Christmas Tortoni Recipes

CHRISTMAS TORTONI

Steps:

• Place paper or foil baking cup in each of 8 medium muffin cups, 2 1/2x1 1/4 inches. Mix cookie crumbs, almonds and 1/4 cup candied cherries; fold into ice cream.
• Divide ice-cream mixture among muffin cups. Decorate with red and green candied cherries. Freeze about 4 hours or until firm.

TORRONE (ITALIAN NUT AND NOUGAT CONFECTION)

Steps:

• Line an 8x11-inch baking dish with plastic wrap, allowing ends to hang over the sides. Place 1 sheet of 8x10 wafer paper in the bottom of the pan. Keep the roasted almonds and pistachios in a warm place until ready to add at the end. This makes it easier to mix them in.
• Pour honey into a heavy-bottomed pot. Add sugar. Mix and stir over low heat with a spatula, stirring constantly until mixture turns from grainy to silky and smooth, about 30 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
• Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl; add a pinch of salt. Whisk until whites form soft peaks, 3 to 4 minutes. Place pot back on low heat. Gradually whisk about a quarter of the whipped egg whites into the honey/sugar mixture; whisk in the remaining egg whites in 3 more batches.
• Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula until mixture turns a brighter white and a ribbon of the mixture does not immediately incorporate back into the rest of the mixture and stays intact on the surface for a while. This will take about 40 minutes. You can add a few drops of the mixture into a small bowl of ice cold water to test the consistency; ideally it should feel like soft clay.
• Whisk in vanilla and lemon zest. Add warm almonds and pistachios and stir to incorporate evenly.
• Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Even out as best you can with a clean oiled spatula. Top with 2nd sheet of wafer paper, shiny side up. Cover with plastic wrap and press down evenly, tamping mixture down gently but firmly. Remove top layer of plastic.
• Allow torrone to sit at room temperature until cool, firm, and ready to cut, 1 or 2 hours. Lift torrone from baking dish with the edges of the bottom layer of plastic wrap. Invert and remove plastic from the bottom. If the plastic wrap is difficult to remove from the edges of the torrone, you can trim off the edges.
• Cut torrone into 1-inch squares using a sharp serrated knife.

ALMOND TORTONI

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat egg white until foamy. Gradually beat in sugar, and continue beating until thick and glossy; set aside.
• Whip cream in a large bowl. Carefully fold in sherry, almond extract, macaroon crumbs, ground almonds, and chopped red and green cherries. Gently fold egg white into cream mixture.
• Spoon into 8 paper baking cups placed in medium size muffin tray. Sprinkle with slivered almonds. Cover muffin tray with clear plastic wrap, then wrap with aluminum foil. Freeze overnight.
• To serve: Let sit for 5 minutes at room temperature, then garnish with maraschino cherry halves.

TORTONI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Break the macaroons into pieces and toast them on a baking sheet until golden, dry and crumbly. Let cool. Grind to fine crumbs in a food processor. You need about 1 cup.
• Combine the sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until the syrup reaches 230 degrees on a candy thermometer.
• Meanwhile, in a mixer, whip the egg whites until they form firm peaks. By hand, whip the yolks until fluffy. In the mixer bowl, fold together the whites and yolks.
• When the sugar is ready, turn on the mixer to medium speed and, with it running, slowly pour in the syrup in a fine thread. Reduce the speed to low and whip until the mixture cools to room temperature. Mix in the vanilla.
• Whip the cream and fold it into the egg mixture.
• Line the base of a 2-quart soufflé dish (or other mold) with parchment. Spoon half the crumbs into the base. Cover with the mousse. Top with the remaining crumbs. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
• Dip the base of the dish in a bowl of hot water. Run a knife around the edge of the mold, then invert onto a plate. Cut into wedges.

CHERRY TORTONI

Steps:

• Cook cherries:
• If using frozen cherries, thaw, reserving juices. Simmer cherries, 1/2 cup sugar, and liqueur in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cherries are soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk together cornstarch and water until combined, then whisk into cherry mixture and boil 1 minute. Transfer to a shallow bowl and chill, uncovered, 1 hour.
• Make crust:
• Pulse 1 cup almonds in a food processor until finely ground (do not pulse to a paste). Transfer to a bowl and stir in wafer crumbs and butter with a fork until combined well. Pat crumb mixture evenly onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up side of buttered springform pan, then freeze while making filling, about 30 minutes.
• Make tortoni filling:
• Beat egg whites with remaining 1/3 cup sugar, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in a medium metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water using a handheld electric mixer at medium-high speed until whites just hold soft peaks and instant-read thermometer registers 170°F, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from saucepan and continue to beat whites until they just hold stiff peaks, about 2 minutes more.
• Beat cream with Marsala in another bowl at medium speed until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold in ground amaretti and half of whites gently but thoroughly. Fold in remaining whites and pour into crust in pan, smoothing top.
• Drain cherries in a sieve set over a bowl and reserve juices. Scatter cherries evenly over top of tortoni, then swirl cherries into tortoni with tip of a sharp knife for a marbled effect. Sprinkle top of tortoni with remaining 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds and freeze, loosely covered, until firm, at least 4 hours.
• Let stand in pan at room temperature 10 minutes to soften slightly before serving. Carefully remove side of pan, then cut tortoni into wedges and serve with cherry juices.

CHRISTMAS TORTELLINI SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pancetta. Cook until crisp. Add chopped onions; cook 3-4 minutes or until soft. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add chicken broth and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes., Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions; drain. Add cooked tortellini to soup mixture. Stir in crushed tomatoes; simmer for 5 minutes longer. Add spinach; cook until spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

RACHAEL RAY'S TORTONI

Steps:

• Mix together softened vanilla ice cream (you can soften it in the microwave on defrost for up to 1 minute), crushed coconut cookies, semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped cherries. Refreeze for at least 1 hour.
• When ready to serve, scoop ice cream into 6 serving bowls. Top with heated hot fudge sauce or chocolate syrup and nut topping. Garnish each sundae with a whole cherry and serve.

CHRISTMAS TORTELLINI & SPINACH SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Add tortellini; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, salt and pepper; return to a simmer. Cook 4-5 minutes longer or until tortellini are tender., Stir in spinach and basil; cook until spinach is wilted. Top servings with cheese.

TORTONI, FROZEN ALMOND CREAM DESSERT

Steps:

• Put the cookies in a small heavy-duty plastic bag and crush them with a heavy object.
• There should be about 1/4 cup crumbs.
• Combine the cream, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and almond extract in a large chilled bowl.
• Beat with a hand-held electric mixer on high speed until the cream holds soft peaks when the beaters are lifted.
• In a clean bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites with the salt on low speed until foamy.
• Gradually increase the speed and beat until the the whites hold soft peaks.
• Fold the whites into the whipped cream.
• Spoon the mixture into 8 wine goblets.
• Sprinkle the tortoni with the amaretti crumbs.
• Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
• Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving.