Joe Trivelli’s Recipes for Crostini, Gnocchi, Fig Pork, and Chocolate Amaretto Cake | food

DrAdvertising used to criticize us kids when we said we “loved” certain foods, as it sounded so preposterous to his Italian ears. Love was reserved for people, but with true love, my father dealt with some 100 Tuscan Olive trees make olive oil that our whole family eats all year long. He also delivers three special bottles of olive oil to our kids’ home with labels printed that say something like: “This bottle of olive oil is made for the sole enjoyment of my granddaughter…” Elsa says she just taps (her words) on everything. Even a food you don’t like, like broccoli. She is not mistaken.

My brother and his sons helped us with this year’s harvest and sent us a few bottles of thick green oil. The typical tasting notes are cut grass, raw artichokes and a chili end in the throat that can take your breath away. All of the recipes here lend themselves to being infused with this, but adding more black pepper or a sprinkle of dried chili pepper is what I’d add if I didn’t have that on hand.

Cooking with this oil for a few months finds me at my happiest and I feel blessed that this food culture has found me. All of my shirts pay the price for oversaturation. For now, I’m very happy with things.

Mix crostini

The selection of toast is my favorite and totally unmissable in the fall. The bean pie is a favorite of my sister-in-law, who can hang it from the skillet and do without the bread altogether. Chianti may be the most appropriate wine for chicken livers, but use any; The sweet wine is especially good, and a raw dash of it at the end really freshens things up. serves 4

Sourdough bread 8 slices

For the chicken liver crostino:
red onions ½
garlic 1 clovepeeled
sage leaves 5
Salted capers 1 tbsp
Chicken liver 250 gr
olive oil
Anchovy fillet 4
Chianti, or another red wine 350 ml
salt

For the other crostini:
Cannellini beans 100 grSoak overnight in cold water
garlic 6 clovespeeled
Bay leaves few
salt
olive oil
fennel 1 bulb
Lemon juice 1
hard cheese finely grated
Savoy cabbage ¼

To prepare the chicken liver, finely chop the onion, chop the garlic and sage. Rinse the capers. Clean the liver of any attached tissue.

Put onions and garlic to sweat 2 tbsp of olive oil for 8 minutes on the lowest heat until tender. Add the anchovies, capers and sage and let them simmer for a few more minutes. Now add the liver, raise the heat to medium and cook, flipping it when it starts to change color. At this point, add about 300 ml of wine, and continue to cook, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the wine is almost dry and the livers are of firm consistency and are just cooked through. This should be about 10 minutes.

At this point, turn off the heat and, using a spoon, remove the livers onto a clean cutting board, without wasting any of the surrounding sauce. Shred the liver by hand or with a food processor (this saves a lot of mess, but be careful not to over process the liver until it’s completely smooth—some texture is welcome). Return them to the pan and turn the heat back on. Stir, then add after 1 minute the remaining wine and another 3 tbsp of olive oil. Taste and season, and set aside while you prepare everything else.

Bring the beans to a boil with 4 of Garlic cloves and bay leaf from the cold. Once it’s boiling, flip it to a simmer and cook until tender—you can overcook it without worry. It should take about 50 minutes, but this can vary. Top up the water level as necessary. Once cooked, drain almost all of the water, and season with salt and 3 tbsp of olive oil and stir to mash. If it is hard, you can use a potato masher.

Slice the fennel as thinly as possible using a mandolin, processor, or a sharp, clever knife. Lemon is added to it, a small pinch of salt, grated cheese, and 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Cut cabbage leaves and wash them. Boil a pot of salted water with a clove of garlic. Allow the garlic to boil for 5 minutes before adding the cabbage and simmering for another 7 minutes, until completely soft.

When it’s time to serve, check that everything is warm, toast the bread, cut it into small pieces, rub with the last bit of garlic and place on top of each slice individually. Cover some with the fennel, then use tongs or a spatula to lift the cabbage, while still moist, onto the bread until softened with a splash of the cabbage water. Then cover the remainder with the warm liver and cannellini, respectively. Add plenty of olive oil and serve at once.

Gnocchi with black cabbage

The long cooking of cavulo is key. Get rid of the ribs and the flat bottom part of the leaves. serves 2

garlic 3 clovespeeled
black cabbage 2 packagesAround 600 gr
an egg 1
Parmesan cheese 100 gr grated, plus more to dust
flour 60 grams
olive oil
salt

Boil a pot of salted water with the garlic. Boil the cavolo nero for 10-15 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon in a colander. You can save the pot of water to cook the gnocchi later, instead of wasting it.

Once it’s cool enough, give the cavolo nero a gentle squeeze and chop it as hard as you can. Transfer to a large bowl, then add the beaten eggs and cheese. Sift in three-quarters of the flour and mix lightly with your fingers. If it seems stiff enough to hold its shape, go ahead, otherwise use the rest of the flour.

Shape between wet fingers into cubes about 2 cm square. Place it on a large floured plate or board even before you are ready to eat.

To cook, bring a large, deep pot of salted water to a boil, then boil the gnocchi for 5 minutes in a large skillet. Remove from heat with a slotted spoon directly to a serving dish, drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with additional grated Parmesan.

Grilled pork with figs

A thick double slice of pork chop is enough 2 persons – You can, of course, use regular thinners and reduce the cooking time. serves 4

Pork chops 2, cut about 5 cm thick
Salt and Pepper
dried fog 8
vinyl seeds 24
Branches of rosemary, sage and thyme
Lemon 1
olive oil

Season the slices well with salt and set aside. Soak the figs in a cup of boiling water with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C / gas mark 4.

He tore a hole in each fig and placed it inside 3 fennel seeds, a sprig of rosemary, a pinch of salt and a slice of lemon peel. Place on a square of baking paper, drizzle with oil, dust with water and bake for 8 minutes.

To cook pork, collect the herbs. Heat the grill pan on the stove. Pour a little oil over the pork and fry for 4-5 minutes, until golden. Add half of the herbs. Flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Add the rest of the herbs. Remove from heat, pour in more oil, squeeze over lemon juice, add to skillet with figs and transfer to oven for 7 minutes.

Remove and let it rest before slicing and serving with extra raw olive oil or a very fine grind of black pepper.

Amaretto chocolate cake

This is a lively and decadent cake with a whisper of ganache on top—it seems to keep moist and even gets better with age. serves 8

flour 150 gr
ground almonds 150 gr
Baking powder 2 level Teaspoon
olive oil 285 gramsPlus more lubrication
Sugar 190 grams
salt a pinch
egg 3
Lemon zest ½
cacao 30 grams
Vanilla 1 tbsp
amaretto 50 mlplus a few extras

For the ganache:
dark chocolate 90 grams
olive oil 10 grams

Preheat the oven to 160°C / gas mark 3. Put a circle of baking paper in a 20 cm cake tin and grease it with oil. Mix flour, almonds and baking powder. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, mix the olive oil, sugar, salt, and eggs for 3 minutes until the mixture becomes thick. Gently mix the lemon peel and cocoa. Then add the flour and almond mixture, then the vanilla and amaretto. Pour into a cake pan and bake for 35 minutes. Turn on the rack.

For the ganache, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Put a small bowl covered with broken chocolate and olive oil and turn off the heat. When it’s melted, drizzle an extra dose of amaretto over the cake before spooning it over the ganache.

Joe Trevelli is Joint Executive Chef at River Café in West London

Food design by Henrietta Clancy