Everybody loves Italian food. There may not be any arguments over that but one thing is for certain, the art behind executing Italian cuisine is criminally underrated. Most people think that it is all about cheese and tomato but it is way more intricate than meets the eye. So, we paired up with Cristiano Marrosu, Chef de Cuisine and MD Arafat Rahman, Demi Chef De Partie of Prego at The Westin Dhaka to bring the Italian culinary art straight to your home.
Eggplant parmigiana
Ingredients
1000gm eggplant
200gm cheese mozzarella
160gm cheese parmesan
700ml tomato sauce
100gm flour
700ml soybean oil
50gm salt
20gm pepper
10gm basil leaf
Preparation
At first, peel the eggplant and slice it. Once that has been done, dust the slice of eggplant with flour and egg, and proceed to fry it in high heat oil till it turns golden brown in colour.
After doing that, take a baking tray and put the sliced eggplant and put a dollop of tomato sauce, sprinkle of salt, pepper and mozzarella cheese. Make three layers of this and top it off with some extra parmesan cheese and bake for 3-4 minutes and viola! Your eggplant parmigiana is ready to be served with some tomato coulis, parmesan toast and parsley chops.
Zuppadi pesce (seafood soup)
Ingredients
40gm squid
40gm fish
40gm prawn
20gm mussels
10ml olive oil
10gm butter
5gm salt
5gm pepper
For tomato sauce
100gm fresh tomato
35gm peeled tomato
2gm garlic
2gm onion
2gm celery
Preparation
Take a pan, pour olive oil and heat it. We then proceed to add garlic and let it stay in the pan till it turns golden brown, add mixed fish and lobster followed by tomato sauce. Add tomato sauce until the mixture receives a balanced thickness and cook the mixture for 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of salt and paper, add basil pesto and serve with garlic toast.
Margherita pizza
Ingredients
For pizza dough
800gm flour
40ml extra virgin olive oil
15gm salt
2gm dry yeast
For sauce
600gm peel tomato can
20gm salt
5gm pepper
5gm basil leaf
For topping
480gm mozzarella cheese
8gm basil leaf
Preparation
In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Take another bowl and stir together, 200 grams (a little less than 1 cup) of lukewarm tap water, yeast and olive oil. Pour flour into the mixture. Knead with hands for approximately 3 minutes until the mixture is well combined and let it rest for 15 minutes when done. Kneed it again for 3 minutes. Cut the dough into two equal pieces and shape it into a ball. Place the ball on a heavily floured surface, cover the ball with a damp cloth and let it rest for 3-4 hours at room temperature or 8-24 hours in the refrigerator. If you choose refrigeration, remember to remove the dough from the fridge 30 to 45 minutes before beginning to shape it like a pizza.
To make the pizza, place the ball of dough on the heavily floured surface and use fingers to stretch it, then use hands to shape it into spheres or squares. Pour in the topic and let it bake 8 to 12 minutes and everyone’s go-to Italian dish is ready to sweep you off your feet.
Lobster with linguini
Ingredients
600gm linguine pasta
1000gm lobster
264gm prawn
320gm cherry tomato
240gm tomato sauce
120gm Thai chilli
40gm basil
120gm parsley
120gm olive oil
20gm salt
10gm pepper
Preparation
Heat a large straight sided skillet over medium heat and add olive oil, slice garlic and red pepper, and cook till golden brown. Gently place the lobster upside down and cook for a while. Add prawn, salt, pepper and tomato puree. Stir to combine and then lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
Now, comes the linguini, which is basically spaghetti. We need to cook it for about 10 minutes. Using a tong, remove the pasta from the water and add it directly to the pan with the rest of the content. Combine all the ingredients and add basil leaf, parsley and extra virgin olive oil. Serve with black olive toast, parsley and chopped olive. Looks as good as it tastes!
Spring chicken with spicy sauce
Ingredients
For Chicken
3200gm baby chicken whole boneless
200ml chicken jus
40gm pepper
20gm chilli flakes
For Salad
100gms lollo rosso
100gm ice berg
100gm radicchio
100gm roman
40gm salt
20gm pepper
100ml olive oil
80gm butter
200gm French fries
200gm potato
Preparation
Place the salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne and paprika in a spice grinder and grind till it becomes a fine powder. Set aside one tablespoon of the powder and thoroughly mix the rest with the entire chicken. Let the seasoned chicken rest for about 30-45 minutes. Next thing to do is prepare a charcoal barbecue. Once the coals are glowing, grill the chicken on each side for 5-7 minutes until the skin is slightly charred, then transfer the chicken to a grill-proof aluminium tray. Add olive oil to the tablespoon of powder that was set aside at the beginning and brush it over the entire chicken. Return the pan to the barbecue and cook at 200-225 degrees for 20-30 minutes. This can also be done in an oven. Garnish the dish with fresh rosemary and serve with hot sauce.
Pannacotta with strawberry sauce
Ingredients for 4 portions
1000gm fresh cream
1000gm fresh milk
400gm sugar
14ml vanilla essence
120gm gelatin
250gm strawberry puree
100gm sugar
Preparation
Soak the gelatin leaves in a little cold water until it turns soft. Place the milk, cream, vanilla pod, sugar and seeds into a pan and boil gently. Remove the vanilla pod and discard. After squeezing the water of the gelatin leaves, add them to the pan and let it hit and start stirring till the gelatin has dissolved. Divide the mixture into four ramekins and leave it to cool. Place the ramekins into the fridge for at least an hour. Turn the ramekin onto a serving plate and pour the sauce over it. Use a little mint to garnish and dust with icing sugar.
Photographs by Abu Naser