Italian Coffee Cake
Italian Coffee Cake (Panettone)
This is a festive sweet bread which was originally from Milan
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 deg F)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 to 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped citron
2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts (optional)
Butter or margarine, softened
Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl
Stir in sugar, 1/2 cup butter, the eggs, salt, lemon peel, vanilla extract and 2 1/2 cups of the flour
Beat until smooth
Stir in raisins, citron, pine nuts and enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes
Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up
Cover; let rise in warm place until double, 1 1/2 to 2 hours
Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched
Punch dough down; divide into halves
Shape each half into 7-inch diameter round loaf
Place loaves in 2 ungreased 8-inch round layer pans
Cut a cross 1/2 inch deep on top of each loaf
Generously grease one side of a strip of heavy brown paper, about 25 x 4 inches
Fit around inside of pan, forming a collar; fasten with paper clip
Repeat with second loaf
Cover; let rise until double, about 1 hour
Preheat oven to 350 deg F
Bake loaves until golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes
Remove paper
Brush tops with butter
Cool on rack
Makes 2 loaves
Cannelloni
Cannelloni
Tomato Sauce
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
4 cups canned tomatoes, coarsely
chopped (reserve liquid)
6 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper
Heat oil in a 2- or 3-quart saucepan until a light haze forms over it
Add onion and cook until soft
Add tomatoes with liquid and other remaining ingredients
Reduce heat to very low and simmer for 40 minutes with pan partially covered
Stir occasionally
Blend tomato mixture in blender and taste for seasoning
Correct if necessary
May be made up to a week before serving and stored in refrigerator
Makes 3 cups
Meat Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped
spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound ground round beef
5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons whipping cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Salt and pepper
Heat oil in skillet
Add onion and garlic
Cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, for 7 to 8 minutes until soft
Stir in spinach and cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly
When all the moisture has cooked away, transfer to large mixing bowl
Melt butter in same skillet and lightly brown meat, stirring
Add meat to spinach mixture
Add cheese, cream, eggs and oregano
Mix and season with salt and pepper
Besciamella
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
In a heavy 2- or 3-quart saucepan melt butter over moderate heat
Remove from heat and stir in flour
Add milk and cream all at once, stirring constantly with whisk
When the sauce comes to a boil and is smooth, reduce heat
Simmer, still stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until sauce is thick enough to coat the whisk wires heavily
Remove from heat and season with salt and white pepper
1 (1 pound) box lasagna noodles
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
To assemble cannelloni, cook lasagna until done
Cut each whole lasagne noodles into 3 equal sections
Pour a light film of the tomato sauce into 2 (14 x 10-inch) shallow baking dishes
Place 1 tablespoon of the meat filling on the bottom third of each of the pasta rectangles and roll them up
Lay the cannelloni side by side, seam-side-down, in 1 layer on the tomato sauce
Pour besciamella over cannelloni and spoon the remaining tomato sauce on top
Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the assembled cannelloni and dot with butter
Cannelloni may be assembled to this point the day before serving, then refrigerated until time to heat and serve
It may be wrapped and frozen
When ready to cook, bake cannelloni in 375 deg F oven uncovered for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce bubbling
Variation
Use tufoli or manicotti, cut in half after cooking, for pasta
For a complete meal, serve with a crisp tossed salad, a loaf of Italian bread and fresh fruit
Serves 8 to 9
Five-Spice Powder Blend
Five-Spice Powder Blend
2 tpss aniseed, crushed
2 tpss freshly ground pepper
2 tpss fennel seeds, crushed
2 tpss ground cloves
2 tpss ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tpss ground ginger
1/2 tps ground allspice
Combine all ingredients & store in an airtight container
Use to flavor fish or pork
Yields 1/4 cup