Involtini di Prosciutto e Provolone al Forno

Reverse engineering is one of those skills that some people are just born with . . .

These people can taste something at a restaurant, immediately identify key ingredients, and then recreate a pretty good mock-up at home. If I could do that, we wouldn't be eating out nearly as much.

Ha ha, in fact, Bryan once said to me, "if you could cook like Jody Adams, I'd be happy to eat at home everyday."

Alas, I am far far away from being anywhere close to having the cooking savviness that many of our local chefs possess. However, once in a blue moon, I do succeed in recreating some easy dishes inspired by local restaurants.

Here's a delicious yet über simple appetizer dish we made the other day. It's inspired by one of Bryan's favorite appetizers from Monica's (both the Trattoria and the Vinoteca) in the North End. It's funny, if you look at both posts, you'll notice Bryan ordered it both times - he likes it that much.

Frankly, we didn't do a whole lot to "reverse engineer" this dish. We gathered clues from the name of the dish. On the menu, this appetizer is called "Involtini di Prosciutto e Provolone al Forno", which translates to baked prosciutto and provolone "rolled up" ("involtini" means rolled up and "al forno" means baked).

That's pretty much what we did.

We bought some nice prosciutto and provolone cheese from Formaggio Kitchen. You don't need anything fancy. In fact, when I told the cheesemonger at Formaggio what I planned on doing with the provolone, he suggested the simpler, less expensive provolone.

Cut up the provolone into manageable pieces (mine were about 1/2 inch by 1-2 inch), wrap with prosciutto, and then bake in the oven. I believe I used the toaster oven and baked at around 350 degrees. You can use convection if you want to crisp up the prosciutto a bit. In fact, I'm guessing that if I did it at a higher temperature, my prosciutto would have looked more crispy.

Serve alongside some roasted red peppers or summer heirloom tomatoes. We did modify Monica's original dish a bit by putting the whole thing over grilled bread (from ACME bread company in San Francisco, no less!), which was awesome.

You can't really go wrong with this combination. It's sort of like a really fancy ham + cheese sandwich. It's brilliant, yet so easy, and really, really good.

Involtini di Prosciutto e Provolone al Forno from Monica's (above) and ours (below).

Ha ha, I put mine in the oven a bit too long (I was cooking a gazillion things at the same time - see entire meal at this post) and the cheese oozed out of the prosciutto "wrapping" while I wasn't paying attention. I really do believe that higher temperature and a faster baking time would have resulted in something that looked more like what they have.

Not a big deal though - it still tasted excellent!

Sunday Night Suppers via Formaggio Kitchen

I love Sunday suppers.

Sunday is the day when you can spend a little extra time preparing for that fun, relaxing dinner. Instead of quickly trying to churn out a dinner in 30 minutes after a long, hard day at work, you have the whole afternoon to shop, prep, and cook that elaborate (or just time consuming) meal.

Oddly enough, I find that the type of dinner I enjoy most on a Sunday evening is actually not that complicated.

Instead, it involves visiting one of my favorite neighborhood markets, Formaggio Kitchen, and just buying whatever catches my eye. Formaggio Kitchen offers tons of fun eye candy for food lovers, but be forewarned! You could easily spend hours (and many, many dollars if you're not careful!) perusing their aisles filled with all sorts of carefully curated, artisanal products.

A few Sundays ago, we noticed that the salumi counter had a really interesting assortment of cured meats. Not only did they have the famous Jamon Iberico from Spain, they also had the most coveted Jamon Iberico Bellota, the richest, (fattiest), and most luxurious cured pork in all of Spain (and possibly the whole world).

Spanish Iberian cured ham is prized for its rich savory flavor. The pigs roam freely in oak forests and are fed a diet of only acorns at the last stage of their lives. Because of this diet, the fat in these pigs is mostly monounsaturated, "healthy" fat (oleic acid). The Bellota breed is the finest because it eats purely acorns during this last stage (as opposed to a mixture of acorns and grain, or grain only).

Jamon Iberico leg from Fernandez & Wells in London

Up to this point, I had only tried the Iberico pork at restaurants, once as cured meat at  a lovely Spanish cafe in London, and (if you can believe this) once as a breaded fried pork cutlet at a specialty tonkatsu restaurant in Tokyo.

Iberico Pork Tonkatsu from Butagami in Tokyo

It's unusual (and typically pretty difficult) to find this type of pig at the market in the US.

The price for the bellota was pretty insane ($189/lb!!!), but ended up only being about $20 for the four slices that we bought.

 For fun, we decided to pit the normal famous Jamon Iberico (still a whopping $99/lb) against the Jamon Iberico Bellota ($189/lb).  We also bought some "ordinary" (I'm sure it was still pretty nice) prosciutto from Italy, and rounded it off with a local Soppressata Picante from New York.

You can't go to Formaggio without getting some cheese, so of course we sampled several at the counter (one of my favorite things to do) before settling on a few different pieces.  

Some of my favorites right now? Hooligan from Cato Corner Farm from Connecticut. It's a washed rind cow's milk cheese that's creamy yet salty and strong. It's classified as "stinky", although I find it more approachable than, say, a blue cheese (which I'm still learning to like).

I also love their buratta and mozzarella, which I believe comes locally from Everett, Massachusetts.

And to top off the simple Sunday supper? Local greens (my favorite is arugula, which is my default), paired with whatever cheese I fancy that day. Here, I've purchased some lovely halloumi, another one of my favorite cheeses (and one that tastes fantastic grilled!).

Wait, what about the meat?
Of course, how could I forget?

I loved the normal jamon iberico. It's got a deep and complex richness that can only come from quality pork that's been aged for quite a while. There's just a bit of fat on the edge to round out the meatiness.

The Bellota is really, really fatty. It's sort of like eating a blend of cured meat and pure lardon (just the fat). The fat, of course, is extremely flavorful. And remember, it's mostly monounsaturated fat, so if you're going to eat animal fat, this is about as healthy as it gets.

For me, however, it was too much. I don't love munching on pure fat, and I couldn't get over that gag reflex that I usually get when eating really fatty pieces of meat (e.g. on steaks or certain Chinese dishes). It was worth trying, but at least for me, I'll gladly pay half the price and enjoy the (still) wonderfully deep and rich flavors from the normal jamon iberico.

The prosciutto was solid, and we actually used it to make a fun "copy" of a dish we so often enjoy in the North End (will post about that soon!).

If you like a bit of "kick" in your salami, you'll love Soppressata Picante. It seems like every cheesemonger (or whatever you call those people behind the cheese counter at Formaggio), recommends this one when we say we want something spicy. We've tried some of the others, but we almost always go back to this one. It's really good, and has become a standby for us every time on our Sunday supper "salumi" plates.

Anyway, if you love fun, gourmet markets full of stuff you didn't even know you wanted, you have to stop by Formaggio Kitchen. They have an excellent selection of cheese, cured meats, and all sort of other things. My most recent "find" there? truffle salt and incredible dried pasta from Italy - yum. It's definitely one of my favorite places in my new "hood."

Roscioli

This is the seventh post in the Spontaneous Weekend Trip to Rome Series. Other posts in this series include: Dal Paino Pizzeria in Rome, Etabli, Il Convivio, Ciuri Ciuri Pasticceria Gelateria Siciliana, Sant'Eustachio Il Caffe, and Gelato in Rome

It's been a tumultuous year on Italian food front.

This past year, our favorite Italian restaurant has been an ever-shifting target. Even though we still love our North End favorites, our food-related travels in the past twelve months have opened our eyes to some absolutely incredible Italian food. 

Bryan, the pasta aficionado, initially declared Mario Batali's ristorante in Las Vegas to be his favorite for pasta. This past year, that was superseded - first by Il Mulino (Las Vegas), and then again, by Il Buco Alimentari (New York).

And then we visited Rome.

Italian food in the U.S. is good. But nothing beats Italy.

Welcome to Roscioli, a quaint restaurant-salumeria-wine bar off the Campo di Fiori not too far from Piazza Navona. It's a high-end food market, wine shop, and restaurant all rolled into one. The market sells an  incredible selection of cheese, salumi, and other Italian specialties. 

And what does the restaurant serve?

Oh, just the best spaghetti carbonara that we've ever tasted in our lives.

Spaghetti alla carbonara

Gambero Rosso, a prestigious Italian food and wine magazine dedicated to the slow food movement, awarded Roscioli the "best carbonara" honor in 2008.

The carbonara at Roscioli is special because of its specially-sourced ingredients. Guanciale (bacon made from pork jowls) comes from del Conero. The sauce incorporates a mixture of Romano and Moliterno (a sheep's milk pecorino), and the spaghetti is made by a small producer from the Abruzzi region. Even the black pepper is a mixture of three different kinds from Jamaica, China, and India.

The most important ingredient, however, are the eggs. The eggs come from Paolo Parisi, a famous egg farmer in Tuscany. His intensely yellow-yolk eggs (which cost around $4 each!) come from free-range hens who feed on goats' milk.

Combine all these incredible ingredients and you have gloriously chewy spaghetti coated in this velvety, thick, eggy sauce full of intense flavors from the cheese and black pepper.

Bryan, who has always been a pretty big fan of carbonara, absolutely loved it, citing how wonderfully "eggy" (not a dash of cream in this dish) the sauce was.

It was seriously crazy good.

But let me not get ahead of myself.  First, let me tell you a bit more about Roscioli.

Roscioli is really fun because it's a food market, restaurant, and wine bar all in one location. Owners Alessandro and Pierluigi Roscioli had a dream back in 2002 to take their already successful salumeria and turn it into this multi-concept destination.

They were guided by the philosophy of prima della cucina ("before the cooking"). They strived to procure the highest quality ingredients possible at the market, available "before the cooking" for the restaurant.

This philosophy was evident in everything that we enjoyed at the restaurant. We started out with a complimentary plate of Bufalo ricotta drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. It was mild, fresh, and creamy - a perfect way to start the meal.

The market at Roscioli sells a dizzying array of cured meats from which you can choose. On the menu, you have the option of trying all different types of salumi. In fact, there is a whole page dedicated to selection.

It was a tough choice, but with the help of the waiter (who spoke excellent English, by the way), we shared the Prosciutti di Razza Nera Autoctona, a selection of native black pork prosciutti: Nebrodi, Mora Romagnola, Nero Casentino, Casertana, dei Pirenei di Bigorre. (€28)

The quality of the salumi was excellent, definitely among the best we've ever had.

These went perfectly with the other starter that we ordered, Buffalo Mozzarella from Paestum (€14 for 300g single "ball") with semi dried cherry tomatoes from Pachino.

The roasted cherry tomatoes were beautifully bright and intense, full of rich tomato flavor.

The buffalo mozzarella was substantially "steaky" and had a nice, substantial (for lack of a better word) "mozzarella" flavor. We loved eating random combinations between the prosciutto, tomatoes, and the mozzarella.

Since it was lunch, we opted to order two pasta dishes and no "secondis".  Roscioli's pasta dishes are mostly traditional preparations, but made with ultra high quality ingredients. The resultant products take on new life,  far surpassing most pasta dishes we've ever had.

I ordered the Spaghettone with Tuna (€16), a simple pasta made from Buzzonaglia (oil packed canned tuna) from Vulcano Island, Taggiasche olives from Liguria, semi-dried cherry tomatoes, and fresh chili.

It was simple yet intensely flavorful, a blend of Mediterranean flavors from the sweet tomatoes, salty olives, and strong tuna.

Bryan, of course, ordered the famous carbonara (€15), which he could not stop talking about . .  .

At the end of the meal, they gave us traditional Italian cookies and a chocolate dipping sauce. The dark chocolate sauce was deep, intensely chocolately, and not too sweet. Even though I was full, I happily finished my cookie, dipping it over and over in the luscious chocolate sauce.


Our Thoughts on Roscioli
If I lived locally, I swear I would be stopping by this market every other day, checking out what new cheeses, cured meats, or wines they had on sale. We loved the concept of eating at a restaurant right inside a great food and wine market.

I could totally imagine coming by weekly to the restaurant/wine bar as well. How fun would it be to sip wine, taste a few cheeses, and munch on some crazy good salumi? Or the incredible award-winning carbonara?

At the end of our trip, we both agreed that Roscioli was by far our favorite find of the entire weekend. I loved the idea of starting a meal by grazing my way through a selection of in-season cheese and salumi. Bryan loved the pastas (especially the carbonara), and we both agreed the service was excellent. The waiter was really knowledgeable, spoke fluent English, and recommended some great dishes. 

Finally, there's just something really unique and charming (and fun!) about sitting in the middle of a food market.

There's no question. If we come back to Rome again, this will undoubtedly be one of our first stops.

Salumeria Roscioli
Via dei Giubbonari
21 00186 Roma 
Tel:  +39 06 6875287

Sources: Spiegel, Saveur, Roscioli

Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Aged Balsamic

Sometimes, you really don't need much cooking skills to make a really fantastic dish.

I swear, if you have access to high quality ingredients, you're most of the way there. Really good ingredients naturally supply a ton of flavor and nutrients. The rest is simple. Just mix good ingredients together.

So easy.

And so, so good.

I had a seriously good beet salad the other day at home, and it was ridiculously easy to make.

In the past, I've always roasted my red beets whole, covered in foil in the oven. This method is great if you have tons of time and don't feel like handling the beets. Then I discovered the glorious oven-roasted golden beets, made through a method that caramelizes the beets beautifully in the oven.

Just recently, because I was short on time, (and because I had bought these monstrously huge beets that would have taken hours to roast whole), I decided to chop them up while raw and roast the pieces in the oven with just a splash of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

It worked out great. I cut my roasting time in half, and I found yet another way to prepare this versatile vegetable. Yes, I did have to deal with having slightly pink fingers (easily addressed with a pair of gloves), but the time saved was well worth it.

I tossed the roasted beets with high quality imported feta cheese and drizzled them with a beautiful aged balsamic vinegar.

What a gorgeous combination of flavors. It was healthy, flavorful, and simply delicious.

I can't wait to buy my next batch of beets.


Oven Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Aged Balsamic
serves 4-6 as an appetizer

2-3 whole beets, cut up into similar pieces (about 3-4 cups worth)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon of each?)
1-2 oz feta cheese (or to taste)
1-2 tsp aged balsamic (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 400 °F. Toss the beets with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes.

A few notes:

It's hard to write a precise recipe for this salad because so much of it is subjective. Some people like lots of cheese, others don't. Similarly, the amount of balsamic vinegar you add will really depend on the flavor of the particular one you bought. Slightly sweet balsamic vinegars work better for this salad. You could try reducing cheaper balsamic vinegar down with a bit of sugar.

I think quality of ingredients can make a huge difference in whether this salad is just ordinary or whether it pops. I used a more expensive, imported Greek feta cheese and a really nice 10-year aged balsamic vinegar that I purchased at Il Buco (post coming soon!) in New York City. It was fantastic, and I think it made a huge difference in the dish as well.

Enjoy!

Grilled Halloumi Cheese and Meyer Lemons with Spring Greens

Spring is finally, finally here. After a rough, rough winter, it really feels like a sigh of relief.

As you may know, I was in Greece a couple weeks ago. If any of you are thinking about getting away to "warm and sunny" Greece during the spring - forget it! It was just as cold there, if not colder than Boston. I ended up wearing all my warm clothes that I had intended for London (the first portion of my Europe trip). Ironically, London was warm and balmy by comparison.

Yes, I guess freaks of nature happen.

Anyway, when I was in Greece, I got to try one of my favorite cheeses there. Halloumi (or χαλούμι in Greek), is a traditional cheese originating from Cyprus. It is made from a combination of sheep's milk and goat's milk. What's unique about halloumi cheese is that it has a really high melting point, so you can safely grill it without it melting!

I am so in love with this cheese. It reminds me a bit of mozarella, but much more aged, complex, briny, and dense. It's almost squeaks a bit when you bite it, sort to like cheese curds.

Although this cheese used to be hard to find and only available locally in the Mediterranean region, it has become very popular more recently. Nowadays, you can find halloumi in many specialty markets all around the world. I bought mine at Broadway Market in Cambridge, but I'm pretty certain you can find it in other places like Whole Foods and the like.

Grilled Halloumi cheese from a restaurant in Delphi, Greece

If you can find halloumi cheese, it's really easy to prepare. Frankly, if you just grill it and serve it, it will already taste really really good. That's how I had it in Greece (see photo above), accompanied by a simple lemon wedge and some fresh vegetables.

If you feel inspired, you can also bring it up a level by grilling some Meyer lemon slices and stacking it all up into one pretty tower, layering spring greens with the cheese and the lemons.

Of course, if you don't feel like taking the time to stack, the dish will taste just as good simply thrown together like a salad.


This "recipe" is so simple there's really no need for one. However, for those of you who like some direction, feel free to use the "recipe" below.

Grilled Halloumi Cheese and Meyer Lemons with Spring Greens
1 package of halloumi cheese, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices  (about 8 oz)
Mixed spring greens (2-4 cups)
1-2 Meyer lemons, sliced thinly 1/4 inch thick

Put the cheese and lemons directly on a hot grill ( I used a preheated grill pan) and cook until nicely charred and slightly golden brown, flipping the cheese and lemons once (after about 3-4 minutes for the cheese and 4-6 minutes for the lemon).

If making a salad, toss the greens with Meyer lemon vinaigrette and top with grilled lemons and halloumi cheese. If serving in stacks, starting with a bed of greens on the bottom, layer the cheese, lemons, and greens in an alternating fashion in a stack.

Serve!