Paste Genovesi Cookies From Genova Recipes

TIMBALLO GENOVESE

Steps:

• For the sauce: Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the oil. Season the meat evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt and add to the hot pan. Cook until the meat is deep brown on the first side, about 4 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until deep, dark brown, an additional 3 minutes on each side. Remove the meat to a plate.
• Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions and an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the bits from the bottom and coating the onions in the oil from the pan. Cook the onions, stirring often, until deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Add the garlic, carrots and celery and cook until fragrant and soft, another 2 minutes. Clear a little space in the pan so you can see the bottom. Add the tomato paste to that spot and toast the paste, stirring often, until deep red, about 2 minutes. Stir the paste into the vegetables and deglaze with the Marsala. Simmer for 3 minutes to reduce slightly. Place the meat back into the pan and add 3 cups water to cover three-quarters of the way. Nestle the Parmesan rind into the sauce. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cover with a lid just slightly ajar and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until slightly reduced and the onions are practically melted into the sauce, about 2 1/2 hours.
• Season with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Remove the piece of meat and the cheese rind. Discard the rind and save the beef for another use. Using a handheld immersion blender, pulse the sauce to even out the consistency. Stir in the butter until combined. Remove 1 1/2 cups of the sauce and reserve for the assembly.
• For the meatballs: Preheat the broiler to high.
• Mix together the milk, bread and egg with a fork in a medium bowl and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes to thicken. Stir in the Parmesan, oregano and salt. Using your hands, mix in the beef until just combined. With damp hands, scoop 1/2-teaspoon mounds and roll into uniform balls. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil until browned, about 7 minutes. Set aside.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
• For the filling: Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and bacon and cook, stirring often, until the bacon is crispy and browned, about 5 minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat. Stir in the peas and salt and remove from the heat.
• For the assembly: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season well with salt. Add the pasta and cook for 2 minutes. Using tongs, remove the pasta from the water and add directly to the sauce in the Dutch oven. Sprinkle the bare pasta with 1 1/2 cups Parmesan and toss well with the sauce. Add 1/2 cup pasta water to loosen slightly and help the sauce coat the pasta, if needed.
• Using the tongs, place half of the sauced pasta in the bottom of a springform pan. Spread 1/2 cup of the reserved sauce on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with the smoked provolone. Follow with the pea mixture, then the meatballs. Sprinkle the meatballs with 1/2 cup Parmesan. Press down slightly to pack. Top with the remaining pasta and 1 cup reserved sauce. Press gently to compress. Top the pasta with the remaining 1 cup Parmesan.
• Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown on top, 50 to 60 minutes. Allow the timbale to rest for 30 minutes before running a knife around the edge and unmolding. Slice with a thin, sharp knife to serve.

CLASSIC GENOISE

Steps:

• Place a 1-quart saucepan half filled with water over high heat and bring it to a simmer. Make a double boiler by setting a large mixing bowl over the simmering water. Place the whole eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and honey in the mixing bowl and make an egg foam by whisking the mixture to 113 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 7 to 10 minutes. The egg foam passes through various stages becoming foamy, then smooth and finally it thickens. When it is thick, it will be hot to the touch, tripled in volume, and light in color and the sugar will have completely dissolved. If you dip the whisk into the mixture and pull it out, the batter should fall back into the bowl in a thick ribbon.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the heat and whip the batter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until it cools, increases in volume, stiffens slightly and becomes pale yellow, about 7 to 10 minutes. Take the time to whip it well; if the mixture is under whipped, the baked genoise will be dense. Very, very carefully, fold in the flour with a rubber spatula until the flour is no longer visible, making sure to fold to the bottom of the bowl. Do not over mix or the batter will deflate. Fill buttered and parchment paper-lined 8-inch round cake pans 3/4 full with batter. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven until well-risen and golden brown, about 30 minutes.
• Let the genoise cool slightly. Unmold, remove parchment paper and finish cooling on a wire rack. The baked genoise can be stored in the freezer for 2 to 3 weeks if well wrapped in plastic wrap. Return it to room temperature before using it.
• VARIATION: Make this recipe into a Chocolate Genoise by substituting unsweetened cocoa powder for 10 to 20 percent of the weight (a scant 1/4 cup to a full 1/3 cup) of the flour. Weigh the cocoa powder before you sift it.
• Jacques' Tip: Genoise can be made with butter. In this recipe, you can substitute butter (5 1/2 tablespoons) for the 3 large egg yolks. Melt and cool the butter and fold it in after the flour is added.

PASTA ALLA GENOVESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the onions in the boiling water, and cook, covered, 15 minutes. Drain the onions, and let cool a bit, then slice very thinly.
• Heat half the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat; stir in the carrots, celery and bacon, and cook for 4 minutes. Add the beef, then cover with the onions. Pour the remaining oil over the onions, then sprinkle with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover, bring to a simmer and cook gently until the beef is tender, about 2 hours; the onions will release a good deal of liquid.
• Uncover the pot and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring more frequently as the liquid reduces and lowering the heat as necessary to prevent scorching, until the meat has fallen apart and the sauce is creamy, about 45 minutes. Stir in the wine and taste, adding more wine if desired. Reduce the heat to low, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is glossy and quite thick, about 15 minutes more.
• Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then drain and toss with the sauce. Stir in Parmesan to taste, then serve.

RIGATONI ALLA GENOVESE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook pancetta until most of fat is rendered out, about 6 minutes. Remove cooked pancetta with a slotted spoon and save.
• Raise heat to high and transfer meat to the pot. Season with salt. Cook and stir until liquid releases from beef and begins to evaporate, and meat browns, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium-high. Add celery, carrots, reserved cooked pancetta, salt and pepper. Cook and stir about 5 minutes. Add a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste, bay leaf, and white wine. Cook and stir, scraping up the brownings from the bottom of the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sliced onions. Reduce heat to medium. Cover pot and cook 30 minutes without stirring. After 30 minutes, stir onions and meat until well mixed. Cover again, and cook another 30 minutes. Stir.
• Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered 8 to 10 hours, stirring occasionally. Skim off fat as mixture cooks. If sauce seems to reduce too much, add water or broth as needed to maintain a sauce-like consistency. Cook until beef and onions seem to melt into each other.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until just barely al dente, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain.
• Add rigatoni to the sauce and cook until heated through. Serve topped with a pinch of marjoram and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.