Today I learned about a renowned food writer I thought you should know about: Marcella Hazan- and she appeared today on the “Martha Stewart Show” preparing a Tortelloni Stuffed with Swiss Chard, Prosciutto and Ricotta served with a heavy cream tomato sauce. She also talked about her new book, Amarcord: Marcella Remembers, available online at: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?r=1&popup=0&ean=9781592403882
The base of this dish is prepared with “prosciutto”, an Italian word for ham that has been seasoned, cured or air-dried. It is often used as a fat base for flavoring (thus referred to as “pancetta” or offered in sandwiches as a deli meat or part of an appetizer tray with other cured meats, cheeses and olives. In this particular recipe, we Muslims can simply delete this item without sacrificing any great taste at all, or we can substitute it with a wonderful halal alternative, such as the Midamar Halal Beef Soujouk, a type of beef sausage. You can find it in many halal supermarkets or online at: http://www.midamarhalal.com/scripts/products.aspMarcella. Hazan is renowned for teaching culinary techniques and methods, which I noticed while watching her on Martha’s show. For example, she says when you drain pastas like ravioli, that you shouldn’t just throw them in the colander, but try to catch them first with a ‘chinese spider’ type of handled colander because the weight of the water will break the raviolis. What a great tip!
You can find these types of colanders online at: http://www.amazon.com/6-diameter-Bamboo-Skimmer-Strainer/dp/B00012F3U4
Ms. Hazan is not teaching cooking as she used to in the past at the famed French Culinary Institute but is now retired and lives with her husband, Victor, in Florida.
To find the exact recipe mentioned in this post, please click on the link below for the Martha Stewart show:
You can read more about Marcella Hazan’s interesting background online at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcella_Hazan
My Halal Kitchen 