Food Processor

The crostini selection served at just about every restaurant near my house in Italy includes toppings of chicken livers, chopped tomatoes, and white bean purée, such as this one.We simmer the beans with tons of garlic and olive oil, and drizzle the crostini with saba, Sardinian grape must. If you can’t find saba, substitute vin cotto, a sweet, syrupy condiment that means “cooked wine,” or aged balsamico condimento. It is a nice option for vegetarians.We grill the radicchio for these crostini but gave instructions for cooking it on the stovetop because it would be unrealistic to light the grill just to cook a few leaves of the radicchio. That said, if you happen to have the grill on . . .

Matt makes a point to return to Italy every year for inspiration. On a recent trip, he happily returned with the idea for this sea urchin pasta dish, the only cold pasta we serve. I love sea urchins, or ricci. They are a delicacy of many seaside regions in Italy, such as Puglia and Sicily, but many aficionados say that the best sea urchins come from the waters off Southern California. Cooked lump crab meat is readily available at seafood stores and in the seafood sections of high-end grocery stores.

We change our gelato pies throughout the seasons—we make strawberry in the summer, pumpkin in the fall. We’ve experimented with others, such as caramel, banana, and coconut. But as good as they all are, the Meyer Lemon is the standout. The graham cracker crust, candied citrus peel, and champagne vinegar sauce turn a simple, familiar dessert into one with many layers of flavor and texture. It’s one of my favorite desserts. The recipe for the graham crackers makes double what you will need for one pie, and the vinegar sauce makes even more than double what you will need, so plan to make this recipe twice within a short period.

This is a cross between a cookie and a crostata. Orange marmalade is one of the only fruit tart fillings that we don’t make from scratch because there are so many good versions of orange marmalade available in stores. Almond meal is available in the baking section of specialty food stores. If you can’t find it, grind fresh almonds in a food processor with a small amount of confectioners’ sugar until the almonds are the texture of fine meal. You will need a 3 1/4-inch round cookie cutter to make these.

Prior to his working at Del Posto, Matt went to Italy with Mario for a story for Gourmet. The premise of the story was that Mario was taking his chefs and the general manager from Del Posto to Italy, specifically to the center of Emilia-Romagna, to show them what it was like to eat there. They ate sixty-two courses in five days and Matt had a lot of dishes to talk about, but the one he was most excited about was the ragù bolognese he had at Diana, a restaurant just outside the main piazza in Bologna. It was as if his eyes had just been opened. He called me right after that meal: “It was rich but delicate and with a touch of sweetness,” he told me. When they got back to New York, while Matt was relegated to the soup station of the kitchen, Mark Ladner and Mark’s team at Del Posto attempted to create a bolognese that captured the spirit of the one at Diana. When Matt tasted Mark’s version, he called me again, excited: “They did it!” he said. “They nailed it.” And that— the Del Posto version of the Diana bolognese—was what Matt was going for when we opened Mozza. Having eaten at Diana myself, I can also tell you that Matt nailed it. When making bolognese, the most important thing is to go slow. You never want the meat to cook directly against the pan, because you want to braise the meat, not brown it. The “secret” to it is the Soffritto, which takes several hours to make—so give yourself time. This is slow food!

It seems like just about every culture has a version of a crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth cookie made with ground nuts. In Mexico, they make Mexican wedding cookies. In the American South, they have pecan sandies. These cookies are based on a Greek version made with ground walnuts. We press a walnut half into each cookie, which looks very pretty. You will need a 1-inch round cookie cutter to make these.

Wild boar, called cinghiale, is hunted and sold all over Umbria, so as a born-again Umbrian I would feel as if I were betraying my experience of Italy if I didn’t include this ragù at my restaurant. Cutting the boar is the hardest part of this recipe, and it isn’t hard at all. The ideal is to buy frozen wild boar and cut it while it’s only partially defrosted, when it’s easier to cut.

A mixture of almonds and confectioners’ sugar ground together very finely, almond paste has a sweet flavor and is used as an ingredient in many candies.

Praline is a mixture of nuts and caramelized sugar cooked together, cooled, and finely ground. It is used as an ingredient in many candies and confections. Hazelnuts or almonds are usually used to make praline.

This nut paste infuses candies with a rich hazelnut flavor and crunchy texture.

Keep this topping in the freezer, in a resealable plastic bag, for up to 2 months; it can be used to make fruit crisps whenever you need a quick dessert. This recipe makes enough for 2 large crisps.

Try this dip with sliced green apple, toasted rustic bread, or crackers.

This pastry dough may be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month. Defrost by refrigerating overnight or letting stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

The silky texture of this puréed sauce belies the kick of its chipotle and cascabel peppers, which are similar in heat to cayenne. Serve it with chips or crudités.

Look for merguez at specialty stores, or use another spicy sausage in its place.