Mangia By Maria Pasquale
In her new cookbook Mangia, Maria Pasquale takes us on a culinary journey across Italy—exploring the distinctive food traditions of each of its twenty regions.
FOOD PHOTOGRAPY: Mark Roper I FOOD STYLING: Deborah Kaloper
‘Italy’s food is never ending. Its kitchens transcend borders, sharing history, tradition, innovation and lessons in art, sustainability and transformation. Food is nourishment but it provokes thought, feeds curiosity and inspires new ideas,’ says Maria Pasquale.
Agnolotti del plin al sugo d’arrosto (Plin agnolotti filled with roasted meat sauce) from Mangia.
‘I’ve come to know Italy, not just by travelling around and living here, but through food.’
“What better way to understand Italy than through its kitchens? Mangia means ‘eat’, and I guarantee that is exactly what you’ll want to do after diving into this book that weaves a tale of Italy’s culinary heart.”
Mangia by Maria Pasquale is out now.
Risotto allo zafferano con foglia d’oro (Saffron risotto with gold leaf) from Mangia.
Maria Pasquale’s cookbook Mangia (translating to ‘eat’ in Italian) takes us on an authentic culinary journey around Italy—full of Maria’s experiences travelling and living across its region, each plate full of treasured memories.
‘Italy’s food is never ending. Its kitchens transcend borders, sharing history, tradition, innovation and lessons in art, sustainability and transformation. Food is nourishment but it provokes thought, feeds curiosity and inspires new ideas,’ shares Maria.
Within the cookbook there are a hundred culinary experiences; from glamping in Sardegna to vermouth tasting in Turin to cavatelli making in Molise and becoming butcher for a day in the Marche, and even a Francis Ford Coppola connection to make in Basilicata.
‘Yes, food nourishes us. But it's so much more than that—food feeds the soul, and memories of it are some of the most powerful,’ Maria says.
Mangia is divided into 20 chapters, covering each Italian region. ‘I’ve visited them all, and these are my musings and knowledge, collected over decades. These chapters are designed to make your mouth water, to pique your curiosity and then, while you’re travelling, to prompt you and inspire you to keep uncovering, to keep eating and to keep loving Italy. As you travel, you’ll come across even more dishes and items that haven’t been covered in these pages, because that’s the beauty of Italy’s regional cuisine—it’s boundless.’
Below we share a recipe from the new cookbook: Busiate alla trapanese (Busiate with Trapani-style pesto) by Massimo Mantarro, Principe Cerami, San Domenico Palace, Taormina—a Four Seasons hotel.
This is an edited extract from Mangia by Maria Pasquale—published by Smith Street Books. Purchase the book online now here.
Le pizzelle di Lina (Lina’s pizzelle) from Mangia.
Busiate alla trapanese (Busiate with Trapani-style pesto) from Mangia—recipe shared below.
BUSIATE ALLA TRAPANESE—BUSIATE & TRAPANI STYLE PESTO
The second season of the HBO hit series The White Lotus had us all dreaming of Sicilian sunsets, infinity pools and hotel bar cocktails. Shot at Taormina’s iconic San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel, it certainly took la dolce vita and Italian old-world glamour to new heights. Their in-house Principe Cerami restaurant (with one Michelin star, no less) and executive chef and Sicily native Massimo Mantarro elevate this Trapani pasta classic with eggplant chips and a pecorino fondue to make it extra special. While you could prepare this dish with most varieties of pasta, I implore you to look for the long twisty busiate. I ate it for the first time in Trapani with the traditional rustic version of this pesto and I still think about it to this day.
Makes 4
INGREDIENTS
200 g (7 oz) busiate
3 spring onions (scallions), sliced
150 ml (5 fl oz) vegetable stock
1 tablespoon slivered almonds
chopped parsley, to serve
CONFIT TOMATOES
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons thyme leaves
2 tablespoons marjoram leaves
zest of 1 large lemon
zest of 1 large orange
15 g (½ oz) sea salt
2 tablespoons icing (confectioners’) sugar
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) red and yellow datterini or cherry tomatoes, halved lengthways
EGGPLANT CREAM
400 g (14 oz) eggplant (aubergine), peeled and roughly chopped
splash of extra virgin olive oil
PECORINO FONDUE
80 ml (2¾ fl oz) cream
80 g (2¾ oz) pecorino, grated
EGGPLANT & GARLIC CHIPS
150 ml (5 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil
60 g (2 oz) baby eggplant (preferably perlina variety), sliced into very thin rounds
4 garlic cloves, sliced
Parsley oil
35 g (1¼ oz) parsley stalks and leaves
100 ml (3½ fl oz) extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 50°C (120°F) fan-forced or as low as your oven will go.
To make the confit tomatoes, combine the ingredients except the tomatoes in a bowl. Place the tomatoes, cut-side up, on a baking tray and scatter with the herb mixture. Cook for 3–4 hours, until soft and sweet.
Increase the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) fan-forced.
To make the eggplant cream, toss the eggplant with a splash of olive oil. Spread half the eggplant on a small baking tray and bake for about 8 minutes, until tender. Place the remaining eggplant in a small frying pan and cook over medium–low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until tender. Blend both eggplants together in a high-speed blender or with a stick blender until creamy.
For the pecorino fondue, heat the cream in a small heavy-based saucepan over high heat until boiling, then add the pecorino and whisk vigorously. Strain through a fine sieve and set aside in the fridge, covered, to cool.
To make the eggplant and garlic chips, heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium–high heat to 130–140°C (265–285°F) on a kitchen thermometer. Add the eggplant and garlic and fry for 1–2 minutes, until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
To make the parsley oil, blend the parsley, olive oil and a pinch of salt in a blender until smooth. Strain the parsley oil through a fine sieve lined with muslin (cheese cloth) and set aside. The parsley oil will keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for 2–3 days.
When ready to serve, cook the busiate in salted boiling water until al dente. Meanwhile, in two small saucepans, heat the eggplant cream and the pecorino cheese fondue separately over medium–low heat until hot.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the spring onion and cook for 1–2 minutes, until soft, then add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer.
Drain the pasta and tip it into the pan with the spring onion and stock.
To serve, spread the warm eggplant cream across the base of four plates, add the busiate and confit tomatoes, and top with the eggplant and garlic chips. Finish the dish with a swirl of pecorino fondue, a sprinkling of almonds and parsley, and a drizzle of parsley oil.