The January Menu

Cheese Finger Food

200 g Ricotta
50 g Ciresino (creamy cheese)
50 g Gorgonzola DOP
50 g Parmigiano Reggiano
10 g Chives
10 g Sesame seeds
10 g Paprika in powder
10 g Poppy seeds

Chop the various types of cheese. Add them into the mixer and mix until you get a homogenous cream. Put in the fridge for some hours.
Prepare the spices. Put chives, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and paprika in different plates.

Take the cream out of the cheese. With a spoon, create some little balls. Roll each ball in one of the plates with spices.

If you don’t like spices, you can add some ingredients directly to the cream. For example you can add some grilled bell peppers, grilled zucchini, minced olives or pieces of almonds to obtain Mediterranean finger food.

Béchamel and Fontal Croquettes

200 g Béchamel
4 spoons of Grana Padano
50 g Fontal
1 Potato
2 Eggs
100 g Breadcrumbs
200 ml of vegetable Oil
Salt and Pepper

In a bowl, mix the béchamel with the yolk and the cheeses. In another bowl, grate the potato and squeeze it with the hands to let the water go out. Add it to the cheese mix. Add salt and pepper.

Put it in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Using two sppons, create the croquettes. Put each croquette in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs.

Fry in the vegetable oil until they are golden. Dry the croquettes using paper towel.

Pasta with Taleggio and Speck

Serves 2:

180 g Pasta
50 g Speck
200 g Taleggio DOP
25 g Butter
75 ml Whole Milk
2 garlic cloves
Rosmary
2 spoons of Olive oil
Pepper

Put some water in a pot. When it boils, add pasta and cook.
While it cooks, cut Taleggio in little cubes and put it in a saucepan with the milk.

In a pan, fry to garlic cloves and the rosmary with the butter and a drizzle of olive oil.
Cut the speck in little slices, add it to the garlic cloves and brown them. Add the Taleggio and the milk. Let Taleggio melt completely.

Drain the pasta and pour it in the saucepan with the Taleggio fondue.
Add pepper and serve.

Polenta Concia

Serves 6:

400 g cornmeal
400 g Ciresa Gorgonzola DOP “Dolce”
100 g Ciresa Nostrano butter
50 g Grana Padano
1,5 L water
Salt
Olive oil

Bring 1,5 L of water to boil in a large saucepan, in which you have added a teaspoon of salt and one of oil. When the water boils, gradually whisk in the cornmeal and continue to stir in order to prevent big clumps from forming until polenta is cooked.

Then, take an oven pan and grease it with Ciresa Nostrano butter. Cover the bottom of the pan with some spoons of polenta. On the top of this layer, add some cubes of Ciresa Gorgonzola DOP and some cubes of Ciresa Nostrano butter. Then, cover with a further layer of polenta and so on. The last layer should be made of Ciresa Gorgonzola DOP, grated Grana Padano and some cubes of butter.

Place in a preheated 180 °C oven for 15-20 minutes.

Chicken rolls with Taleggio DOP and bacon

Serves 4:

4 slices of chicken breast
4 slices of Ciresa Taleggio DOP
8 slices of bacon
Sage
Pepper
Ciresa Nostrano Butter
White wine

Flatten the slices of chicken and top each of them with a slice of Ciresa Taleggio DOP. Sprinkle with pepper and roll the chicken.

Place each roll on 2 slices of bacon and some leaves of sage and roll them again with these ingredients.

Put a pan on the burner to heat up with some cubes of Ciresa Nostrano Butter and, when it melts, add the chicken rolls. Add some white wine and cook them for some minutes until they are blended with the wine sauce.

Ricotta Tart

Serves 4:

500 g 00/ white flour
300 g Ciresa Ricotta
5 yolks
2 oranges
300 g Ciresa Nostrano Butter
200 g icing sugar
Salt

Cut the Nostrano Butter when it is still cold. Whip it in a mixer together with the flour, until you obtain a crumbled powder. Add 5 yolks, one at a time, the grated rind of an orange, the icing sugar and a spill of salt. Form a ball with this dough and cover it with transparent wrap. Place it on the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Spread 2/3 of the shortbread with the rolling pin until you get a 3-4 mm dough. Place it on a cake pan, covered with waxed paper. Place it in the 180° C preheated oven for 15 minutes.

In the meanwhile, prepare the cream. Add 4 yolks, 300 g of sugar and the grated rind of an orange. Add Ciresa Ricotta and stir it.

Cover the shortbread you cooked for 15 minutes with this cream.

Roll out the shortbread that is left and place it over your cake. Pay attention to seal the pastry.

Cook in a 180°C oven for 30-35 minutes.