Vegetables)

Ingredients: Cauliflower, carrots, celery, spinach, butter, cream,

pepper, Parmesan.

Boil some carrots, cauliflower, spinach, and celery (all cut up) in

water. Then put them in layers in a buttered china mould, and

between each layer add a little cream, pepper, and a little grated

Parmesan and Cheddar. Fill the mould in this manner, and put it in

the oven for half an hour, so that the vegetables may cook without

adhering to the mould. Turn out and serve.

No. 21. Patate alla crema (Potatoes in cream)

Ingredients: Potatoes, butter, Parmesan, white stock, cream,

pepper, salt.

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Boil two pounds of potatoes in salted water for a quarter of an

hour, peel and cut them into slices about the size of a penny, then

arrange them in layers in a very deep fireproof dish (with a lid),

and on each layer pour a little melted butter, a little good white

stock and a dust of grated Parmesan. Reduce a pint and a half of

cream to half its quantity, add a little pepper, and pour it over

the potatoes. Put the dish in the oven for twenty minutes. Serve

as hot as possible.

No. 22. Cestelline di patate alla giardiniera (Potatoes)

Ingredients: Potatoes, white stock, salt, butter, peas, asparagus,

sprouts, beans, &c.

Choose some big sound potatoes, cut them in half and scoop out a

little of the centre so as to form a cavity, blanch them in salted

water and cook for a quarter of an hour in good white stock and a

little butter. Then fill in the cavities with a macedoine of

cooked vegetables and add a little cream to each.

No. 23. Patate al Pomidoro (Potatoes with Tomato Sauce)

Ingredients: Potatoes, butter, salt, tomatoes, lemon, stock.

Peel three or four raw potatoes, cut them in slices about the size

of a five-shilling piece, then put them into a stewpan with two

ounces of melted butter, and cook them gently until they are a good

colour, add salt, drain off the butter, then glaze them by adding

half a glass of good stock. Arrange them on a dish, pour some good

tomato sauce over them, and add a little butter and a squeeze of

lemon juice.

No. 24. Spinaci alla Milanese (Spinach)

Ingredients: Spinach, butter, Velute sauce, salt, pepper, flour,

stock.

Wash three pounds of spinach at least six times, boil it in a pint

of water, then mince it up very fine, pass it through a hair-sieve,

and put it in a saucepan with one and a half ounces of butter, add

a cupful of reduced Velute sauce with cream, salt, and

pepper, add a dessert-spoonful of flour and butter mixed, and boil

until the spinach is firm enough to make into a shape, garnish with

hardboiled eggs cut into quarters, and pour a good Espagnole sauce

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round the dish.

No. 25. Insalata di patate (Potato salad)

Ingredients: New potatoes, oil, white vinegar, onions, parsley,

tarragon, chervil, celery, cream, salt, pepper, tarragon vinegar,

watercress, cucumber, truffles.

Steam as many new potatoes as you require until they are well

cooked, let them get cold, cut them into slices and pour three

teaspoonsful of salad oil and one of white vinegar over them. Then

rub a salad bowl with onion, put in a layer of the potato slices,

and sprinkle with chopped parsley, tarragon, chervil, and celery,

then another layer of potatoes until you have used all the

potatoes; cover them with whipped cream seasoned with salt, pepper,

and a little tarragon vinegar, and garnish the top with watercress,

a few thin slices of truffle cooked in white wine, and some slices

of cooked cucumber.

No. 26. Insalata alla Navarino (Salad)

Ingredients: Peas, bean onions, potatoes, tarragon, chives,

parsley, tomatoes, anchovies, oil, vinegar, ham.

Mix a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of chopped

onion, a teaspoonful of tarragon and chopped chives with half a

gill of oil and half a gill of vinegar. Put this into a salad bowl

with all sorts of cooked vegetables: peas, haricot beans, small

onions, and potatoes cut up, and mix them w ell but gently, so as

not to break the vegetables. Then add two or three anchovies in

oil, and on the top place three or four ripe tomatoes cut in

slices. A little cooked smoked ham cut in dice added to this

salad is a great improvement.

No. 27. Insalata di pomidoro (Tomato Salad)

Ingredients: Tomatoes, mayonnaise, shallot, horseradish, gherkin,

anchovies, fish, cucumber, lettuce, chervil, tarragon, eggs.

Mix the following ingredients: two anchovies in oil boned and

minced, a gill of mayonnaise sauce, a little grated horseradish,

very little chopped shallot, a little cold salmon or trout, and a

small gherkin chopped. With this mixture stuff some ripe tomatoes.

Then make a good salad of endive or lettuce, a teaspoonful of

chopped tarragon and chervil, season it with oil, vinegar, salt,

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and pepper (the proportions should be three of oil to one of

vinegar), put a layer of slices of cucumber in the salad, place the

tomatoes on the top of these, and decorate them with hard-boiled

eggs passed through a wire sieve.

No. 28. Tartufi alla Dino (Truffles)

Ingredients: Truffles, fowl forcemeat, champagne.

Allow one truffle for each person, scoop out the inside, chop it up

fine and mix with a good forcemeat of fowl. With this fill up the

truffles, place a thin layer of truffle on the top of each, and

cook them in champagne in a stewpan for about half an hour. Then

take them out, make a rich sauce, to which add the champagne you

have used and some of the chopped truffle, put the truffles in this

sauce and keep hot for ten minutes. Serve in paper souffle cases.

Macaroni, Rice, Polenta, and Other Italian Pastes

No. 1. Macaroni with Tomatoes

Ingredients: Macaroni, tomatoes, butter, onion, basil, pepper,

salt.

Fry half an onion slightly in butter, and as soon as it is coloured

add a puree of two big cooked tomatoes. Then boil quarter of a

pound of macaroni separately, drain it and put it in a deep

fireproof dish, add the tomato puree and three tablespoonsful of

grated Parmesan and Cheddar mixed, and cook gently for a quarter of

an hour before serving. This dish may be made with vermicelli,

spaghetti, or any other Italian paste.

No. 2. Macaroni alla Casalinga

Ingredients: Macaroni, butter, stock, cheese, water, salt, nutmeg.

Cut up a quarter pound of macaroni in small pieces and put it in

boiling salted water. When sufficiently cooked, drain and put it

into a saucepan with two ounces of butter, add good gravy or stock,

three tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan and Cheddar mixed, and a

tiny pinch of nutmeg. Stir over a brisk fire, and serve very hot.

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No. 3. Macaroni al Sughillo

Ingredients: Macaroni, stock, tomatoes, sausage, cheese.

Half cook four ounces of macaroni, drain it and put it in layers in

a fireproof dish, and gradually add good beef gravy, four

tablespoonsful of tomato puree, and thin slices of sausage.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and Cheddar, and cook for about

twenty minutes. Before serving pass the salamander over the top to

brown the macaroni.

No. 4. Macaroni alla Livornese

Ingredients: Macaroni, mushrooms, tomatoes, Parmesan, butter,

pepper, salt, milk.

Boil about four ounces of macaroni, and stew four or five mushrooms

in milk with pepper and salt. Put a layer of the macaroni in a

buttered fireproof dish, then a layer of tomato puree, then a layer

of the mushrooms and another layer of macaroni. Dust it all over

with grated Parmesan and Cheddar, put it in the oven for half an

hour, and serve very hot.

No. 5. Tagliarelle and Lobster

Ingredients: Tagliarelle, lobster, cheese, butter.

Boil half a pound of tagliarelle, and cut up a quarter of a pound

of lobster. Butter a fireproof dish, and strew it well with grated

Parmesan and Cheddar mixed, then put in the tagliarelle and lobster

in layers, and between each layer add a little butter. Strew

grated cheese over the top, put it in the oven for twenty minutes,

and brown the top with a salamander.

No. 6. Polenta

Polenta is made of ground Indian-corn, and may be used either as a

separate dish or as a garnish for roast meat, pigeons, fowl, &c.

It is made like porridge; gradually drop the meal with one hand

into boiling stock or water, and stir continually with a wooden

spoon with the other hand. In about a quarter of an hour it will

be quite thick and smooth, then add a little butter and grated

Parmesan, and one egg beaten up. Let it get cold, then put it in

layers in a baking-dish, add a little butter to each layer,

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sprinkle with plenty of Parmesan, and bake it for about an hour in

a slow oven. Serve hot.

No. 7. Polenta Pasticciata

Ingredients: Polenta, butter, cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes.

Prepare a good polenta as above, put it in layers in a fireproof

dish, and add by degrees one and a half ounces of melted butter,

two cooked mushrooms cut up, and two tablespoonsful of grated

cheese. (If you like, you may add a good-sized tomato mashed up.)

Put the dish in the oven, and before serving brown it over with

salamander.

No. 8. Battuffoli

Ingredients: Polenta, onion, butter, salt, stock, Parmesan.