Liquid escarole salad, buffalo cheese consommé, bread and anchovy shavings

Liquid escarole salad, buffalo cheese consommé, bread and anchovy shavings
Villa Crespi
Chef: Antonino Cannavacciuolo
Country: Italia
City: Orta San Giulio (No)
Address: Via G. Fava 18
(+39) 0322911902

A worthy preparation that captures all the spirit and history of chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo. The liquid escarole emulsion is poured over a bed of delicate, buttery buffalo cream cheese (burrata). The dish is then completed by a strip of breadcrumbs, pieces of anchovy and aromatic herbs: so simple yet with so much impact! It has everything to do with the ingredients, the perfumes and flavors wrought from the chef’s native region (Campagna), contrasted with reminiscences of the Mediterranean, represented by the Eugenio Pol bread (baker from Fobello, in the high valley of Sesia, at the foot of Monte Rosa in the Piedmont region). In short, it is a voyage from north to south made in a blink of the eyes… and mouth. Everything is a game based on balance: the creamy, unctuous qualities of the burrata, the acidity and freshness of the escarole, the intensity of the anchovies, the perfumes of the herbs and the mountain bread, with its crispiness and fragrance, evoking the rustic aromas and hearth fires of a mountain inn. Ingredients of a humble cuisine ennobled by the hands of the chef.



The Recipe



Liquid escarole salad, buffalo cheese consommé, bread and anchovy shavings
Ingredients

For the liquid salad:

  • 1 head escarole lettuce
  • 1 dl extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • Cooling water
  • Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

For the buffalo cheese consommé (stracciatella):

  • 1 package buttery buffalo cheese (burrata)
  • 0.5 dl cream

For the bread shavings:

  • Fobello bread crumbs

For the anchovies:

  • 15 g desalted anchovies

For the aromatic herbs:

  • 1 sprig lemon thyme
  • 1 sprig savory
  • 1 sprig marjoram

Appliances needed:

Hand-held blender with hood

 

Method

For the liquid salad:

Cut and wash the lettuce. Boil for a couple of minutes in an abundant amount of water with salt and ascorbic acid (to keep the lettuce from oxidizing). Cool in ice water, strain and set the water used for cooling aside.

Blend the escarole with the cooling water, emulsifying it with an abundant amount of extra virgin olive oil and adjust the salt.

For the buffalo cheese consommé:

Remove the thin layer that surrounds the buffalo burrata cheese, only using the center.
Mix with the cream.

For the bread shavings:

Cut the Fobello bread and save the crumbs that come off in the process.

For the anchovies:

Remove the anchovies, rinse the salt off well and place in extra virgin olive oil.

For the aromatic herbs:

Remove the leaves from the sprigs, only using the smallest leaves.

Assembly:

With a spoon, spread the cheese consommé over a deep dish. Cover with the liquid salad, add the breadcrumbs, anchovies and aromatic herbs.

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