Italian style dinner party

I had company over for dinner tonight and felt like experimenting. One of my guests, Emily spent a few years in Italy getting her B.A. in art history. We thought it would be fun to recreate some of the food she enjoyed in Italy, so we picked out a few recipes and gave it a try. Our meal started out with sliced bread with butter and olive oil dipping sauce. Next we had a simple green salad. Our pasta course was fusilli avellinesi pasta with pesto sauce. Next we had potato crusted salmon with tomato-basil cream sauce, and for dessert we had Tiramisu.  There were three of us in the kitchen making this menu and it got a bit hectic because these were new recipes to all of us. Luckily everything came together in the end and all the food was ready at the same time. Emily was in charge of making the pesto and she did an excellent job.

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put the basil and the pine nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times until mixed. Add the garlic and pulse a few times more. Slowly add the oil while the food processor is on. Turn off the processor and scrape down the sides if needed. Add the grated Parmesan cheese and pulse until blended. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup

We served fusilli avellinesi pasta with the pesto sauce and I included a picture of the pasta in case anyone was unfamiliar with it. We had to go to an Italian shop to find it.

My husband and I made the main course which was easy to make and was well received by all.

Potato-Crusted Salmon with Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce

6 russet potatoes
6 salmon filets, 6 to 8 ounces each
6 tablespoons, minced shallot
6 ounces dry white wine
10 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup diced tomato
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
butter
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Potato Crusted Salmon: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel and grate the potatoes. Try to work quickly because the potatoes will turn brown if exposed to the air for too long. Heat a large saute pan to medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Shape around 1/4 cup of shredded potatoes into a patty and lay in your buttered saute pan. Place the salmon on top of the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Place another 1/4 cup of potatoes on top of the fish, pressing into the fish with your spatula. You will end up doing this six times, with each salmon fillet.( My pan was not big enough to hold all six fish at a time so I had to cook these in batches). Season the potato with salt and pepper. Cook until the potatoes are golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Put the fish on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and bake for around 7 minutes in the oven, or until the salmon is cooked.

Sauce: In a separate saucepan put 3 tablespoons of butter and the shallots over medium heat and cook about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine, and cook until evaporated. Add the tomatoes, basil, and cream, and cook until sauce is thickened, about 10 minutes.
Makes 6-8 servings

Tomato-basil cream sauce

The finished salmon and pasta

Sticking with the Italian theme we chose an Italian wine to go with our meal. We drank a 2007 Michele Chiarlo Barbera D'Asti. The Barbera was full and  flavorful and tasted great with the salmon.

Emily and I made our tiramisu early in the day to give it time to chill. You may notice there is no picture of the finished tiramisu and that is on purpose. This was quite possibly the ugliest tiramisu ever, I didn't know what size pan to use so I used an 8" round cake pan and it was too big. I needed a smaller pan with higher sides. Fortunately the tiramisu ended up tasting good, but I allowed no pictures of the finished product. One of my dinner guests thought not including a picture was cheating, but this is my blog so I can make up the rules.

Tiramisu

3 eggs, seperated
3 heaping tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups mascarpone cheese, softened
1/2 cup strong coffee
3 tablespoons rum
30 cocoa flavored ladyfingers
unsweetened cocoa powder

Whip the egg whites until fluffy and white, your arm will be sore by the time the eggs are ready. In another bowl, mix the egg yolks and sugar. Mix in the mascarpone cheese, then fold in the egg whites. Pour the coffee into yet another bowl (there will be a lot of dishes to wash but that can't be helped) and add your rum and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
In a large dish (I will try a 5x9 inch loaf pan next time) spread 3 tablespoons of the mascarpone cheese mixture over the bottom. Quickly dip the ladyfingers into the coffee then layer half the cookies into your dish. Put half of the mascarpone cream over this layer, then another layer of cake and the rest of the mascarpone. Cover your dish and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Dust with cocoa powder before serving.
Serves 6

Dipping the ladyfingers

Assembling the tiramisu

We had such a great time preparing and eating this meal we decided to try to get together once a month and cook together. I believe next month we will be having Chinese food, I can't wait to find some delicious recipes to share with you.
Till tomorrow.....