Italian Cicchetti Class & Meal Recipes – Bruschetta; Arancini; Saltimbocca;
Italian Cicchetti Cookery Class & Meal Recipes
Our cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your evening and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners for the family to cook again.
Together we cooked:
Risotto with Mascarpone & Thyme
Sourdough King Prawn Bruschetta;Â
Chicken Saltimbocca with Roasted Red Pepper & Marscapone Sauce
Red Pepper & Mozzarella Arancini with Rustic Herb Pesto;Â
Risotto with Mascarpone & Thyme
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – oil 1tbsp
- – butter 50g
- – parmesan grated 50g
- – garlic 3 cloves, crushed
- – onion 1, finely chopped
- – risotto rice 300g
- – white wine 150ml
- – vegetable stock 1-2 litre, hot (amount of liquid depends on how fast you cook your rice/gas hob vs induction hob etc)
- – sprig of thyme
- – tbsp of mascarpone (optional)
Method:
- Add oil in a saucepan and cook the onion and garlic with some seasoning for 5 minutes until soft. Add thyme, tip in the rice and stir until every grain is coated, then pour in the wine and bubble for 5 minutes. Add the stock a ladle at a time, while stirring, only adding more once the previous batch has been absorbed.
- Once the rice is cooked, stir through the butter and parmesan, and mascarpone (if using).
Sourdough King Prawn Brushetta – Gamberi alla busarra prawns
Ingredients – Serves 6:
- – 6x Chunky slice of sourdough, toasted and rubbed with fresh garlic
- – 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- – 1 garlic clove, crushed and peeled
- – 1kg prawns, medium-sized, deveined
- – 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- – 1 small onion, golden, peeled and finely chopped
- – 60ml of dry white wine
- – 200g of sun blushed tomatoes, finely chopped
- – 1 dried chilli, crushed
- – fine sea salt
- – freshly ground black pepper
- – 1 handful of parsley leaves, minced
Method:
- Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet set over a medium heat. Add the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, until fragrant. Stir in the onion and cook until soft and translucent, stirring often so it doesn’t colour
- Add the prawns and cook for about two minutes per side, ensuring that they don’t overlap. Pour in the wine, increase the heat to medium-high and allow it to evaporate. Remove the prawns; transfer them to a plate while you carry on with the sauce
- Remove the garlic and add the tomatoes and crushed chilli. Lower the heat, cover and cook until the tomatoes have fallen apart and look saucy; add a splash of water if needed to help the sauce come together. Taste and season
- Now, put the prawns back into the skillet and stir to coat in the sauce. Increase the heat and sauté for about five more minutes, then remove from the heat and sprinkle with parsley.
- Serve on toasted sourdough rubbed with fresh garlic.
Chicken Saltimbocca with Roasted Red Pepper & Mascarpone Sauce
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 4 (6 Ounce) Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
- – 3/4 Cup All-purpose Flour Seasoned With Salt & Pepper
- – 1 1/2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Sage Leaves
- – 8 Thin Slices of Prosciutto
- – 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- – 1 1/2 Cups Dry Vermouth or Dry White Wine
- – 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- – Salt & Pepper to Taste
- – 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
Method:
- Slice each chicken breast in half lengthwise, then pound thin with a meat mallet. Chicken should be about 1/4 inch thick.
- Place the seasoned flour in a shallow bowl, and dredge each piece of chicken on both sides, then place on a baking sheet.
- Sprinkle the top of each cutlet with the chopped sage, then cover with a slice of prosciutto.
- Press the prosciutto to help it to adhere to the chicken and then refrigerate until needed.
- 30 minutes before you plan to cook, remove the chicken from the refrigerator.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat until lightly smoking, then place 4 cutlets in the pan prosciutto side down.
- Cook the cutlet until you can see the edges are beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.
- Carefully flip the cutlets over and reduce heat to medium and cook until no longer pink inside, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Move the cutlets to a warm platter, cover with foil, and cook the remaining cutlets in the same manner.
- Once all the cutlets are cooked and moved to the platter, add the wine 9or vermouth) and lemon juice to the pan and scrapping up and browned bits, cook over high heat until the liquid has been reduced to about 1/2 cup.
- Add the butter and season with salt and pepper and stir until blended.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnish with fresh sage leaves.
For the Red Pepper Sauce:
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 1 can of chopped tomatoes
- – 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
- – 1 red chilli, de-seeded and chopped
- – Salt & Pepper
- – 1 Banana Shallot, finely diced
- – 100g of roasted red pepper, sliced
- – 2 tbsp of mascarpone
- – 1 teaspoon sugar
- – Sprig Thyme – stalks removed
- – Teaspoon of olive oil
- – Lemon – squeeze.
- – Splash of oil for cooking
Method:
- Heat a non-stick saucepan on medium heat, add oil, sauté shallot for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer. Add all the other ingredients, leaving the mascarpone for the end, just fold it through before serving.
- Simmer the sauce for at least 15 minutes, correct the seasoning, garnish with freshly chopped basil or parsley.
Red Pepper & Mozzarella Arancini with Rustic Herb Pesto
Ingredients:
- – 1/2 bulb of mozzarella, torn into pieces
- – 1 roasted red pepper (could be from jar), sliced
- – 500g Risotto rice, cooked and chilled thoroughly
- – 1 egg
- – Bowl of plain flour
- – Bowl of breadcrumbs
- – Vegetable oil for frying
- – Parsley, handful chopped
- – Lemon zest
Method:
- Form a rough ball out of risotto rice, about 3cm big.
- Flatten the ball, stuff with red pepper and mozzarella, turn into a ball again, neater this time, carry on with the rest of the rice.
- Get a 3 separate mixing bowl ready, place flour in the first, beaten egg in the second and breadcrumbs in third.
- Dip your risotto balls in the same order, coating the arancini without any uncoated patches.
- Heat up enough oil to cover arancini halfway on medium-high heat and fry until golden.
- If you made larger balls of rice you might need to place them through the oven on 180C for 5 minutes to melt the cheese in the centre.
For the Herb Pesto:
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 1 clove of garlic
- – 1/2 big bunch of fresh basil
- – Handful of chives
- – Handful of coriander
- – 1 handful of pine nuts
- – 1 good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- – extra virgin olive oil
- – 1 lemon
Method:
- Peel the garlic, then pound in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt.
- Pick, roughly chop and add the basil, followed by coriander and chives, then blend in a food processor.
- Add the pine nuts (very lightly toast first, if you like) to the mixture and blend again, same with the parmesan.
- Drizzle in some oil – you need just enough to bind the sauce and get it to an oozy consistency.
- Add most of the remaining cheese, then season to perfection with salt and black pepper. Have a taste and keep adding a bit more cheese or oil until you are happy with the taste and consistency.
- Add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end.
We hope you enjoyed the class!
We really hope you enjoyed your class at Food Sorcery. If you have any questions for chef get in touch lovetocook@foodsorcery.co.uk
Spread the word about us! on TripAdvisor or google. If you have any feedback about the class please do let us know.
Take a Look at our cookery classes. Gift vouchers are available and never expire.
