Recipes from Guy Grossi's <i>Love Italy</i>
Herb-crusted lamb cutlets with mache and mint salad
The sweetness of young, full-flavoured lamb works beautifully with fresh herbs. The crunchy coating provides a great texture too. To avoid sogginess, make sure you don't overcrowd the pan and that the oil is just at the right temperature: too hot and the cutlets will burn quickly; too cool and they'll absorb too much oil. You can test the temperature by dropping in a tiny bit of crumb before adding the lamb – it should start to sizzle straight away.
12 French-trimmed lamb cutlets, excess fat and sinew removed
3 tablespoons finely chopped fl at-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon finely chopped sage
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
1 tablespoon grated parmesan
200g dried breadcrumbs
sea salt and cracked black pepper
100g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
200ml olive oil
Mache and mint salad
100g fresh shelled peas
100 g mache leaves (lambs' tongue lettuce)
20 mint leaves
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
50g marinated goat's cheese or feta
sea salt and cracked black pepper
1. Lightly beat the lamb cutlets until they are about 5 mm thick.
2. Combine the herbs, parmesan and breadcrumbs in a bowl and mix well. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Place the flour in a shallow bowl and the eggs in another. Lightly flour a cutlet, shaking off any excess, then dip it into the beaten egg. Place the cutlet in the herb and crumb mix, pressing the crumbs onto the meat to coat completely. Repeat with the remaining cutlets.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add the cutlets. Cook for 1–2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
4. Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the peas. Simmer for about 1–2 minutes, then drain immediately and refresh in cold water.When cool, drain the peas again and place in a large bowl with the mâche and mint leaves.
5. Make a dressing by whisking together the olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Pour over the leaves and mix well. Crumble in the goat's cheese or feta and check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve the herb-crusted lamb cutlets with the mâche and mint salad alongside.
Serves 6
Strawberry cannoli
In my version of this traditional Italian dessert, I use a crispy pastry for the cannoli shell, which really lightens up the whole dish. The tangy yoghurt ice-cream also provides great balance against the rich mousse, which in turn works really well with the freshness of the strawberries. You'll need a sugar thermometer and also some cannoli moulds (or a new broom handle cut into 14cm lengths!)
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
150 g caster sugar
750 g strawberries, hulled
75 ml verjuice
icing sugar, for dusting
For strawberry mousse
175 g caster sugar, plus 10g extra
4 egg whites
10g gold-strength gelatine leaves
1 cup (250ml) thickened cream
For cannoli dough
60 g liquid glucose
2 tablespoons caster sugar
60 g plain flour
60 g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
For yoghurt ice-cream
125 g caster sugar
150 ml thickened cream
juice and finely grated zest of 2 lemons
420 g natural Greek-style yoghurt
1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Mix the lemon zest with the sugar. Cover the base of a baking tray with most of the lemon sugar. Lay the strawberries on top and sprinkle over the remaining lemon sugar. Pour in the verjuice and cover the tray with foil. Cook for 10–15 minutes until the strawberries are just tender. Purée 350 g of the strawberries for the mousse and set aside in a saucepan. Cut the rest in half and set aside in their liquid.
2. To make the mousse, place the 175g of sugar and 2½ tablespoons of water in a saucepan and begin to heat to 121C. Just before the syrup reaches the required temperature, start to whisk the egg whites and the extra 10 g of sugar in a mixer until frothy. Once the syrup reaches 121C, slowly pour it into the egg whites, whisking on high speed.Whisk for 10 minutes until the mixture has cooled.
3. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes.Warm the reserved strawberry puree over low heat, then squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine leaves and stir them into the hot puree until dissolved.Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool slightly.Whisk the cream to soft peaks.
Fold the egg white mixture into the purée, then carefully fold through the cream. Refrigerate for 2–3 hours (but preferably overnight) until the mousse has set.
4. For the cannoli dough, preheat the oven to 170C. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor with 25ml of water until smooth.Thinly spread 9 cm × 6 cm rectangles on a baking tray lined with baking paper; the mixture should be about 1–2 mm thick. (The easiest way to do this is to draw 9 cm × 6 cm rectangles on your baking paper about 2 cm apart. Turn the paper over and use the rectangles as a guide.) Bake one tray at a time for about 7–8 minutes until golden brown, then take out and roll lengthways over a cannoli mould or clean broom handle to form cannoli.
Remove from the mould and leave to cool.You need to work quickly, otherwise the cannoli will set hard while still flat. Store in an airtight container.
5. To make the yoghurt ice-cream, whisk the sugar into the cream. Place in a pan over medium heat and heat until the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Leave to cool. Place the cream mixture in a food processor with the lemon juice, zest and yoghurt and blend together. Churn in an ice-cream machine, according to the manufacturer's instructions.
6. Assemble just before serving, otherwise the cannoli will go soggy. For each serving, fill two or three cannoli shells with strawberry mousse and place on a plate with some strawberry halves and syrup. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the yoghurt ice-cream alongside.
Serves 8
Love Italy, by Guy Grossi, Lantern (Penguin), $100.