During a trip in the countryside of Piacenza, I wanted to visit Verdi’s villa in S. Agata.
The ticket office was closed and only reopened after lunch. So, we looked for a restaurant to spend some time in. We ended up in a magical place, “Trattoria La Verdiana”: full of delicious dishes, photographs and prints of the Verdi Maestro, and furniture loaned to the set of the “1900” Bertolucci’ movie. Plus I met the owner who introduced me to a trattoria, which closed 40 years ago, the first to have a Michelin star in Italy… the legendary Trattoria Cantarelli.
How nice to meet people who are passionate about their work and generous with strangers!
Zabaione with amaretti biscuits
- Preparation time: 20X minutes
- Ingredients for 4 servings
- Difficulty: Easy recipe
- Ingredients
- 4 yolks (I 5 yolks)
- 5 tablespoons of sugar
- 4 oz (110 grams) of amaretti biscuits
- 9 oz (250 grams) of whipping cream
- 7 tbsp (100 ml) of Strega liqueur
- Instructions
- Beat the egg yolks with the sugar in a steel saucepan. Continue whipping the cream in a bain-marie for about ten minutes, adding the Strega.
- Meanwhile, coarsely chop the amaretti and mix them with the still-hot zabaglione.
- Turn off the heat and let it cool in a bowl filled with ice water, whisking constantly.
- Whip the cream in a cold bowl. Add it to the zabaglione.
- Leave in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours before serving.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- The bain-marie is a cooking process done in a container which is not in direct contact with the fire but immersed in water kept at the desired temperature; in this case, a saucepan full of water.
- The water of the Zabaglione water bath must never reach a boil so it does not drive the cream crazy.
- To whip the cream without turning it into butter, a trick is to use a bowl previously left in the freezer for an hour.
