Three Recipes for an Authentic Italian Meal

We recently received an email from Jan, who's a loving grandmother and was asked by her grandson to cook an authentic Italian dinner. Wanting to please her grandson, she asked for advice on what to prepare. Well, this is my answer.

In Italy, the meal cooked for the family by your grandmother is a big time. When you go to your grandparents house, or if they come over to your home, you always know it's going to be something that you will remember for a long time. In Italy, the women in the family pass down their cooking knowledge, from generation to generation. The meal that will be prepared at one of these events, will surely be the finest example of cooking that your family has to offer.:) A word of advice in preparing these recipes, even if you follow them word by word, in my opinion (and proven by experience), the perfect dish is not one where you follow it exactly, but when your own touch.

And, in honor of your request, I'm sharing with you what my grandmother would cook for our family, these being her very best dishes. ;)

Ingredients
For the ragù:
1 carrot
2-3 stalks of celery
1/2 an onion
1/4 pound of pancetta
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 pound of sweet italian sausage
1/4 pound of ham (preferably prosciutto crudo)
1 pound of equal parts of ground beef and ground pork
1 cup red wine
1 14.5 oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes
3/4 cup of vegetable broth
salt and pepper, to taste

For the bechamel:
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of flour
4 1/4 cups of milk
pinch of nutmeg
pitch of salt

For the pasticcio:
2 -9oz boxes of lasagne noodles
1/2 pound of grated parmigiano cheese
ragù (see above)
bechamel (see above)

Directions
To prepare the ragù:
Finely chop the onion, carrot, celery and chop the pancetta into small cubes. Sauté it all lightly in the olive oil and butter. After 4-5 minutes, add the sausage, the ham (also cubed), and the ground pork and beef. Cook for a few minutes until it is browned. Add the red wine, and raise the heat until it evaporates. Next, add the tomatoes, broth, pepper and salt. Let it simmer at a low temperature for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally, and adding broth, if necessary.

To prepare the bechamel:
In a small pot, melt the butter, then whisk in the flour and let it cook for a few minutes, while stirring. Remove from the stove and add stir in hot milk. Place the pot over low heat until it begins to boil. Add the salt and the nutmeg; let it cook for another 15 minutes, covered so that it won't get too dense.

Preparare the pasticcio:
Preheat the oven to 350F. In a baking dish, grease the bottom with butter and then add a few spoonfuls of the ragù. Add a layer of lasagne noodles, a layer of bechamel and ragù, and then a layer of the grated parmigiano. Repeat with another layer of lasagna, bechamel, ragù, and so on, until you fill the dish, be sure to finish with the bechamel, ragù and parmigiano. Place in the oven for 40 minutes. When you get a little golden crust, your pasticcio will be done!

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Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic
1 veal rump roast (2 to 2 1/2 pounds)
2 carrots
1 onion
1 tablespoon of flour
5-6 tablespoons of olive oil
2 branches of rosemary
a pinch of salt
8 sage leaves
2 stalks of celery
1/2 cup of white wine

Directions

Season the roast with the sage, salt, and rosemary and tie, if necessary (depending on how the butcher prepares the roast.)
Peel the potatoes, cut and put them in a roasting pan and toss with some olive oil. Add the roast to the pan with the potatoes and put in an oven heated to 400F.
Meanwhile, peel and cut the onion, carrots, celery and peel the cloves of garlic.

After 30 minutes, add the remaining vegetables to the pan along with the the white wine. Return to the oven and cook an addition 45 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and place on the stove. When the ingredients brown, add the flour, and then dilute with some more white wine or water. After a thick gravy forms, remove from the heat. Slice the roast and serve with the potatoes.

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Ingredients
1 pound of mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of butter
handful of parsley, chopped

Directions

Clean and slice the mushrooms.

In a pan, heat the oil and butter with the garlic, without browning the garlic. Next, add the mushrooms and mix well.

Cover the pan with a lid, and let it cook for 30 minutes, until the mushrooms are well cooked.

Remove the lid, add a pinch of salt and the chopped parsley. Keep the pan on the stove over a low heat for 5 minutes. Serve the mushrooms, lukewarm, as side dish for the arrosto.

Good luck with your Italian cooking adventure and let me know how you find these recipes! :)