Grilled Antipasto Piadinas With Roasted Garlic And Recipes

PIADINE WITH CAESAR SALAD AND ROASTED GARLIC PASTE

Steps:

• Preheat a grill to high.
• Put the lettuce in a bowl. Pour the dressing over and toss well.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal balls. On a floured board, stretch and roll the dough into thin discs with a rolling pin. The dough may also be stretched by hand, but rolling will give you a thinner crust.
• Coat the rolled out dough with olive oil and place, oiled side down, on a very hot grill. This can be done indoors on a cast-iron stovetop grill pan that has been preheated over medium-medium high. When you start to see bubbles on the surface of the dough, turn it over. It should be slightly browned on the bottom. Brush each round with a generous tablespoon of the garlic paste and sprinkle with the thyme. Remove from the grill with tongs and top with the Caesar salad. Grate parmesan cheese on top, fold in half, and eat.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Peel the outermost layers of skin off the heads of garlic. Cut off the top 1/3 of the heads to open the cloves. Save the small pieces of garlic for another use (see Chef's Note). Put the heads, cut sides up, in a small baking dish and pour the olive oil over them. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cover tightly, place in the oven, and roast until about 3/4 cooked, about 45 minutes. Uncover and return to the oven until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins and brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool.
• When cool enough to handle easily, squeeze the roasted garlic into a small bowl. Press against the skins very well to get out all the sweet roasted garlic you can. Add the oil from the baking dish and mix well until a paste forms. Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week.
• Chef's Note:
• It is hard to have too much roasted garlic around. You can roast the little bits from the tips of the garlic heads. Put them in a separate small baking container, such as an individual custard cup. Season with salt and pepper, douse with olive oil, cover, and place in the oven to bake along with the whole garlic heads. Depending on their size, they will be soft and browned in about 1/2 the time needed for the whole heads. The little pieces make a good "cook's snack" while preparing dinner, or can be squeezed into tomato sauce or onto pasta.

ITALIAN FLATBREAD (PIADINA) WITH FONTINA AND PROSCIUTTO

Steps:

• Combine the flour, baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt in the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until incorporated, about 2 minutes. With the machine running, slowly add 10 to 12 tablespoons water until the mixture forms a dough around the hook. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Form into disk shapes and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each piece of dough into an 8 to 10-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Brush each circle with the extra-virgin olive oil and grill for 4 minutes each side. Remove the piadina from the grill to cool slightly. Combine the ricotta cheese and lemon zest in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Spread each piadina with 1/2 cup of the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle the fontina cheese evenly over the ricotta cheese. Arrange 2 prosciutto slices on top of the cheeses. Cut each piadina into 8 wedges and transfer to a serving platter. Garnish with the chopped basil.

ANTIPASTO PLATTER WITH GRILLED VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Prepare the artichokes: Fill a saucepan with water; squeeze in the lemon juice. Add the squeezed lemon halves to the water and season with salt.
• Cut off and discard the top one-quarter of each artichoke with a serrated knife. Snap off the tough outer leaves. Peel the stem and base with a paring knife. Halve the artichokes lengthwise and drop into the saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil, then uncover, reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the artichokes sit in the hot liquid until just tender, 5 to 10 minutes; drain.
• Whisk the olive oil, both vinegars, the sugar, herbs, garlic and tomato juice in a bowl. Put the artichokes and bell peppers in another bowl; drizzle with the vinegar mixture and let marinate 10 to 20 minutes.
• Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high. Grill the artichokes and peppers, turning, until browned, about 8 minutes. (Or, roast on a rimmed baking sheet in a 400 degrees F oven, 10 to 15 minutes.)
• Assemble the platter: Arrange the cheeses, cured meats, tapenade, artichokes and bell peppers on a board or platter. Serve with the bread.

GRILLED ANTIPASTO PIADINAS WITH ROASTED GARLIC AND

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the tops of the garlic heads and place in a baking dish. Mix olive oil and red pepper flakes together and pour over garlic. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes until garlic is soft. Remove from oven and set aside.
• 2. Piadina dough: Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in salt, olive oil, water, basil, chives and lemon juice. Using a stand mixer, place dough hook attachment on and set to the lowest speed just to mix ingredients together. Turn to medium and knead the dough 5 minutes, until it forms a ball. This can also be done by hand if a standing mixer is not available, just knead the dough a little longer. The dough is ready when it is smooth and firm. Lightly oil the dough with olive oil, place in plastic wrap and let it rest 30 minutes. Cut the dough into four pieces and roll each out to an eight inch diameter.
• 3. Prepare a hot grill on either an outdoor grill, indoor grill pan or cast iron skillet. Lightly oil surface with some vegetable oil or cooking spray to prevent sticking. Place dough rounds on the grill for 1-2 minutes until bubbles form on the surface. Flip and repeat on the other side. Continue with other 3 dough rounds.
• 4. In a large bowl, mix together filling ingredients; olives, artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers. Pop out roasted garlic cloves from the heads and smash in a small bowl.
• 5. Assemble Piadinas: Brush roasted garlic and red pepper oil over surface of each Piadina round. Place smashed garlic on one half of the round followed by antipasto mixture (about ½ cup). Top with pepperoni (3-4 slices) then, mozzarella ( about 3-4 balls cut in half). Fold Piadina in half and place on a heated pannini grill until the cheese melts. Cut each in half and serve.