Passionate, inspired, bravissima: these are words often used to describe Valeria Piccini, for some years now one of the most highly regarded chefs in Italy.
Valeria Piccini, her husband Maurizio Menichetti and their son Andrea work at their restaurant and guest house Da Caino in the hilltop town of Montermerano in Tuscany. The restaurant has two Michelin stars, and their wine cellar (run by Maurizio), is widely held to be one of best stocked in Italy. Valeria is an honorary member of the prestigious association ‘Jeunes Restaurateurs D’Europe’ and Andrea is wasting no time in following in his mother’s celebrated footsteps.
Valeria says: ‘In spring I look forward to freshening the menu, making flavours lighter, using more colour. And of course this is the season that brings us a fresh supply of tender meats, like lamb from the nearby hills. You might say that I try to offer my customers dishes that reflect my personality – exciting, full of flavour and succulent!’ She laughs. ‘And in return, I think they recognise that I treat my ingredients with respect. My greatest hope is that I’m lucky enough to continue building the relationship I have with my customers, encouraging them to trust me, and come to me open to new experiences and tastes.’
Valeria suggests us the following spring recipe. Here you can prepare everything in advance and put the sandwich together just before serving.
Ingredients
(serves four people)
For the ice cream
250g ricotta (ewes’ milk ricotta if possible);
100ml full fat milk; 50g glucose; 75g sugar;
75g candied orange and citron peel; 50ml rum.
For the biscuits
150g filo pastry; 50g butter, softened;
25g icing sugar; 25g best cocoa powder;
grated chocolate for garnish.
Preparation
To make the ice cream, boil the milk with the ricotta, the glucose and the sugar. Filter, and allow to cool.
Once cold, add the rum, mix well and put into an ice cream maker. When the ice cream is ready, mix in the candied peel. Place the ice cream in a rectangular container and put in the freezer.
To make the biscuits for the ‘sandwich’, lay the filo pastry out flat. With a pastry brush, lightly butter two layers of pastry and place one on top of the other then sprinkle with the cocoa.
On top, place another two buttered layers and sprinkle with icing sugar. Place on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven at 1800C with a weight on top (for example a second baking tray of baking beans). When the pastry is about half cooked (approx. 10 minutes), cut into squares of about 6cm. then put back into oven, uncovered, until golden brown. Allow to cool.
To serve, spread a thick layer of ice cream between two biscuits and place upright on plate. Garnish with a sprinkling of grated chocolate.
(Naturally, for the biscuits you could use leftover dough from a batch of brandy snaps or similar biscuits; doní’ be afraid to experiment.)
