A Night in Italy

Last weekend we went to Ohio for a wedding and on the way home we were listening to Splendid Table on NPR. A woman called in and asked for advice about a menu for her friends who were making their first trip to America from Italy. The caller said she had enjoyed many amazing meals with said friends in Italy and wanted to offer them an Italian-style dinner that featured American fare. The host, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, came up on the spot with a mouth-watering menu, and she described it (in her ever-soothing voice) mouth-watering course by mouth-watering course. I was inspired by this style of eating: many small courses, deconstructing a meal, element-by-element and savoring each piece. I love the idea of allowing time, wine, and conversation to lead the way. I've never been to Italy, but I read Eat, Pray, Love, so I've got it covered ;)

Well, my garden is currently full of cherry tomatoes and my friend Laura has been to Italy, so I decided it was a great night for an Italian-style dinner. Here is the menu, bolded recipes listed below. 

• Bruschetta 

• Hummus

• Meat and Cheese Plate: goat cheese and cranberry white cheddar, 
Volpi Pinot Grigio Salami

• French Bread

• Red Grapes

• Venetian Panino (simple, but delicious finger sandwiches)

• Salad with Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette

• Ricotta, Spinach, and Bacon Ravioli with Herb Butter Sauce

• We also enjoyed a bottle of Viognier (a crisp, refreshing white wine. If you've never had it, you should check it out)

Venetian Panino (original recipe here)  
This is a Giada de Laurentis recipe. You may know how I feel about this woman. Seriously, how can she eat half of what she cooks and remain a size -5? In addition, I find her cleavage distracting.  Well today I soldiered on and watched and entire episode of Everyday Italian. This is where two of these recipes originated. I, of course, made a few changes.

I didn't think to take pictures until later and the
 light was bad and I was lazy.. I apologize.

Ingredients
- 8 ounces Gruyere, shredded (Emmentaler  is cheaper, generic Swiss even more so - any of these would work)
- 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 12 ounces sliced turkey
- 12 slices wheat or sourdough bread, crusts removed (I used french bread. You can make these whatever size you want. I made small ones)
- 6 tablespoons olive oil (canola or vegetable would work in you're in a bind)


Directions
1. Into a food processor add the cheese, butter, mustard, and garlic. Blend until the mixture is thick, smooth and spreadable.


2. Spread the cheese mixture over 1 side of each bread slice.


3. Arrange the turkey slices over the cheese mixture on 6 of the bread slices.


4. Top sandwiches with the remaining bread slices, cheese mixture side down, pressing gently to adhere.


5. Cut the sandwiches in half (or don't, it's completely up to you!)


6. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Cook half of the sandwiches until golden brown and heated through, about 4 minutes per side.


Salad with Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette
I originally was inspired by this salad, but I ended up just using the dressing recipe.
  
My salad components were: baby romaine, sliced almonds, dried cranberries, caramelized onion, and goat cheese.


The dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
1 ½ tablespoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons dried mustard (I used two teaspoons of Dijon mustard)
1 tablespoon minced sweet onion
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar (I used pomegranate red wine vinegar)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Throw all of these ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend away! Or, throw into a jar and shake, shake, shake. OR, throw into a mixing bowl and whisk! The options are endless!! This dressing is light, refreshing and very sweet. It be really good on fish and I also dipped my ravioli in it too!

Ricotta, Spinach, and Bacon Ravioli with Herb Butter Sauce
The original recipe was Prosciutto Ravioli, but I had bacon already and it's cheaper!





I made this for only two of us so I did not make all 48 raviolis. I made about 12. I saved the extra filling and plan to use it in either lasagna or manicotti.  Also, the original recipe says to boil some water, cook the pasta for a couple minutes, then drizzle the butter sauce over. I didn't want to heat a pot of water for just 12 raviolis so I sauteed mine in the butter sauce (directions below).


Ingredients
- 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry (really wring it out so that you don't have soggy raviolis)
- 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and chopped (I used 6 slices)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 48 wonton wrappers

Butter sauce:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Freshly grated pecorino (I used Parmesan)

Directions:
1. Whisk the ricotta, spinach, prosciutto, egg yolks, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

2. Place 1 tablespoon of the ricotta filling in the center of a wonton wrapper.

3. Brush the edge of the wrapper lightly with water. Fold the wrapper in half, enclosing the filling completely and forming a triangle. Pinch the edges to seal. Transfer the ravioli to baking sheets.
4. Repeat with the remaining filling and wrappers. (Can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead; cover and refrigerate.)

5. Melt the butter in a heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add the oregano and garlic and stir 1 minute. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add the raviolis (you might have to process in two batches) and saute a couple minutes on each side (until golden brown).

6. After the raviolis were heated through, I poured the remaining butter sauce into a small dish and served it as a dipping sauce.  These are seriously amazing.

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