I ate this marinated feta, olives and lemon appetizer at a party recently and loved it so much I had to move myself away from the dish. A quick search online turned up this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine and it was even better than what I remembered eating at the party. That might be because rather than use regular lemons, I used a preserved lemon that I had made from my meager harvest of lemons from the indoor lemon tree I have nurtured for years (they were huge though). If you’ve never made preserved lemons, they’re a cinch to make with just kosher salt and lemons. The flavor is so much better than regular lemons, for recipes like this one. I’m looking forward to using them in more savory and even sweet dishes. You should give it a try. They keep forever in the fridge once they’re “cured.” There are many recipes online, but I used this recipe from Serious Eats, that also adds a bit of sugar.
But even if you don’t have preserved lemons (they’re also available to purchase online and in some specialty stores), you can use regular lemons from the store. The recipe comes together in a snap. Just heat the olives, garlic, lemon peel and hot pepper flakes in olive oil for about five minutes and pour over some crumbled feta cheese.
The recipe from Bon Appetit called for heating the bread in the oven for a bit, but I found that it’s much better just to use fresh bread, untoasted. It will be much easier to soak up the juices and to pick up the olives and feta when the bread is soft, rather than toasted and hard. Dig in and you may find yourself doubling the recipe the next time you’re invited to bring an appetizer somewhere.
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These enticing little bundles of goodness are plin, sometimes called agnolotti del plin — a filled pasta from the Piedmont region of Italy that I ate plenty of when I visited there this fall. It’s pronounced “pleen” and the name originates from the Piemontese dialect word for “pinch,” which is what you need to do to shape this pasta. There are many variations for the filling, but the traditional ones contain a variety of ground meats, cabbage and parmesan cheese. I wasn’t so ambitious to start cooking two or three roasts from scratch, but after making chicken soup, I froze some of the leftover meat, waiting until I cooked a pot roast to have two different meats to combine. You don’t need much of either meat (you could also add pork, or rabbit) and I can’t say for certain how much I used, but this is the kind of dish where you don’t really need a recipe. Just a little of this and a little of that will do. I also had leftover roasted cabbage and saved one wedge in order to add that the mixture. You can use spinach or swiss chard if you prefer instead of the cabbage. I put the meats, the cabbage, a little grated parmesan cheese, and a little bit of chicken broth in a food processor to blend it until smooth. All together, I ended up with about two cups of filling, enough to fill a couple hundred of these plin.
Don’t be intimidated by the shape. They’re easy and fun to do, assuming you know how to make homemade pasta. If not, click on this post. However, instead of using semolina and unbleached white flour, for this recipe I used only OO flour from Italy, which is easy to obtain where I live.
Click on this video to see how I shaped and cut the plin:
Boil the pasta until cooked through. This should take only about five minutes if the pasta is cooked when fresh. You can freeze them too for cooking later on. In that case, they’ll need a little more time to cook. To freeze them, lay them out uncooked on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for an hour or so. When they’re hard and frozen, you can gather them and place them in a plastic bag for whenever you need some. Don’t thaw them before cooking. Just dump them into the boiling water from the freezer.
Plin are typically dressed lightly in a meat sauce or dressed with butter, sage and parmesan cheese. I had a little of the sauce left over from the pot roast with bits of meat and herbs in it. I just put it in the blender and homogenized it, and used that as the sauce for the plin. Though not typically served in a broth, these would be delicious in a chicken soup too.
But for our Christmas Day first course, I swished them around in the leftover pot roast sauce for a couple of minutes until they were coated.
Sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese, and you’ll be in heaven.
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leftover pieces chicken meat, beef stew, pork roast or rabbit
(enough to make about two cups when finely ground)
1 wedge leftover roasted cabbage
½ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup chicken broth, or more if necessary
FOR THE PASTA:
2 cups OO flour
4 eggs plus one egg yolk
Instructions
FOR THE DOUGH:
Place the flour and the eggs in a food processor and blend until homogenized.
If it's too sticky, add more flour until it comes together in a ball.
Knead on a board until it's smooth.
Let it rest, covered, for at least 20 minutes before rolling out.
Follow the video for directions on stuffing and cutting into the plin shape.
FOR THE STUFFING:
Place all the stuffing ingredients in the food processor except parmesan cheese.
Add the chicken broth a little at a time until the consistency is like a soft cheese.
You may not need it all, or you may need more, depending on how much meat you used.
After you've made the plin, boil in salted water, drain and toss with a light meat sauce and parmesan cheese, or serve with melted butter, sage and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
With the holidays fast approaching, it’s time to get serious about making things ahead of time to serve with little to no effort when family and friends gather. Nothing could be more welcome at dessert, especially a holiday dessert, than a semifreddo. Those of you familiar with it know it’s very similar to ice cream, but no churning is involved. Semi-freddo means half cold in Italian, and this dessert, with its flavors of pistachio and almond torrone, topped with a chocolate sauce, will have you wishing you had made a double batch (or invited fewer people). I’ve made it a couple of times in the past month for dinner parties and it was a huge hit with everyone, including my husband, who might have eaten the whole thing if other people hadn’t been present.
Semifreddo can be made with lots of different flavorings, but since I brought back some torrone (a nougat candy) and some pistachio cream from my last trip to Italy, I was itching to use them both in a semifreddo. Both can be found here in the U.S., with a minimum of searching online. Make sure to buy the HARD torrone, since you’ll be able to crush it into small pieces. The soft torrone just won’t work here. I used an almond torrone but it’s also available with hazelnuts (my favorite). It comes in a long box with a hard brick of torrone inside, made with nuts, sugar and egg whites, and sometimes citrus flavoring. I used a meat pounder to crush the hard torrone into small bits.
Like many ice cream recipes, my semifreddo calls for egg yolks and sugar to be blended together, and I always cook them over a double boiler to thicken them. Be careful though to whisk nonstop or you risk having sweetened scrambled eggs. It seems like it will take forever to get to this creamy, velvety stage, but it’s really only five or six minutes of steady whisking. Don’t leave the stove to do anything else until it’s done. Remove and let cool. When it’s cooled, I add rum to the egg yolks as a flavoring, but you can use any alcohol you like — bourbon, rye, even anisette or amaretto would be good.
After the cooked egg yolk mixture is cooled, fold in the beaten egg whites and the chopped torrone.
Then gently fold in the whipped cream.
Now divide that mixture in half and add a few tablespoons of that half to half a jar of pistachio cream. The jars are generally 7 or 8 ounces. You want to start out by blending a small portion of the mixture with the pistachio cream because the pistachio cream can have a very dense consistency and you could deflate the semifreddo mixture if you stirred vigorously to blend in the pistachio cream.
After you’ve “lightened” the pistachio cream with a small bit of the egg white and whipped cream mixture, continue to add the rest of the half that was set aside for the pistachio mix. I sure hope I’m not confusing you, but when you’re done, you should have two bowls of mixtures — one with the pistachio cream mixed it, that’s pale green, and one without the pistachio mix, that’s beige-y or pale yellow.
Start spooning the mixtures into the loaf pan, alternating colors. Fill the entire loaf pan. My loaf pan measured 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″.
My loaf pan was beginning to overflow, so I also filled two pyrex cups for individual portions that I could also freeze (more for hubby, whose three-times-a-week tennis habit allows him to indulge with little to no guilt.) Cover with plastic wrap and freeze everything overnight.
When ready to serve, flip onto a platter and remove the parchment paper or plastic wrap. Slice and serve with chocolate sauce. This was enough for eight generous servings and there was no leftover — people were practically licking their plates.
If you don’t want to serve it as slices, you could make the entire semifreddo in individual serving sizes. I used glass pyrex cups for these. You’d probably easily get 10 to 12 individual portions using small one-cup glass pyrex containers.
The chocolate sauce is not to be skipped. It’s a cinch to make and so good I have no doubt you’ll be pouring it generously over this semifreddo or any ice cream in your freezer. Holidays will be merry when you bring this to the table. Buon Natale, Happy Hanukkah and the best of the season to all my readers.
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1 cup chopped up almond or hazelnut torrone (the hard, crunchy kind, typically sold in a long box usually about 5.3 ounces. I used about half the box.)
½ jar of pistachio cream (jars are usually 7 or 8 ounces)
Instructions
Break up the torrone into small pieces.
(I used a meat pounder and placed the torrore between clean dish towels so it wouldn't spew all over the kitchen.)
Separate the eggs, but you will only need four of the egg whites.
Save the other two egg whites for another use.
In a double boiler, place the egg yolks and the sugar.
Whisk over warm water until you get a velvety, thick mass.
(Don’t move away from this or you could end up with scrambled eggs.)
Some recipes call for using raw eggs, but I like to err on the side of caution and cook my egg yolks.
Let it cool slightly, then add the rum, whisking it in.
Place it to the side or in the refrigerator, but if you let it chill too long, it will become hard to work with.
Whip the four egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
Add the chopped torrone and the cooled egg yolk mixture to the whipped egg whites, folding everything together.
Beat the cream until stiff.
Fold the egg yolk, whipped egg whites and torrone mixture thoroughly with the whipped cream.
Remove half of this mixture to a separate bowl and set aside.
The pistachio cream can be quite dense, so if you put it all into the mixture from the jar all at once, you risk deflating it too much.
Instead put tthe pistachio mixture into a bowl and mix into it only a few tablespoons of the egg white, egg yolk and whipped cream mixture to "lighten it up."
Then add the rest of the other half of tthe mixture to the pistachio cream and fold in thoroughly.
You should now have two bowls, one that's beige with the torrone in it, and one that's pale green with the torrone and pistachio cream mixture.
Line a loaf pan (8½" x 4½" x 2½") with parchment paper.
Using a large serving spoon, place alterrnating spoonfuls of the beige torrrone mixture with the pistachio mixture.
Continue layering until you reach the top of the pan.
Place a piece of plastic wrap or aluminum foil on top and freeze overnight.
When ready to serve, run a knife around the edge,and flip it over onto a serving platter, removing the parchment paper.
If it doesn't want to come loose, let the pan soak for a few seconds in hot water, then flip it onto a platter.
Serve with chocolate sauce
CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
cup granulated sugar
/8 teaspoon kosher salt
/2 cup cold water
/2 teaspoons vanilla
In a saucepan, whisk together the cocoa, sugar and salt.
Add the cold water and bring to a boil.
Let it simmer for a couple of minutes, making sure all the lumps are dissolved.
Remove from heat and add the vanilla.
The sauce will be quite runny when it's hot so let it sit at room temperature for several hours before using it, or place in the refrigerator to thicken in a shorter time.
The cookie baking season has begun and if you love pecans, you’ll love these cookies. I do love pecans, and you’d think I’d love pecan pie. But whenever I give pecan pie a try, I’m usually disappointed, because below the tempting pecans on top, it’s frequently filled with a gluey, gloppy layer of corn syrup below. And biting into a forkful of corn syrup is not my idea of good eating. If you’re like me then, these pecan diamond cookies are for you.
These cookies have a buttery, shortbread-type cookie below, and caramel-y, sticky pecans on top — no corn syrup involved! The recipe is one I used to make decades ago and came from an issue of Family Circle Magazine in December, 1979, before a lot of you readers probably were even born. But I’ve got lots of recipes I cut out and saved from the magazine, which stopped publishing in 2019.
If you can resist eating them all, they keep for a long time in a sealed tin, making them perfect for shipping to favorite folks for the holidays. You can freeze them too, and have them ready as your secret stash for when you get the munchies.
But don’t say I didn’t warn you when you can’t stop at one or two.
P.S. To those of you who are on my mailing list, sorry for any glitches recently. I’m updating my email feed, since Feedburner is no longer available and there have been a few “growing pains” resulting in duplicate emails. Hopefully, that’s straightened out now. And if you’re not on my email list, please sign up in the box at right where it says “subscribe to the blog.” Grazie mille.
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If you’ve ever eaten porchetta in Italy, you know it’s savory, it’s succulent and it’s insanely delicious. It’s usually served on a roll and eaten as a sandwich. Frequently, you’ll see an outdoor vendor selling porchetta sandwiches at street fairs and markets, and they’re hard to resist. There’s also a terrific informal trattoria in Rome and in Milan called “La Prosciutteria” where you can buy fabulous porchetta sandwiches, like these, which I once snuck back into the U.S. (shh!)Now you can make your very own porchetta, with flavors and crackling skin similar to the ones you get in Italy. A lot of recipes will show using a pork loin wrapped in a pork belly, but those roasts become so large and unwieldy and serve enough to feed a small neighborhood. The center of the pork loin also has a tendency to dry out, even when it’s wrapped in a pork belly. I’ve also cooked a pork shoulder in a “porchetta-style,” splayed out and spread with herbs and spices then tied up securely and roasted for hours. While it’s delicious, it doesn’t come close to the results you get cooking a pork belly alone. After all, pork belly is the part of the pig where bacon comes from, and we all know everything tastes better with bacon. When cooked at a low temperature for many hours, a pork belly will result in one of the best things you’ve ever eaten, with a crunchy outer skin and plenty of meat in the interior that just melts in your mouth.
I was able to find this pork belly at Costco, and made it for our Thanksgiving meal instead of turkey, a break with tradition that no one regretted. You should prep it at least a day ahead of time to give the herb and spice rub time to do its magic, but it can prepared up to three days ahead and sit in the refrigerator, making it perfect for holidays when you’ve got lots of other dishes to prepare at the last minute.
Score the pork belly and season with the herb, spice and garlic mixture.
Then roll it up like a jelly roll and using butcher’s twine, secure it tightly all the way around.
Here’s a side view, and you can see it’s got plenty of meat, not just fat (although it’s got plenty of that too.) The recipe also calls for you to rub the exterior of the roast with a mixture of kosher salt and baking powder, which I did. I then wrapped it tightly in aluminum foil and placed it in the refrigerator for a full day and a half. Place it on a wire rack to roast.
It cooks for a long time, starting at 300 degrees for about two hours or until the temperature reaches 160 degrees. The recipe (from J. Kenji Alt-Lopez) says to roast it another two hours at the same temperature, but after two and a half hours, I lowered the oven temperature to 250 degrees and cooked the roast for nearly four more hours since it suited our time schedule better (We wanted to go to a nearby park with our granddaughter while the roast cooked). Besides, a long, slow roast results in really tender meat. Once you start to see drippings, you should also baste it every half hour, but I skipped this step while we skipped out to the park and it didn’t have any negative effect. This is how the roast looked after two hours in the oven.
For the final half hour, the recipe says to crank up the heat to 500 degrees, but after ten minutes at that high temperature, I could see that the upper skin was starting to burn. So I removed the roast from the oven, lowered the temperature to 400 degrees and let it continue to brown. Next time, I think I’ll keep it at 400 degrees for the full last half hour, or even stretch it a little longer until it achieves this nice golden outer crust. In total, I think my roast was in the oven for six and a half hours. Sinking your teeth into that juicy crunchy crust is almost the best part.
But the inside is pretty darn irresistible too, with those fennel, garlic and rosemary flavors. Try it sometime when you’ve got a large family gathering — maybe even this Christmas or New Year’s Day. Since we were only five for Thanksgiving this year, we had lots of leftovers, but enjoyed a slice of porchetta on a crusty roll the next day. Slathered with some red pepper aioli or even some leftover cranberry sauce, it was the perfect day-after-Thanksgiving treat.
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1 whole boneless, rind-on pork belly, about 12 to 15 pounds (5.4 to 6.8kg)
Recipe adapted from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt/Serious Eats
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
3 tablespoons whole fennel seeds
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
12 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane grate
grated rind of one lemon
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
Place pork belly skin-side down on a large cutting board.
Using a sharp chef's knife, score flesh at an angle using strokes about 1-inch apart.
Rotate knife 90 degrees and repeat to create a diamond pattern in the flesh.
Toast peppercorns and fennel seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned and aromatic, about 2 minutes. (I forgot this step and skipped it.)
Transfer to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind until roughly crushed, along with the rosemary, red pepper and lemon peel.
Place the spices, herbs and lemon peel in a small bowl and add the minced garlic.
Season pork liberally with salt then sprinkle with the spice mixtures.
Use your hands to rub the mixture deeply into the cracks and crevices in the meat.
Roll belly into a tight log and push to top of cutting board, seam-side down.
Wrap kitchen twine tightly around the pork.
Combine 2 tablespoons kosher salt with 2 teaspoons baking powder. Rub mixture over entire surface of pork.
If roast is too large and unwieldy, carefully slice in half with a sharp chef's knife. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least overnight and up to 3 days. If desired, porchetta can also be frozen at this point for future use
Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
Place pork in a V-rack set in a large roasting pan, or if cooking both halves at the same time, on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.
Place roasting pan in oven and roast until internal temperature of pork reaches 160°F (71°C), about 2 hours, basting with pan drippings every half hour.
Continue roasting until a knife or skewer inserted into the pork shows very little resistance asides from the outer layer of skin, about 2 hours longer.
(I lowered the temperature to 250 and roasted for 3 hours longer)
Increase oven temperature to 500°F (260°C) and continue roasting until completely crisp and blistered, about 20 to 30 minutes longer.
(After about 10 minutes with the oven at 500 degrees, the skin was starting to burn, so I lowered the temperature to 400 degrees and finished roasting for 20 more minutes.
Alternatively, you can remove the roast from the oven and tent with foil for up to 2 hours before finishing it in a preheated 500°F oven.
Tent with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes (I rested it for ½ hour, which gave me time to bake popovers and finish the mashed potatoes and other vegetables.)
Slice with a serrated knife into 1-inch thick disks and serve.
Are you still deciding on sides for Thanksgiving? To some, they’re the best part of the meal (although desserts are prettty high in the running too). If you want to make a delicious and easy side dish that serves a lot of people, look no further than this corn casserole. The recipe comes from Southern Living magazine. and can even be made the day before and stored in the fridge, ready to bake on Turkey Day.
I served it last Thanksgiving and it even impressed a gluten-free friend, who said she could eat it since it contained only six tablespoons of flour for the whole casserole — not enough for her to be worried about. We were only four people around the table last year, so I had a ton of the casserole leftover and my guests went home with some of it. But you could easily cut the recipe in half if you’re having only a few people around the table. I also didn’t roast a whole turkey last year, but instead stuffed a turkey breast — always an option if your gathering is small. If you’re looking for one, here’s a recipe I made years ago for a boneless turkey breast with a sausage stuffing.
No matter how many are at the table, or what you serve, it’s a time of gratitude for the blessings in our lives. I hope your Thanksgiving and the year ahead are filled with blessings for you and the ones nearest to you.
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I hope you’re not “pumpkined-out” yet this fall, because this is one recipe (from the website “Handle With Heat” ), you need to try. It’s got that seasonal pumpkin and spice flavor, it’s moist, and has an irresistible crunchy crumb topping, finished with a glaze of maple sugar. Don’t fight it — just make it!
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Like many of you, I’m a big fan of salmon, but I usually make salmon filets, not salmon cakes. However, I wanted to post something from my friend, Marie, of Proud Italian Cook, not just because she has great recipes, but for another important reason. Please read to the end to find out why. She has posted so many good recipes over the years, it was hard to choose which to make. But in the end, I decided it was time to try her salmon cakes. They did not disappoint. They were exquisitely delicious and a nice change from the typical salmon filets. I added the red pepper aioli to serve with them, because I love aioli on anything, from sandwiches to a vegetable dip.
Marie starts by sauteeing the minced vegetables, then letting them cool for a bit before adding to the salmon, which is fresh from the fish market, not canned.
I bought about a pound of salmon (Marie’s recipe uses about 1 1/2 pounds) and ch0pped it with a knife — not so fine that it was like mincemeat, but with pieces that were recognizable as salmon. One pound was plenty for two people and it made four large cakes. I even had one salmon cake left over since we were too stuffed to each finish two of them.
Mix everything together with a wooden spoon. It smelled so good just in its raw state, with all the seasonings, that we knew they’d be even better after they were cooked.
I used a muffin cutter to shape the salmon cakes. Press down with a spoon to make them compact, then gently lift the form. It came off easily. Marie suggests letting them chill for at least two hours to avoid having them fall apart while cooking. Well, I was impatient and waited only an hour, and it worked out fine. I dusted them with bread crumbs after they had chilled for a while.
Then I sauteed them in a saucepan on both sides with a little olive oil, before placing them in the oven to finish at 450 degrees F.
Mine took about ten minutes in the oven to cook, but they were quite thick. Depending on how thick you make them, you might need less, or more time in the oven. Serve them as is, with a squirt of lemon, or with this simple red pepper aioli sauce I made in the blender. These were so good I plan to make them for company real soon.
Now, the other reason I am posting this recipe of Marie’s, is to lend support to a friend who has recently been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. Marie has just started treatment for this dreaded scourge and her challenge is formidable. In solidarity and to honor his mother, Marie’s son has signed up to run the Boston marathon in her name to raise money for cancer research. Although we initially met on the blogosphere, I’ve also met Marie in person, and she is just as sweet and sincere in real life as she comes across on her blog. She has given so much to her readers with her recipes over the last nearly 15 years, let’s show her that we’re behind her 100 percent in the fight of her life. If you can, here’s the link where you can donate:
1-1/2 lbs. fresh salmon or 4 filets, skin removed. hand chopped into small chunks ( I was able to make 7 cakes with that amount)
1 celery stalk, small dice
¼ onion, small dice
2 green onions, sliced small
2 small mini red peppers or half of a large red pepper, small dice
1 yellow mini pepper or ¼ of a large, small dice
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
a pinch of cayenne
½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 large garlic clove, chopped fine
1 heaping tablespoon chopped parsley
⅓ cup full fat mayo
⅓ cup panko bread crumbs and a little extra to coat the top and bottom of the cakes
1 heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard
olive oil
salt and pepper
LINDA'S EASY RED PEPPER AIOLI:
1 red pepper, roasted, or sliced and sauteed in olive oil until limp
6 cloves garlic, sauteed in olive oil until soft (I sauteed them with the red pepper)
½ cup mayonnaise
dash of paprika
juice of half a lemon
Instructions
Drizzle the bottom of a small sauté pan with olive oil and toss in all the diced veggies, onions, peppers, celery and garlic, cooking until translucent. Turn off heat and let them cool down completely.
Into a bowl add the chopped salmon, the cooled down veggies, the mayo, zest, breadcrumbs and Djon and a little salt and pepper to taste.
Gently toss well to incorporate ingredients.
Form your salmon cakes into 3x1 inch deep patties. Note: I use a biscuit cutter to form mine as stated in the post.
Refrigerate the salmon cakes for at least 2 or more hours for best results, I would not form and then cook them right away.
When it's time to cook, heat the oven up to 450F.
Drizzle the bottom of an oven proof skillet with olive oil.
Pour some panko breadcrumbs on a flat plate and press the bottom and top of each salmon cake into it then into the heated 1 skillet.
When each cake is lightly golden on each side place the oven proof skillet into the oven and finish it off, anywhere to around 6 or 8 additional minutes, oven vary so you be the judge.
Serve with a squeeze of lemon and tartar sauce, or an aioli of your choice.
FOR THE RED PEPPER AIOLI:
Saute the red pepper and garlic with a tablespoon olive oil over low heat until softened.
Do not brown the garlic.
Place the garlic, red pepper, mayonnaise, paprika and lemon juice in a blender and whir until smooth.
It may be thin, but it thickens as it sits.
Serve room temperature with the salmon cakes.
It's also good as a dip, or a spread on sandwiches.
I know, I know. It’s the third fig recipe in a row I’ve posted, but I couldn’t help myself. Before figs disappear from the markets (or your fig tree), this is a recipe you have to try. It’s got that mixture of sweet and salty that’s so addictive, you’ll find yourself eating the whole pan, unless you share with friends and family. I made it for a first anniversary party of the artists’ coop I’m involved with, and it disappeared quicker than a popsicle on a hot day. The dough is the same as other focaccia post I’ve written — it’s a very shaggy dough and you leave it to rise overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, you punch it down, then dump it onto a cookie sheet but don’t try to stretch it out immediately. Let it sit for a half hour or more, then spread it out, using fingers that have been dipped in olive oil.
It should look like this after it’s been rising for another hour or so.
Place the figs on top, gently pressing down, then scatter some kosher salt or coarse sea salt on top, plus some minced fresh rosemary.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes at 450 degrees and your house will smell divine.
To finish, drizzle a little honey over the whole thing.
I guarantee people will come back for seconds and thirds.
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Pardon me for posting two fig-centric recipes in a row, but it’s the height of fig season and this cake is simply too good not to try. Even if you haven’t got a fig tree, or FWFT (friends with fig trees), you can find figs in the farmers’ markets right now, so hurry and get some to make this cake. You’ll need about a cup’s worth, half the amount of the bowl of figs I was lucky enough to receive from my friend Madeline.
The cake comes together quickly in a bowl, stirring by hand. No waiting for butter to soften either, since it uses oil (I used olive oil and a little less than originally called for) instead. The recipe, from a book called “Under the Fig Leaf” also contains pecans as an optional ingredient, but if I were you, I wouldn’t skip them. They add a nice crunch to the cake.
While the cake is nearly finished baking, you make a quick glaze that you cook for three minnutes.
Then poke holes all over the cake and pour the hot glaze over everything.
It’s such a moist and flavorful cake with a great texture all by itself, but next time I make this (and it will be soon with those leftover figs), I’m going to make sure to have either whipped cream or ice cream on hand to serve alongside the cake.
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But even if you don’t have preserved lemons (they’re also available to purchase online and in some specialty stores), you can use regular lemons from the store. The recipe comes together in a snap. Just heat the olives, garlic, lemon peel and hot pepper flakes in olive oil for about five minutes and pour over some crumbled feta cheese.
Now you can make your very own porchetta, with flavors and crackling skin similar to the ones you get in Italy. A lot of recipes will show using a pork loin wrapped in a pork belly, but those roasts become so large and unwieldy and serve enough to feed a small neighborhood. The center of the pork loin also has a tendency to dry out, even when it’s wrapped in a pork belly. I’ve also cooked a pork shoulder in a “porchetta-style,” splayed out and spread with herbs and spices then tied up securely and roasted for hours. While it’s delicious, it doesn’t come close to the results you get cooking a pork belly alone. After all, pork belly is the part of the pig where bacon comes from, and we all know everything tastes better with bacon. When cooked at a low temperature for many hours, a pork belly will result in one of the best things you’ve ever eaten, with a crunchy outer skin and plenty of meat in the interior that just melts in your mouth.
