Torta della Nonna

Ingredients (makes one 24cm round crostata plus some extras for biscuits)

for pastry
350 gr plain flour
150 gr white sugar
80 gr unsalted butter
3 level tsp baking powder

for crema
500gr milk
400gr sugar
4 eggs
half lemon zest

Without pinenuts

original recipe with pinenuts

Method

Start heating up the milk at medium fire and beat the eggs and sugar with a electric whisker in the meantime until pale and fluffy. When the milk is boiling, toss the lemonzest, turn the heat lower, pour gently the whisked eggs in and stir continually until the cream has been absorbed.
Now pour the flour in using a sieve and keep stirring until the cream is as thick as at your convenience.
This step is tricky. If the cream is too loose, it might soak the bottom of the Crostata.
You will learn it with experience.
When ready, leave to cook down for three hours.

Now, turn on the oven on 180C, 170C if fan assisted.
In a bowl mix sugar, flour, baking powder, crack the eggs and chop up  the cold butter in little cubes.
For a wonderful pastry the sugar needs to be cold.
With all the ingredients try to make a ball shaped dough, not sticky. If it is sticky, add just some flour.
When ready, lay the pastry onto the surface of the tin, and on the sides 1cm thick.
Pour the cream on the pastry and sprinkle some pine nuts on top.

The oven should be well hot by now.
Put the Crostata in the oven and wait for 20 minutes at least until golden brown.
This is very important: wait at least three hours until removing from the tin.
If you like it more brown, leave it in for 10 extra minutes. The Crostata will be more crunchy.
Sprinkle some icing sugar for a professional touch
Wait at least half an hour.


Tips
Soaking base? no, thank you. Check out the temperature of the oven. The oven should be on for 20 minutes before baking so the heat will give a big slap to the base. 

As an alternative of the crema, you may use jam. Be careful. It should not be too liquid or the base of the Crostata will soak up. And you could also use Nutella
Another alternative is given by using brown sugar instead of white. This is a tremendous version. Very yummy and healthier, as the brown sugar has been processed less in the factories.
Talking about the Alchermes, which is pretty impossible to find in the UK, I suggest to find some colorant in the groceries like Dr Oetker's.

Besciamella: the rule of 5

The second ingredient to get ready for Lasagne bolognese. The taste is really up to your favour about nutmeg. The more you like it, the more you add it but, mind you, not too much.

The rule of 5 is about quantity.

For every 500gr of milk, you need 50 gr of butter and 50gr of flour.

Get things done

Pour the milk in a boiling pan with the butter at medium fire and stir continually.

When the milk is boiling, gently sieve the  flour in, while stirring until the flour is completely absorbed.

The more you stir, the thicker the Besciamella sauce will be. Let's say in 4 minutes, it should have the thickness of a yogurt.

Move the pan away from the fire and season with salt and a pinch or two of nutmeg, depending on how much you love it. Period. The Besciamella sauce is ready.

Ideas

Perfect when preparing Lasagne, but also with Baked pasta!!

Have you ever had Baked pasta with Besciamella and Broccoli?

Fantastic! Soon the recipe

Ragù bolognese. My take

One of the ingredients of Lasagne bolognese, in order of time the Ragu sauce is the first to be prepared, ideally the day before as the sauce needs to settle and the ingredients mix better.

Officially gets its origin two centuries ago, from a cookery book of the famous chef Pellegrino Artusi. There are a few variations but here I describe my take.

First thing is the Soffritto which is the veggy base of the dish.
Get a bunch of parsley, a medium carrot, a onion, a stick of celery and chop them up finely. Chuck them in a large pan with three spoonfuls of olive oil. At medium fire, begin to stir the ingredients while sizzling. 

Keep stirring until this base is brownish colored, then add 500gr of your favorite mince meat.
The original recipe says beef, but you can use lamb instead, or add up two sausages to give strength to the sauce.
Stir the meat until it is dark brown and has lost all the liquid, then add one glass of red wine.
I would suggest a fantastic Chianti wine, which is one of the most famous red wine and produced in Tuscany, the region I come from.
If not possible, choose a good full bodied red wine from Italy.

When the wine has vaporized, meaning the alcohol has left the sauce, I'm afraid, add 200-300gr of Italian tomato sauce. Please, choose an Italian brand of peeled or chopped tomatoes, like Cirio.
Add two glasses of water and leave it to cook at low fire for three hours, adding up water if needed.

The sauce will be ready the next day.

Ragu bolognese at cookery class of August 2013