Dalla Mia Cucina Sausage and Pepper Scallopini

Peppers are a very common cooking ingredient used in my home. You will hear me often express my delight in smelling the aroma of peppers cooking, mingling with the other ingredients such as wine, pepper, mushrooms, herbs and tomatoes. I love the versatility of peppers and how many dishes you can create with them. Pasta and Sauteed Peppers are routinely cooked as one of our families favorite dishes.

Another one of my favorites, and I have to say it comes in a close second next to an Eggplant Ratatouille, is Sausage & Peppers. The way we cooked this in my home growing up is very similar to the way I continue cooking it today. We gave this dish the name Sausage & Pepper Scaloppini for the size of the sausage pieces we cut them into.

Scaloppini is often associated with veal and sometimes chicken. The pieces of meat are thinly sliced and or pounded with a mallet and dredged in flour and sauteed. The meat is most of the time left in whole pieces but sometimes cut into slices, and then cooked with mushrooms and a creamy sauce is made with butter and wine to saute it in. It is so delicious and aromatic, the meat is always so tender and flavorful.

For this recipe I used Romano cheese & garlic chicken, red, orange, yellow and green peppers, crimini mushrooms, shallots, Vidalia onions, garlic and fennel bulb. The herb choice for today�s recipe is fresh basil and flat leaf Italian parsley.

Ingredients
5-6 Italian sausage links of your choice sliced as thin as possible
2 red peppers thinly sliced
2 yellow peppers thinly sliced
2 orange peppers thinly sliced
2 green peppers thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 shallot thinly sliced
1 Vidalia or sweet onion very thinly sliced
2 cups Crimini Mushrooms dry cleaned and cut in half
1 bulb of fennel thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
1-1/2 cups White Wine such as New Zealand East Coast Sauvignon Blanc by Black Box Wines
1 cup fresh basil chopped
� cup Italian flat leaf parsley chopped
Olive oil


Directions
In a large skillet cook sausage slices till lightly browned. Set aside in a bowl.
Add around 3 tablespoons olive oil to skillet, add peppers, season with kosher salt. Cook till soft and just starting to get color. When peppers are sofy add mushrooms. Cook just till aldente. When peppers and mushrooms are cooked add to the sausage that is set aside in a large bowl. *In the same skillet, if needed add a tablespoon more of olive oil, add onion, garlic, shallots and sliced fennel. Saut� till golden, soft and translucent.

*This is called a soffrito, it is the base for many Italian recipe preparations. Usually a soffrito consists of onion, celery and carrots but you can inter change your ingredients to your liking and preferences. I often times use fennel in place of celery and for a white soffrito, I�ll omit the carrot. Tom Colicchio calls this a Soffrito Blanco in his cookbook Craft of Cooking.

When your soffrito is cooked, add the sausage, peppers and mushrooms back into the skillet. Season with freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, salt and around � cup white wine. Turn heat to simmer and cook for 15 more minutes. Check your flavorings. Add your fresh basil and parsley, cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Scaloppini is wonderful over white rice or linguini. Fresh bread is a must to go with this dish to soak up all the wonderful juices.

I hope you enjoy this version of Scaloppini from my recipe box to yours.
Buon Appetito,
Laurie

Chicken and Walnuts Encased in Puff Pastry with a Basil Fontina Cream Sauce

This dish was simply satisfying! Simple because I used ingredients that I had on hand and a frozen puff pastry packet that was waiting to be used. Satisfying because of the "meaty" ingredients including chicken, walnuts, cheese and a rich sauce that was satiny smooth and melded together so well with the hearty recipe ingredients.


Chicken and Walnuts Encased in Puff Pastry
with a Basil Fontina Cream Sauce
Ingredients
2 Cups Chicken cooked and shredded
1 Sheet Puff Pastry (frozen is fine)
15 ~ 1/4 inch slices Fontina Cheese
3/4 Cups Chopped Walnuts
2 Cups Basil Fontina Cream Sauce
Egg Wash ~ 1 Egg yolk mixed with 3 Tbs. Milk

Basil Fontina Cream Sauce
Ingredients
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
Fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 Cup Fresh Basil Julienned
1-1/2 cups (7 ounces) Fontina cheese, shredded
2 egg yolks

Preparation
To prepare the B�chamel Sauce:
Heat milk in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Melt butter in another saucepan.
Add flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Slowly whisk hot milk into butter flour mixture. Stirring constantly to a smooth texture.
Bring to small boil while continuing to whisk the mixture and slowly reduce the temperature; remove from heat.
Stir in cheese; season with salt, pepper and dash of fresh grated nutmeg. Add julienned basil.
Whisk egg yolks into sauce. This lends to a velvety smooth texture as well as
a brilliant yellow color.

Preheat your oven to 400�.
Dust your work surface with a light sprinkling of flour. Lay out your Pastry dough and lightly roll it out. You should be able to get 15 squares from your pastry by cutting 3 by 5. Place a spoon full of chicken on each square topped with some sauce, a piece of fontina cheese and a couple of walnuts. Moisten the edges with some of the egg wash. Fold the dough up over the ingredients. Make sure your last edge has enough egg wash on it for a good seal. Egg wash the tops of the puffs and place in 400� pre heated oven Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. Pour some of the extra sauce in serving bowls. Place 2 -3 chicken puff in each bowl and serve immediately.

Buon Appetito!
Laurie