Sometime a few years ago, while watching the over-the-top British T.V. series Rome, I became a little obsessed with trying to track down and make some ancient Roman recipes. I was, for the most part – and probably happily for my friends and family – unsuccessful. I think if I had started trying to make Garum (a roman version of the fish sauces frequently found in Southeast Asian cuisines) in the house Kate would never have forgiven me. I did come across one dish I enjoyed, and I’ve used the key flavors there – caramelized onions, olives, and vinegar in a dish over at The Chicken Thigh Guy. But for the most part, I accidentally learned about a lot of more modern – or at least less ancient – Italian dishes that don’t fit the American expectation of red sauces, pastas and melty cheese.
This week’s menu features a handful of dishes that sort of evolved from that exploration. They’re not authentically Roman, in either the ancient or modem sense, but more evolutions of what I learned playing around with flavors and techniques I was reading about in that time. One of the dishes – an oxtail dish whose name, translated badly, means Tail in the Style of the Cattle Butchers’ Wives” – has become a household favorite, and makes it to the table a few times during the long grey that is an Ohio winter. Another two are my versions of favorites from a wonderful D.C. restaurant where I passed more than a few fine evenings.
There’s no great sad story to this week’s menu. It’s just a tasty collection of Italian-ish dishes that make me happy – and in times like the last week or so, that’s enough.
As always, I hope that if you’re enjoying The Weekly Menu you’ll share it with friends and family, and check out my other food project, The Chicken Thigh Guy - especially the Equipment and Resources page available there as any purchase made through that page helps support my work here.
Bread with Semolina
This is a simple loaf that resembles American style “Italian Bread,” but it’s less sweet and spongy, and the addition of semolina flour adds a hard to describe flavor that makes it the perfect bread for sopping up messy delicious sauces.
Makes 2 loaves
400g bread flour
100g Semolina flour
325 g water
3 g yeast
9 g kosher salt
Add the water and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Allow to rest 10 minutes.
Add both flours and salt and mix until a smooth dough forms.
Allow to proof overnight.
Turn out the dough onto a smooth surface and stretch it into a rectangle. Fold into thirds.
Repeat this twice.
Allow the dough to rest 30 minutes.
Repeat the stretch and fold.
Allow to rest an additional 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Divide dough into two equal portions.
Stretch each portion into a rough square.
Roll the squares into cylinders, pinching the seam down.
Tuck the ends of the cylinder under to form a loaf.
Cover with a damp towel and allow to proof 35 minutes, or until a floured finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression that doesn’t bounce full back.
Slash two to three deep cuts into the top.
Bake at 400°F for 35-45 minutes.
Shaved Fennel and Parmesan Salad
I lived on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. for nearly a decade, which aside from making the events of the last week feel particularly close to home, it also means that I really got to enjoy a lot of what the ever-changing neighborhood has to offer. When the restored Eastern Market re-opened after a devastating fire, the blocks around it added new restaurants – including an outpost of a Florentine restaurant called Aqua al 2 just a few steps from the market and a scant two blocks from the tiny townhouse I lived in for all those years. It has closed now, an avoidable victim of the pandemic, but over the years I ate a lot of great meals there and created a lot of great memories. One of the standout dishes there was also one of the simplest. A simple salad of lightly dressed shaved fennel bulb garnished with shaved cheese. This is my version – which while good will never be the same as the one that arrived at my table there – but it brings back some of those memories and … it’s just a delicious use of an often underutilized vegetable.
Serves 4
1 medium sized fennel bulb
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp good balsamic vinegar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 oz Parmesan Reggiano cheese
Salt & Fresh ground pepper to taste
Remove the green stems and any fronds from the fennel bulb. Reserve some fronds for garnish.
Slice very thin (I use a mandolin slicer) and soak in water for 10-15 minutes or until just before serving.
Use a vegetable peeler to slice off thin shavings of parmesan.
Season the fennel with salt and pepper.
Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar.
Toss to coat and combine.
Top with shaved parmesan, and garnish with fennel fronds.
Radicchio al Forno
Like the fennel salad above, this is my take on another dish from Aqua al 2. I ordered it on my first visit there, and whether it was a good accompaniment for the rest of my meal or not, I ordered it on pretty much every visit thereafter. The restaurant’s version is less creamy, but I like the way the cream balances the sharpness of the vegetable. As the radicchio cooks, it softens and sweetens, but still leaves hints of its assertive bitterness.
Serves 4 as side dish
1 large head radicchio
½ cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp kosher salt
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Trim the stem, and remove any loose leaves from the radicchio.
Cut the head into quarters, through the stem end.
Peel, trim, and microplane the garlic.
Mix cream, microplaned garlic, salt, and tomato paste until smooth.
Arrange the quarters in an ovenproof dish.
Pour tomato, cream, and garlic mixture over the radicchio quarters.
Bake until the radicchio is soft and the cream mixture is bubbling.
Top with grated parmesan and serve immediately.
Coda alla Vaccinara
I only discovered this dish a few years ago, and since then I’ve been wondering “Why wasn’t this in my life for all that time?” because it’s amazing. The unlikely combination of celery, tomatoes, cinnamon, and yeah … raisins, make a rich sweet and slightly sour sauce that perfectly balances the otherwise overwhelming richness of the oxtail. The cut itself is so rich in collagen that stocks made with it will gel when chilled, and that makes the sauce seem downright luxurious. Serve with polenta, the cauliflower polenta below, or just some good bread.
Serves 4
2 lbs. oxtail
2 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1 cup red wine
2 cups chicken or beef stock
¼ cup raisins
½ cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
4 stalks celery
1 medium onion
1 small carrot
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic
Preheat your oven to 300°F
Season the oxtail heavily with salt and brown the oxtail in a large oven proof pan or Dutch oven.
Add the tomatoes, raisins, stock, red wine, cinnamon, bay leaf, and cloves to the pot and bring to a low simmer.
Peel, trim, and quarter the onion.
Clean the celery stalks and cut three of them into 4-6 inch pieces. Reserve the additional stalk for later.
Clean the carrot.
Tuck the carrot, celery, and onion quarters into the stew.
Transfer to the oven and allow to cook for 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Remove from the oven, and remove and discard the onion, carrot, and celery.
Remove the oxtail pieces and use the back of a spoon to smash any large tomato pieces.
Skim off excess fat.
Peel, trim, and mince the garlic.
Slice the celery into thin slices.
Add the 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, two cloves of garlic, and sliced celery to the pot.
Return the oxtail to the pot.
Return to the oven to cook for another hour.
Cauliflower ‘polenta’
I’ve been critical of the “cauliflower everything” trend in the last few years but playing around with this dish has made me question that criticism. Some people would call it cauliflower risotto, but I like to think of it more as an analog for a rustic polenta than the technique intensive Venetian rice dish. I add a bit of corn starch to help replicate the viscousness of real polenta, but you can opt to leave it out if you have sensitivities to starch.
Serves 4 as a side dish
1 small head cauliflower
½ cup heavy cream
2 tbsp cold water
2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp kosher salt
Wash, and remove any green leaves from the cauliflower.
Cut the florets away from the stems, discarding the stem or reserving for later use.
Working in batches, place the florets in the container of a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower has the texture of a very coarse meal.
Add cream and salt to a thick bottomed pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
Mix the cornstarch and water into a slurry and stir into the simmering cream.
As soon as the mixture begins to thicken, add the cauliflower and reduce the heat to the lowest setting.
Cook until the cauliflower is soft, but still has structure, about 20 minutes.
Serve topped with melted butter and grated parmesan cheese.
Crostata Ricotta e Visciole
In case it hasn’t been obvious from other editions of this newsletter, I love cherries. They’re possibly my favorite fruit – if you discount pineapple in the presence of rum – and while I really enjoy fresh summer cherries, one of the things I truly love about the fruit is the way it’s essentially cherry-ness still shines through all manners of preservation.
In this take on a Roman Jewish ricotta and sour cherry pie, I use dried sour cherries boiled in sugar syrup until they plump back up. You can opt to use that method, or just use jarred or canned cherries – Amerena cherries will work if you rinse off the syrup, but don’t use American-style maraschino cherries as the overwhelming artificial almond flavor, plasticine red color, and strange crunch won’t work well with the pie.
Makes one pie
1/2 cup sour cherries in syrup
2 cups AP flour
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar (divided)
1 stick unsalted butter
2 tbsp water (opt)
15 oz whole milk ricotta
4 eggs
Pinch of salt
For the dough:
Add 2 cups AP flour to the bowl of a mixer or to a food processor.
Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour.
Process or mix until the texture resembles cornmeal.
Add ½ cup granulated sugar, a pinch of salt, and stir to combine.
Add 2 eggs and process until a dough begins to form. If the dough is very dry (such as if the eggs are smaller or you’re in a very dry climate, add up to 2 tbsp cold water) until the dough forms.
Wrap the dough and chill for at least 30 minutes.
For the filling:
Whisk together 15 oz whole milk ricotta, 1 beaten egg, and ¾ cup granulated sugar.
To assemble and bake:
Preheat your oven to 450°F
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into two uneven pieces. One should be twice the size of the second.
Roll out the large piece and line a spring form pan, pushing the dough up the sides of the pan.
Add the cheese mixture, and top with cherries, using a spatula to press the cherries into the cheese.
Roll out the second piece of dough into a disk.
Beat 1 egg until smooth.
Fold down the high edges of the dough along the side of the pan.
Brush the folded dough with egg and top with the disk of rolled dough, pressing the edges down with a spatula.
Brush the remaining egg over the top of the pie.
Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before unforming.
Garnish with confectioners’ sugar.
Hi Drew, I really enjoy reading your weekly menus. I finally made one of the dishes, the fennel salad, and it was delicious - 10/10 will do it again. Hope you are doing well!