Nonna inspired cheffing: braciole and red risotto arancini
what 'counts' as private cheffing food?
for this week’s edition of Forklore, I share two of my favorite Nonna Recipes and the experience I had making them for my cheffing clients
next week I’ll be sharing a recap of my recent trip to Bologna and Venice along with my homecoming to Ebbio (the small agriturismo I worked at in the very beginning of my career pivot into food) after almost 3 years <3
as always, thanks for being here :)
almost every client that I’ve private cheffed for has never given me a grocery budget.
I’ve had free rein to make the menus and shop for the best produce and meat and fish and speciality ingredients that I can get my hands on. As someone who views grocery shopping as more of a hobby than a chore… this is an absolute joy.
Some clients have leaned fancier than others in terms of preferences. Some have definitely been more of the Wagyu, caviar, white truffle type, the ‘more is more’… and ‘more is better’ client. (honestly, these kinds of people are easy to cook for because you shave some truffle on top and they are wowed and happy…)
my personal cooking ethos has always been inspired by the opposite: the Italian influenced vibe of less is more, high quality over quantity of ingredients. I find that when you work with ‘high quality ingredients’ (and by that I mean a tomato that actually tastes like a tomato… or lettuce that actually has a flavor other than water… or olive oil that doesn’t just feel oily on your tongue but has an earthy spicy burn to it), you don’t need to do much to make it shine.
Even when I’m not working with fancy ingredients, I definitely have some biases around food that I would consider “private cheffing worthy” vs food I would only make for myself. A lot of dishes that fall into the humble yet delicious category… and especially those that maybe aren’t aaaaas aesthetic presentation-wise… get written off as something I probably wouldn’t cook for clients. After all, the job of a private is not only to make delicious food, but to make beautiful food too. Something that makes you say ‘Wow!’ in the comfort of your home. At least, that’s always been the assignment I’ve given myself and the goal I hope to achieve every time I chef for a client.
Enter my Nonna
One of the very first content series I showcased on Handmethefork (for my all of 250 followers at the time around 2020) was ‘Cooking with Nonna’. I would visit her home in Paramus, NJ and cook with her to learn all of her signature recipes while one of my sisters filmed on my phone which I would later post to my IG story. Almost everything we cooked fell into the ‘humble yet delicious’ category. The foods that were engrained in my childhood and, therefore, deeply nostalgic. The foods that I crave when feeling sad, or lonely, or a little under the weather. Things like rice pudding (only 5 ingredients, all pantry staples), bread pudding (6 ingredients, all pantry staples) and braciole (which takes a cheap cut of steak and transforms it until a tender, savory garlicky roll of Italian-American goodness).
the client’s I’ve been working on and off for the past year (and who I flew out to chef for in LA) have a soft spot for Italian American food… and as a born and bred Italian-American myself, I obviously love nothing more than to lean into that soft spot.
Recently I was prepping an eggplant parm and they asked “is this one of Nonna’s recipes?!” which made my heart nearly burst. I said “no, I’m using Nancy Silverton’s technique tonight… but I’ll have to make you some Nonna classics.”
After a year of getting to know the family, learning and then mastering their tastes and preferences, I knew they’d appreciate these humble Nonna classics. For tonights menu I landed on two of my favorites: her Braciole (my dad’s personal childhood favorite) and her signature red risotto that I decided to transform into arancini stuffed with fontina. Recipes are below :)
nonna’s braciole
think thinly pounded steak rolled up with parsley and garlic and then simmered for hours in a homemade marinara until tender.
what you need (serves 5):
3 28 oz cans san Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
~3 tbsp olive oil
10 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 dried bay leaves
4 Ibs flank steak (seems like a lot, but the steak will shrink considerably as it simmers)
kosher salt
fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 c parsley, finely chopped
butcher twine, cut into ~10 12” pieces
freshly grated parmigiano reggiano, for serving
Heat olive oil in a large sauce pot over medium heat. Add half the sliced garlic and sauté for 2-3 mins until fragrant and just starting to brown. add in the crushed san marzano tomatoes, 1 tbsp of kosher salt, and bay leaves. rinse out the tomato cans with 1 cup of water, and add to the pot. Stir to mix, then bring to a simmer and then reduce heat until barely bubbling. Cook while you prep the braciole.
You’ll probably have 1 or 2 large flank steaks. I like to cut each steak in half and then thinly each piece into 2-3 very thin, flat cuts of meat. Use a meat tenderizer to further pound the steak each pieces is 1/4” thick.
Lay out each slice and season evenly with salt, pepper, a sprinkle of parsley, and a few slices of garlic. Roll each slice up loosely and secure tightly with string.
to a heavy bottomed sauté pan (the type with straight sides), add 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add braciole and brown on all sides, working in batches to brown them all. Taste garlic marinara and season with additional salt as needed.
Drain off excess oil from the sauté pan, then ladle the sauce on top until fully covering the braciole. You won’t use all of the sauce. Cover with a lid slightly askew, and simmer for 2.5- 3 hours until braciole is very tender. For the final 30 mins of cooking, remove the lid to help evaporate any excess moisture and thicken the sauce.
Serve in a large bowl with more sauce ladled on top and a mountain of freshly shaved parm.
nonna’s red risotto arancini
for almost my entire life, I had never seen red risotto outside of Nonna’s house. It was one of her signatures and one of my personal favorites. I needed an appetizer for this menu so I decided to transform her red risotto into arancini stuffed with fontina. You’ll roll them in panko, fry until golden brown, and serve with extra marinara for dipping. They are wonderful.
what you need
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
1.5 cups arborio rice
1/2 c dry white wine
6-7 cups high quality chicken stock, as needed
1 cup of garlic marinara (see above recipe)
kosher salt
white pepper
then
2 cups panko
~6 oz fontina cheese, diced into 1/2” cubes
neutral frying oil, like avocado oil
1 cup garlic marinara, for serving (see above recipe, I like to blend to get the marinara super smooth for dipping)
what you do
Melt butter and 2 tbsp oil in a large pot, then add onion and 1 tbsp kosher salt. Cook onion over medium heat until translucent and softened but not caramelized, 7-8 mins. In a separate sauce pan, heat up the chicken stock. Add rice and another tsp of salt to the onions and stir until the rice is fully coated by the mixture. Add white wine, and continue stirring until fully absorbed. Begin adding the chicken stock 2 ladles at a time, stirring constantly, and not adding more until the risotto has fully absorbed the liquid. Continue adding chicken broth and stirring until rice is al dente, then finish by stirring in 1 cup of marinara sauce.
Cool completely, then transfer to tupperware and chill overnight in the fridge. If you make the risotto in the morning you can get away with chilling it all day in the fridge to make arancini in the evening. However, this recipe will not work if you only have a couple hours to chill the risotto (I learned the hard way… the rice will not stick together properly).
the next day, scoop out risotto and form into slightly-larger-than-golf-ball sized balls stuffed with a cube of fontina. You should end up with ~18-20 balls. Chill in the fridge until ready to fry.
Add a neutral frying oil (I like to use avocado oil) to a medium sauce pan until 3-4 inch deep. heat over medium until oil reaches 350°F.
while the oil heats, roll risotto balls in panko, packing it on gently to make sure each ball is covered in an even layer. allow to set for at least 5 mins before frying. this helps to form better, more even and crispy crust.
Gently drop each arancini into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Fry until deeply golden brown on one side before flipping, around 5-6 mins total. Remove using a slotted spoon and place onto a baking sheet lined with a wire rack to drain. Keep warm in a 250 degree oven until ready to serve. Repeat until all arancini are fried.
Serve with a mountain of freshly shaved parm on top and piping hot marinara sauce for dipping.
That’s all for this week. If (or hopefully when) you make these recipes, I hope you hear Nonna’s voice reminding you not to burn the garlic :) “If you do… you’ll have to throw the whole thing out… there’s nothing worse than burnt garlic.”
Happy Cooking
xx,
Maddy
i love your reflections on what's more gratifying between the 'less is more' or 'more is more' grocery shopping approaches - these are so fun to read. i love how you write!!
nonna’s braciole looks so cozy