The Christmas Menu: Ideas for the festive table
Dec 17, 2022
THE CHRISTMAS MENU
Ideas for the holiday table
The holidays have begun, and with them a long sequence of lunches and dinners where we can all spend good times together in the company of our loved ones... and excellent food!
But how to set your tables?
If you are short of ideas or simply looking for inspiration, we offer you our interpretation of the Christmas (or simply holiday) menu with refined, quality products for each course.
THE APPETIZER
An excellent simple and tasty base for preparing your appetizer can be French Pan Brioche , our proposal is to accompany it with another specialty from France: Foie Grais .
Cut the Brioche Pan into slices and toast it lightly, just enough to create a golden and crunchy crust on the outside while keeping the inside soft.
Then cover it with a light layer of Foie Gras, just enough to not make the starter too heavy.
As a finishing touch you can add a few grains of coarse or flaked salt.
If you prefer a classic holiday combination, you can garnish the Pan Brioche with salted butter and a few slices of smoked salmon.
DISCOVER OUR BRIOCHE BREAD
DISCOVER FOIE GRAS ROUGIÉ
THE FIRST
For the first course let's take one of the excellences of the Italian tradition, Campofilone Egg Pasta, to be combined with Porcini Mushrooms.
For this recipe we will use tagliatelle from the Cinque Ragazze restaurant and dried porcini mushrooms from Satamaria.
First of all we proceed to rehydrate the porcini mushrooms.
To do this we can simply immerse them in warm water or alternatively, if we prefer to tone down the bitter taste of the dried porcini mushrooms, in milk.
We will leave them to soak for 30 minutes, when there are 5/10 minutes left for them to be ready we can heat the water for cooking the pasta (the time will obviously depend on how much water you have to heat).
Drain the Porcini mushrooms and prepare the pan for the sauté, pouring in a drizzle of oil and a clove of garlic, then heat.
Once hot enough, throw in the porcini mushrooms and let them fry for 2/3 minutes, stirring everything regularly. When they are ready, turn off the heat, remove the garlic and cover with a lid to maintain the heat.
In the meantime, when the water comes to the boil, add the salt and then the pasta, leaving it to cook for a minute. It is important not to mix the pasta but to "caress" it when it emerges on the surface.
Once ready, drain the pasta and throw it in the pan with the Porcini mushrooms, add a pinch of parsley, then mix to mix everything well.
Our Egg Pasta with porcini mushrooms is ready to be served.
DISCOVER THE FIVE GIRLS NOODLES
DISCOVER SANTAMARIA PORCINI MUSHROOMS
THE SECOND ONE
For the second course we propose winter holiday classics: Cotechino and Zampone , both from Salumificio Bazza.
First of all, let's describe the difference between the two: Zampone is made up of selected pork meat stuffed inside the skin of the pig's leg, while Cotechino uses less noble cuts (but no less tasty) which are lightly spiced and stuffed into sausages. in natural guts.
Cooking the cotechino, although long, is still very simple: immerse the cotechino in a pan of cold water and leave it to rest for at least 2 hours. Insert 2/3 toothpicks halfway down the length, to prevent it from breaking during cooking, and turn on the heat until it reaches the boil.Then lower the heat and leave to cook slowly for 2.5/3 hours.
However, if you don't have time to manage long cooking, but don't want to give up quality, Bazza offers the same products in a pre-cooked version through a particular technique: Tyndalization, a double cooking at low temperatures, which allows you to maintain all the characteristics of the 'fresh sausage compared to classic autoclave cooking.
The preparation is very simple: immerse the closed bag in boiling water and leave it to boil for 25 minutes. Then cut the corner of the bag and empty the liquid formed inside, then you can serve the contents.
DISCOVER THE ZAMPONE AND COTECHINO FROM THE BAZZA SALUMIFICIO
To accompany the courses there are two side dishes par excellence: mashed potatoes and lentils.
To make an excellent puree, we recommend Potatoes from Rotzo, a locality in the upper Vicenza area in the Asiago Plateau area, a guarantee of a unique consistency and taste.
For lentils, however, we recommend the PGI from Castelluccio di Norcia, small and very tasty.
Of course, these options can leave you undecided about which pairing to choose.
Our advice? Try them all!
A couple of slices for each sausage together with a fair portion of side dishes creates an excellent, rich dish, but without exaggerating.
Also because you always have to leave space for dessert..
THE SWEET
Finally, the quintessential holiday desserts cannot be missing: Panettone and Pandoro .
There isn't much need for introductions here, regardless of the version you prefer, everyone will find the most suitable flavor in our proposals.
The perfect match? With Mascarpone Cream!
DISCOVER ALL OUR CHRISTMAS LEAVENED PRODUCTS
For those who are looking for something more original we suggest... Il Babànettone!
We wanted to combine the tradition of Northern and Southern Italy by creating Babà in Jars with Raisins and Candied Fruits, where the typical taste of Traditional Panettone meets the sweetness and character of Neapolitan Babà, all highlighted by the leavening and cooking in the jar.
An original idea to accompany with a nice dollop of cream or to share in cubes in the middle of the dinner table.
DISCOVER OUR BABÀNETTONE
These were our proposals for your table, all we have to do is wish you Bon Appetit.. and Happy Holidays!
