Cooking Class with Howie and Sue!

On Saturday, we had a lovely cooking class here at the B&B.

Our guests, Howie and Sue, are experienced cooks. Howie actually gives cooking classes to seniors in Berkshire, MA where he and Sue live. We had a lovely afternoon in our kitchen, cutting and chopping and mixing and talking.

On the menu were cannollini with Carne e Erbete Stuffing. This recipe has been in my family for generations. My mother and grandparents used it for most family Christmases. It can be used for a variety of purposes: my family would make ravioli with it, preferably con brodo. It can be adapted by substituting sausage and chestnuts for the meat, and serves as a fantastic turkey stuffing at Thanksgiving.

We gave the filling a Piemontese flair by using organic Piemontese Veal and Pork neck meat, and Piemontese Erbete as the green. You can use any type of green, from rucola to spinach to swiss chard to bok choy.

Our second course was Torta di Verze, or Savoy Cabbage Torta, for which the recipe can be found here.

Carne e Erbete Stuffing

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup butter

1 large red onion, very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon tomato paste

1 cup quality white wine

¾ pound boneless chicken, veal, pork, or beef

1 pound washed spinach or local greens, blanched and squeezed dry

½ to 1 cup of bread crumbs

2 eggs

1 cup grated Reggiano Parmesan

1-2 bay leaf

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

salt and pepper

Melt butter and oil together in a large pan. Gently cook the onion, garlic, parsley, bay leaf, nutmeg, and a bit of salt and pepper.

Add the tomato paste and continue to simmer until golden.

Then add the wine.

Cook off the wine, and add your boned meats. Simmer until meats are cooked through, adding a little wine if needed. When the meati is cooked through, take out of pan, let cool for a few minutes, and chop finely. Add back to sauce, and add the spinach and the bread crumbs. Mix well and let brown a bit.

Remove from heat and add 2 eggs and the cheese. If stuffing is too soft add more crumbs.

Let cool.