{"id":341,"date":"2008-09-27T12:42:28","date_gmt":"2008-09-27T12:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marialiberati.com\/blog2\/?p=341"},"modified":"2008-09-27T12:42:28","modified_gmt":"2008-09-27T12:42:28","slug":"341","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/2008\/09\/27\/341\/","title":{"rendered":"A Banquet of Unforgettable Flavors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fagottini-di-crespelle-di-funghi.jpg\"<\/a>\"agriturismi-laquila.jpg\"<\/a>
\n\u00a0copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati
\nAs\u00a0 I was thinking back to almost 3 weeks ago, and the wedding celebration I attended in the beautiful, medieval city of L’Aquila, my mind became filled with all sorts of flavors.\u00a0Besides the beautiful occasion, the sights and tastes\u00a0of the sumptuous banquet make for unforgettable memories.The\u00a0wedding was held in\u00a0one of the 99 churches that\u00a0populates the city. The reception at a\u00a0small farm with hotel and banquet hall\u00a0on the top of a hill. The view down to the city was just as memorable as the food.
\nThe meal began outside\u00a0with 2 large tables filled with any appetizer you can imagine and more, the Prosecco\u00a0 was overflowing. You can imagine our surprise when a waiter\u00a0 announced that we would need to go inside and sit at our assigned seats for dinner.(wasn’t this 25 course buffet table our dinner??).
\nInside we found place cards at our seats listing the courses for this 8 course dinner to come.\u00a0 All of a sudden, when we\u00a0began\u00a0to eat this magnificent dinner made up of all the local flavors, nothing seemed to have any importance but the flavors that seemed to attach themselves to my memory forever, flavors that are memories that still linger on.
\nThe\u00a0 friends and\u00a0 family sitting around me seemed to have disappeared and the food commanded all of my attention to savor each and every morsel..
\nOne of my favorite dishes\u00a0\u00a0was the antipasto, the opening act to this \u2018cena’:
\nCrespelle con funghi porcini \u00a0served with \u00a0a saffron vellutata’ (velvety)\u00a0sauce. The saffron is locally produced in that area.\u00a0 Crespelle is the Italian version of the French crepe.\u00a0\u00a0The \u00a0crepes were made into delicate, little pouches filled with this incredible beschamel sauce.
\nThe recipe and the memory are yours to share:
\nThe pouch is made of a crepe (crespelle):
\n1 cup flour
\n3\/4 cup milk
\npinch of salt
\n1 tablespoon melted butter
\nHeat small crepe pan and when hot enough pour 1\/4 cup batter onto pan, coat pan with batter, when cooked on one side ,turn over and cook on other side. Set crepes aside on plate, stacking them on top of each other\u00a0putting a piece of towel paper in between each one.
\nFor filling, a type of beschamel sauce:
\n1 -2 ounce package of\u00a0 dried funghi porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1\/2 cup warm water for 15 minutes.
\n1 cup milk
\n2 tblsps flour
\n2 tbsps butter
\npinch of salt
\n1 tblsp parmigiano-reggiano cheese
\nPlace butter in saucepan and melt. Quickly remove from heat. Sift\u00a0 flour into the butter , a little at a time, mixing in well with wooden spoon or whisk. When well blended, whisk in milk. Place over heat and add in mushrooms and their liquid, then parmigiano-reggiano cheese. \u00a0Stir mixture continuously till it becomes a thick sauce, remove from heat.
\nWhen beschamel sauce is cool, take a flat plate, oen ata time, place crepe on plate and place 2 tblsps of mushroom sauce in center of crepe. Gather ends of crepe and tie like a puc hwitha long strand of fresh parsley. Repeat using all ingredients.
\nPlace finished\u00a0 pouches on baking sheet and place under broiler for 2-3 minutes, just until top becomes golden.
\nVellutata Sauce:
\n1\/3 cup unsalted butter
\n1\/2 cup flour
\n3 cups vegetable broth
\npinch salt
\npouch of saffron
\nPlace butter in sauce pan and melt, then add in flour a little at a time whisking or stirring wiht wooden spoon till well blended.\u00a0 Whisk in cold vegetable broth, a cup at time. When well belnded add in next cup, then repeat. When al lbroth has bee nadded in, continue stirring till liquid is consistency of a light sauce. Whisk in saffron quicly and remove from heat. Serve on side of pouches.
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