Tag: Italian Christmas

SAUCES for meat, fish and vegetables to brighten up your Christmas

Sauces are one of the easiest ways to expand your Christmas repertoire and brighten up your Christmas without changing the core of your menu. Whether your table is seafood-focused, meat-heavy, vegetarian, or a mix of all three, a thoughtfully chosen sauce can bring freshness, complexity and colour.

Because one of the books I’ve written is Sicilian Seafood Cooking—and because my blog is called All Things Sicilian And More—many readers assume that my Christmas table must be strictly Sicilian. It’s a lovely assumption, but like most Italian traditions, the reality is far more regional, varied, and personal.

Buon Natale, and happy cooking!

What Do Italians Eat at Christmas? It Depends Where You Live

Italy has no single “national” Christmas menu.
Food traditions shift dramatically from region to region, and even from town to town.

When I lived in Trieste (in the north), Christmas Day always began with brodo—a clear, comforting broth that signalled the start of a long, leisurely lunch.

Years later, celebrating Christmas in Sicily, the menu was completely different. First courses would be gnucchiteddi (tiny hand-rolled gnocchi) or delicate ravioli di ricotta scented with cinnamon, sugar, and local cheese.

RAVIOLI DI RICOTTA

GNUCCHITEDDI

My family in Ragusa making gnucchiteddi. It is always a family affair.

QUADRUCCI IN BRODO, Squares of home-made Pasta in Broth

Quadrucci – squares of him made pasta with herbs.

BRODO DI GALLINA (Chicken Broth)

GNOCHETI DE GRIES (as called in Trieste), GNOCCHETTI DI SEMOLINO (Italian), SEMOLINA Small GNOCCHI

Gnochetti di Gris.

Even within Sicily—an island smaller than Tasmania—the diversity is astonishing.
Christmas in Ragusa always meant scacce: layered, folded pastries filled with vegetables, ricotta, sausage, tomato, or combinations of all three. They remain a staple of festival tables.

Scacce.

Would Sicilians in Australia be making scacce for Christmas? Perhaps some from Ragusa will—but most Sicilian-Australian menus are shaped by a mixture of regional traditions, personal favourites, and of course the Australian summer.

SCACCE

What I Cook at Christmas

People often ask what I’ll cook for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The honest answer: I rarely know until the last minute.

On Christmas Eve, I usually follow Italian custom and eat fish.
On Christmas Day, I like to cook something special that I haven’t made for a while—perhaps pasta with sea urchin (ricci), bottarga, squid ink, crayfish, or crab.

There are many posts on this blog that delve into Christmas dishes from Sicily and other regions of Italy—feel free to explore and adapt them for your own festive table.

But this post is not about planning an entire menu. Instead, it’s about something more universal – Sauces.

Whatever you’re serving this year—seafood salad, roast turkey, grilled vegetables, barbecued meat— a fresh, vibrant sauce can instantly transform a familiar dish into something festive.

Essential Sauces and Dressings for Christmas

Below are some of my favourite sauces—Italian, Sicilian, and beyond—that can brighten any Christmas spread.

Highlight sauces include:

  • Salsa d’Agresto – medieval green grape and nut sauce for roasted meats
  • Salsa Verde – Italian parsley, anchovy and caper sauce for vegetables, fish or cold meats
  • Sicilian Sarsa di Chiappareddi – capers, anchovies and olive oil for grilled fish
  • Bagna Cauda – warm garlic and anchovy dip for mixed vegetables
  • Salmoriglio – Sicilian lemon and oregano dressing ideal for BBQ seafood
  • Homemade Mayonnaise – classic, saffron or tuna versions for cold dishes
  • Romesco Sauce – roasted peppers and almonds for fish and vegetables
  • Salsa Saracina – sweet-and-savoury Sicilian sauce with olives, pine nuts and saffron
  • Hot Mint Sauce – mint, cumin and vinegar for lamb or goat

Use these sauces to lift any Christmas meal—seafood salad, roast turkey, summer vegetables or a simple backyard BBQ. A fresh sauce can transform your festive table.

Salsa d’Agresto (Green Grape Sauce)

A medieval sauce that predates the widespread use of lemons. Traditionally, it relies on the tart juice of unripe grapes (agresto).

It dates pre-Renaissance time and went out of fashion because lemons became popular in cooking and superseded the use of green grape juice. The recipes suggested that the juice of the green grapes can be extracted by using a mouli or a juicer.

Walnuts and almonds are blanched to remove as much skin as possible. My sources indicated that there may have been more walnuts used than almonds in these sauces.

Today you can substitute: verjuice or dry white wine

Key ingredients:

  • blanched walnuts and almonds
  • onion, garlic, parsley
  • breadcrumbs for body
  • a touch of sugar
  • enough agresto/verjuice to form a soft paste.

Onions, garlic and parsley and a few breadcrumbs are pounded together with the nuts. Add a bit of sugar, some chopped parsley and sufficient grape juice to make the amalgamated ingredients soft – like a paste.

Heat these ingredients and add a little broth as the sauce will thickened because the bread crumbs.

Warm gently and thin with broth as needed.
Perfect for roast meats, especially pork, chicken or turkey.

SALSA D’AGRESTO

Salsa Verde – Italian Green Sauce

Salsa verde can be used to jazz anything up – vegetables, roasts, cold meats, smoked fish, crayfish etc. I sometimes use it to stuff hard boiled eggs (remove the yolk, mix with salsa verde and return it to the egg).

Parsley, anchovies, capers, green olives and good olive oil form the backbone of this lively sauce.

SALSA VERDE – ITALIAN GREEN SAUCE

Sarsa di Chiappareddi (Sicilian Caper and Anchovy Sauce)

There may be times when an accompanying sauce for fish cooked in various ways will bring you greater compliments.

Salted capers need to be soaked and rinsed well before use.

The sauce is called sarsa di chiappareddi in Sicilian. Salsa con capperi in Italian.

A beautiful sauce for grilled, baked or fried fish.
What makes it special: high-quality extra virgin olive oil, capers and anchovies from Sicily a fresh, herbal perfume released the moment cold sauce meets hot fish.

Simple, quick, and always impressive.

SARSA DI CHIAPPAREDDI

Bagna Cauda – The Piedmontese “Hot Bath”

Bagna Cauda, translated as “hot bath,” is a dip for any combination of firm vegetables – cooked or uncooked.

A warm, deeply savoury dip from Piedmont. Traditionally served in a communal pot surrounded by:

  • raw or cooked fennel
  • carrots
  • celery
  • cauliflower
  • peppers

Made from:

  • garlic
  • anchovies
  • butter
  • sometimes a little olive oil

It is a hot sauce and it is most essential to use quality, extra virgin, olive oil. This is especially important for cold sauces, – when the cold sauce hits the hot food, the fragrance of the oil will be strongly evident.

 BAGNA CAUDA

Salmurrigghiu / Salmoriglio – Sicilian Citrus-Herb Dressing

Such a simple Sicilian dressing and a Sicilian staple.

Just: extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and most times a touch of garlic.

It’s sublime on grilled fish, meat, or vegetables—especially anything coming off the BBQ.

SALAMURRIGGHIU – SALMORIGLIO (salmorigano)

Home-Made Mayonnaise – Classic, Saffron, or Tuna

A good mayonnaise can rescue almost any cold dish.

Maionese.

See:
MAYONNAISE  and SAFFRON MAYONNAISE
INSALATA RUSSA
CHICKEN LAYERED WITH TUNA AND EGG MAYONNAISE
VITELLO TONNATO

Salsa Romesco – Spanish Almond and Pepper Sauce

Originally from Tarragona in Catalonia, though many mistakenly think it is Roman because of the name.

Excellent with:

This sauce is usually associated as a condiment for shellfish and fish. It is also good with eggs and grilled and roasted vegetables (especially cold, left over ones that need dressing up the next day).

Recently, I have been to two restaurants and this sauce was presented with cold asparagus.

Made from:

  • roasted red peppers
  • garlic
  • almonds
  • paprika
  • olive oil

Smoky, sweet, and a crowd-pleaser.

 SALSA ROMESCO

Salsa Saracina (Saracen Sauce)

A unique Sicilian cold sauce that blends:

  • green olives
  • pine nuts
  • sultanas
  • saffron

Often used with fish, but versatile enough for grilled vegetables, cold meats, or even room-temperature salads.It is sweet-and-savoury in the most Sicilian way.

I use it for many  hot or cold foods.

SALSA SARACINA (Saracen sauce)

Green Olive and Anchovy Sauce for Roast Duck

One of the times I roasted a duck I made this special sauce for it, and it tasted great.

  • green anchovies
  • parsley
  • tender celery heart
  • garlic
  • stock and wine added to the roasting pan and reduced in the pan made an excellent gravy.

A rich, aromatic gravy that lifts any roast beautifully and while you are at it, it includes the recipe for cooking the duc

ANATRA A PAPAREDDA CU L’ULIVI

Hot Mint Sauce (Casa Moro)

This is a recipe from Sam and Sam Clark’s Casa Moro, The Second Cookbook. I first had this sauce at a friend’s house accompanying roast goat. I too had this book.

it is a Middle Eastern-inspired sauce that pairs beautifully with:

  • roast goat
  • lamb
  • grilled meats

Made with:

  • mint
  • cumin
  • garlic
  • red wine vinegar or balsamic

Vibrant, earthy, and excellent for outdoor summer meals.

HOT MINT SAUCE

There are many other posts on this blog that delve into Christmas dishes from Sicily and other regions of Italy.  Whether you live in a cold or hot country  explore the content and adapt them for your own festive table.


	


	
	






	
	

		
	

		
PIZZA DI NATALE, Christmas Pizza from Le Marche
	


	

		
italian-oven


How would you like a wood oven like this in your back garden?


My son sent me this photo. He found it in the house across the road from where he lives; the house was up for sale and he took a peak during one of the open inspections. And there it was!


I can imagine the range of goodies that have been cooked in that oven over the last 20 years.


Once the oven is fired up the heat would be utilized till the end.


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High heat is required for the wood fired bread (enough for the week and perhaps one or two relatives) and plenty of pizzas for the the weekly occasion when the extended family visits.


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And some for the grand kids’ school lunches.


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Heat would not have been wasted. After the baking of the food that requires high heat, there may be some trays of biscuits that require moderate heat and then the oven would be utilized to slowly roast trays of meat or perhaps to finish off drying trays of dried tomatoes or left over bread to make into breadcrumbs.


My experiences of an Italian Christmas are limited to Sicily (with my grandparents) and Trieste (where I lived as a child) and with Christmas coming up I have been thinking about traditional food in other parts of Italy. If the people who lived in the house with the wood fired oven were from the eastern side of a central region of Italy called Le Marche, they may be preparing to make a traditional fruit and nut bread for Christmas.


Natale is the Italian word for Christmas and the fruit and nut bread the Marchigiani make is called a Pizza di Natale or a Pizza Natalizia; it is not a pizza, but because a pizza dough (same as a bread dough) is used for the basis of this traditional fruit bread, it is referred to as a pizza.


The following mixture will make two pizzas.  The dough needs to rise for 6-8 hours so it would be preferable to mix it the day before you intend to bake it.As for the shape, you can divide the dough into two and shape it into two round loaves or each half placed into cake tins – preferably those with tall sides or with a hole in the middle (the shape will be called a ciambella).


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PIZZA DOUGH


You can make pizza dough using your favourite recipe or buy ready made dough or use this recipe:


Ingredients:

1 kg strong white flour,1 level tablespoon fine sea salt,1 tablespoon sugar, approx 650ml (3 cups) lukewarm water, 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 sachets of dry yeast – one sachet or one envelope weighs 7 grams (2 teaspoons).


Mix the yeast, sugar into water and stir well and set aside while you prepare the flour. Mix the flour and salt into a large bowl, make a hole in the middle, pour the yeast mixture into the hole. Use your hands and knead the mixture to form a dough. You may need to add a little more flour if the mixture is too wet or more water if it is too dry. Knead it until you have a smooth dough. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover it with plastic wrapping or a tea towel.  Leave in a warm room until the dough has doubled in size – about an hour. Add the oil and knead it again.


Xmas-baubles-800x529


PIZZA DI NATALE


Mix together: 500 gr walnuts (broken up into large bits), 200g raisins, 200g dried figs (chopped), 100g of citrus peel, black ground pepper and nutmeg to taste (I like it spicy), 350g sugar and grated rind of 1 lemon and 1orange.


Juice of the orange and lemon to add to the mixture when you combine the dough with the fruit and nut mixture in case it is too dry. Or splash some rum or orange flavoured liqueur to moisten the dough – alcohol is my preferred choice, but is not traditional.

Combine the dough with the fruit and nut mixture and knead well.

Divide the dough into two and shape into round loaves or place it into two tins -the dough needs room to rise so choose suitable tins.

Leave the Pizza Natalizia to rise for 6 hours or overnight.

Bake them in the oven at about 210°C for about 40-50 minutes.  Do the usual things that are done when baking, i.e. cover the tops with baking paper if the top is cooking too quickly, insert a skewer into the dough at the end of 40 minutes to see if it is cooked etc.

Store in cake tins or a couple of layers of foil till ready to slice.


Other posts about pizza- like Sicilian goodies


Scacce and Pizza and Sicilian Easter


Scacce (focaccia-like Stuffed Bread)


Sfincione

	


	
	






	
	

		
	

		
PANETTONE AND PANFORTE for an ITALIAN CHRISTMAS
	


	

		




DOLCETTI+ONE255B1255D




Photo by Patrick Varney, Raglan Images for  Italianicious ( magazine) Nov- Dec 2010


Marisa Raniolo Wilkins, Marianna Di Bartolo and Mary Taylor Simeti









I first posted the content of this post on Dec 20th, 2010. I called it: PER NATALE, COSA SI MANGIA? At Christmas, what do you eat?


I am able to view the stats for each of my posts and all of the posts about Christmas have been viewed many times, but this one has not been popular. Is it the title?


It contains some general information about the food that is common in Sicily around Christmas time but it also contains information about Panettone and Panforte – both popular at Christmas. There is also a recipe for Panforte.


Now, on Dec 15, 2014, it is time to post it again and give it another title:


PANETTONE AND PANFORTE for an ITALIAN CHRISTMAS


 


CHRISTMAS IN SICILY


You are probably wondering what Sicilians eat for Christmas in Sicily.


When the respected writer Mary Taylor Simeti (an expatriate American, married to a Sicilian organic wine maker and farmer and most importantly, one of the greatest authorities and writer about Sicilian food) visited Melbourne recently, she and I and pastry cook Marianna De Bartoli, who owns Dolcetti, a pasticceria in North Melbourne, were all asked this same question during an interview for Italianicious Magazine (Nov-Dec issue 2010).


We all gave the same answer, which is that there is no one answer since the cuisine and traditional food of Sicily is very regional. Sicily may be a small island, but the food is very localised and very different from region to region.


The three of us also agreed that Christmas Eve was more important than Christmas day – it is a meatless occasion and fish is the first choice. In some places Sicilians eat stoccofisso (stockfish) or baccala, where in others they eat eel. Usually families wait up and go to midnight Mass. And for those that do, Christmas lunch will often begin with a light first course. For example, chicken broth with maybe some pastina (small pasta suitable for broth) or polpettine (small meatballs) made with shredded cooked chicken meat, egg, a little fresh bread and grated cheese.


In Ragusa, where my father’s family comes they tend to eat the same foods as they do at Easter: scacce and large ravioli stuffed with ricotta dressed with a strong ragu (meat sauce) made with tomato conserva (tomato paste) and pork meat.


These are followed by some small sweets like cotognata (quince paste), nucatuli and giuggiulena (sesame seed torrone).


In other parts of the island gallina ripiena (stuffed chicken cooked in broth) is popular, while others may eat a baked pasta dish, for example: anelletti al forno. timballo di maccheroni or lasagne made with a very rich, strong meat ragu. This may be followed by capretto (kid) either roasted or braised.


There may be cassata or cannoli for dessert or the wreath shaped buccellato made with dried figs, almonds, walnuts, sultanas and spices (from Latin buccellatum meaning ring or wreath).


There are links to recipes for all the words in blue above.


PANFORTE or PANETTONE FOR CHRISTMAS


Both panettone and panforte are popular Christmas sweets in Italy.


In recent years panforte has become popular in Australia, but you are probably more familiar with panettone. This may be because there are so many different brands of panettone available and they are exported to many parts of the world, especially in countries where Italians have migrated.


Italians are very happy to buy both of these Christmas sweets and the big brands are of excellent quality. Generally Italians where ever they live would rather buy these than make them at home. I have never tried to make panettone but I have made panforte several times very successfully.






PANETTONE


This Christmas sweet bread is now popular not just in northern Italy where it originated.


It is said that the early version of panettone ( means bread big) was not the light textured, yeast perfumed, fruit bread we are familiar with, before it was made common by industrial production. It was a type of heavy, enriched, Milanese fruit bread baked at home and not just eaten at Christmas time. Panettone was made famous and affordable when it was commercially produced (from the 1920’s) and railed all over Italy. As a child growing up in Trieste the most famous panettone was the Motta brand (and still a well known brand in Italy) and part of the charm was opening the box and releasing the fragrance.











Popular brand of Panforte








PANFORTE


Panforte is from Siena (within Tuscany) and contains exotic spices of ancient times. It is made with dry fruit and nuts – candied orange peel, citron, chopped almonds, spices, honey, butter and sugar and very little flour to bind the ingredients; it has no yeast, has a very solid texture and is shaped like a disc. Panforte (from pane forte) means strong bread and in earlier times it may have been derived from the Tuscan pane pepato (peppered bread), meaning strongly peppered with spices.


Just like panettone there are some excellent varieties of imported panforte. I like Panforte Margherita (the light coloured version developed in honour Queen Margaret of Savoy’s visit to Siena). Panforte Nero is the dark variety made with dark chocolate.


Being a purist (or as my daughter used to refer to me as a food fascist) I cringe when I see ”gourmet” versions of panforte for sale, some of these contain glace cherries, or glace ginger; I even hesitate at the inclusion of pistachio or macadamia, not the norm, but could be more acceptable.


My favourite recipe is from The Italian Baker by Carol Field (recipe below).


In spite of writing recipes, I am not one for following recipes closely. I always improvise and adapt amounts of ingredients to suit my taste. For example I double the amount of pepper, nutmeg and coriander.  On occasions I have also included walnuts and pine nuts which were included in panpepato, a predecessor.


If I make Panforte Nero I add unsweetened cocoa (Dutch cocoa powder about 2-3 tablespoons) and some bittersweet chocolate.


 Ingredients:


1 cup whole hazelnuts,


1 cup blanched almonds


1 cup candied orange peel and citron, coarsely chopped


1 teaspoon lemon zest


½ cup unbleached all purpose flour


1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground


¼ teaspoon coriander


¼ teaspoon cloves, ground


¼ teaspoon fresh nutmeg, ground


½ teaspoon black pepper, ground


¾ cup sugar


¾ cup honey


2 tablespoon unsalted butter




Method:


Heat the oven to 180c.


Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet until the skins pop and blister, 10 to 15 minutes.  Rub the skins from the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel. Toast the almonds on a baking sheet until very pale golden, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Chop the almonds and hazelnuts very coarsely. Mix the nuts, orange peel, citron, lemon zest, flour, cinnamon, coriander, cloves, nutmeg and pepper together thoroughly in a large mixing bowl.


Use a 9 inch springform pan; line the bottom and sides with baking paper Heat the sugar, honey, and butter in a large heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until the syrup registers 242 to 248 on a candy thermometer (a little of the mixture will form a ball when dropped into cold water). Immediately pour the syrup into the nut mixture and stir quickly until thoroughly blended.  Pour immediately into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.  The batter will become stiff and sticky very quickly so you must work fast.


Bake about 30 to 40 minutes.  The panforte won’t colour or seem very firm even when ready, but it will harden as it cools. Cool on a rack until the cake is firm to the touch. Remove the side of the pan and invert the cake onto a sheet of paper. Peel off the baking paper. Dust heavily with confectioners’ sugar.




Love this stuff!!