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BRUSCHETTA O CROSTINI COL VIN SANTO




Source of Recipe


KING ARTHUR FLOUR Recipe Archives at kingarthurflour.com


Recipe Introduction


When we were in Florence last fall, I ordered bruschetta at a local restaurant and got something I thought was quite awful. Since then we've found that a kind of liver paste is a traditional topping for bruschetta. The following is a version of what we learned to make there, and is quite a nice change from my first encounter.



Recipe Link: http://ww2.kingarthurflour.com/cgibin/htmlos.cgi/24152.39.6092739088413561996?

List of Ingredients




2 to 3 tablespoons (7/8 to 1 1/4 ounces) olive oil
a sprig of rosemary, minced if fresh, crumbled if dry
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large onion (2 to 3 ounces), minced
1 link (3 to 4 ounces) hot Italian sausage
1 link (3 to 4 ounces) sweet Italian sausage
10 ounces chicken livers
1/3 cup (2 5/8 ounces) vin santo** or dry sherry
1 baguette

**Vin santo, or holy wine, is made primarily in Tuscany and can be described as sherry-like, quite dry or pleasantly sweet. It's enjoyed primarily with dessert, as a "sop" for biscuits, for drizzling on cakes and, as you see above, as an ingredient in savory dishes as well. Vin santo is made from white grapes that are partially dried to concentrate their sugars. They're then pressed, and the resulting liquid is aged in small wooden casks for at least 3 years; the best vin santi is aged from 4 to 6 years.


Recipe



In a large skillet, slowly saute the rosemary, garlic and onion in the olive oil, "sweating" the mixture until the onion is half limp. Transfer to a small dish. Remove the sausage from its casing, and put it in the pan. Chop it up roughly and cook it for a couple of minutes over medium heat.

Rinse the chicken livers quickly under cold water, and add them to the pan. Cook until the sausage has begun to brown and the liver is cooked through (it's OK if it's still slightly pink in the middle). Return the onion mixture to the pan, pour in the vin santo, and cook until any brown bits on the bottom of the pan have been loosened and incorporated into the mixture, and the vin santo has been reduced by about half. Place this mixture into a blender and blend until it's a rough but homogeneous texture; you don't want it pureed.

Slice the baguette in slices about 3/4-inch thick, and toast them in a medium oven on a baking sheet until each side is slightly browned but the center is still soft. If you're going to take these bruschetta on a picnic, cut the slices a bit thinner (1/2-inch or less), and cook until the toast is dry and crisp (which makes them crostini). They'll travel better this way. To serve, scoop a good spoonful of topping onto the toast, and sit back and savor.

YIELD: about 6 servings.


VARIATION: "Crostini con i Fegatini"
This is a variation on the above theme. Leave out the sausage and flavor the liver with a little stock, a little vin santo and 1/4 cup of capers. Without the seasoning of the sausage this may need a bit of salt. Some versions include anchovies, which will provide all the salt you need.

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Nutrition information per serving (1/6 of recipe, 153g): 340 cal, 16g fat, 21g protein, 23g complex carbohydrates, 5g sugar, 2g dietary fiber, 319mg cholesterol, 647mg sodium, 240mg potassium, 2321RE vitamin A, 9mg vitamin C, 5.7mg iron, 56mg calcium, 253mg phosphorus

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This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet (r) (Vol. XII, No. 4, Spring 2001 issue). The Baking Sheet is a newsletter published six times a year by The Baker's Catalogue(r), P.O. Box 876, Norwich, Vermont 05055. (The Baking Sheet and The Baker's Catalogue are both registered trademarks of The Baker's Catalogue, Inc.)