Original subtitles

♪

S s lu s lush s lush c s lush cou s lush count s lush country s lush countrysi s lush countryside s lush countryside.

It's also the birthplace of italy's

most famous ingredients:

Balsamic vinegar, parmigiano reggiano,

and parma ham.

For my antipasto, a savoury greens pie.

A primo of pasta with world famous bolognese sauce.

For my secondo, balsamic chicken with grilled radicchio.

And for my dolce, a rich spiced chocolate cake.

♪

Some of italy's most famous ingredients and dishes,

come from the emilia-romagna region.

And to me, that region is the culinary capital of italy.

Like this simply, savoury greens stuffed pie,

erbazzone.

They love to use spinach and char tops, or beet tops.

But the idea of this dish originated from

all kinds of herbs, greens,

that were grown and especially foraged,

like this parsley.

♪

A little fresh ricotta is an important part of this dish,

it just lightens

and adds a little creaminess to the dish.

And of course, emilia-romagna could not be doing

a dish like this without a good hunk

of parmigiano reggiano,

straight off the block.

♪

Now, in my pan i've already fried off some pancetta,

garlic, in a little butter and olive oil.

So that fat from the pancetta, has rendered down

adding more savoury notes to my erbazzone.

And the last ingredient,

a hint of nutmeg.

Mm, that smells good.

Now to roll my pastry.

And this is a really simple pastry dough to make:

Flour, a little butter, a little lard,

very simple elastic-y dough.

Because the key to rolling out this pastry

is having fairly thin.

(Italian opera playing)

♪

You know, erbazzone started off on the cucina povera,

meaning "the poor kitchen" or "peasant food."

It really is a humble dish

that has stood the test of time.

Keeping a little boarder on the edges

to be able to seal the dough.

A quick little egg wash around the edge

to ensure i have a good seal.

And a little trick here,

using the pin allows you to carry the thin dough,

and lay it right over the top.

Just a little crimping on the edges.

And then a good egg wash.

And then, because i want this pie to remain flat,

all i need to do...

..Is take a fork...

..And pierce the pastry dough

so any of the steam that comes up from this pie

doesn't puff up the pastry.

One erbazzone ready to go in the oven.

♪

Look at that beautiful gold-brown colour.

This looks terrific.

(Crunching)

Nice and crisp on the outside,

and nothing has escaped from the inside.

Look at that.

Look at all that steaming green savoury filling.

Who doesn't like an outside piece?

Beautiful.

It's the perfect way to start a meal in emilia-romagna.

And for my primo, a pasta sauce, or a ragu,

that is world famous, that everyone loves to make,

but everyone makes it just a little bit different.

♪

Bolognese is famous all over the world

but it originally comes from bologna.

La bella citta,

the beautiful city in Emilia-romagna.

And this is pasta con ragu alla bolognese.

This sauce is so popular in italy,

they often just refer to it as ragu.

And it all starts off as so many great dished do in italy,

with pancetta for the big savoury flavours

and then, a little soffritto,

some diced vegetable which are used as aromatics.

♪

(Sizzling)

A good hot pot gets the pancetta

up to a great sizzle.

It's almost as if that pancetta's just dancing around

in the bottom of the pan.

Whilst the pan is hot,

add the meat.

And i want to fry up this meat

so it too starts to caramelise,

bring in a depth of flavour,

and add to the overall look of my finished ragu.

And it's quite amazing how the pancetta and the beef

just come together so beautifully,

one flavours the other.

Time from the next layer of flavourings.

(Sizzling)

So, this is time to turn the heat down a touch,

slowly sweating out those vegetables,

bringing the flavours together.

A little tomato paste helps thicken the sauce

and adds a wonderful colour.

Just let that sizzle up on the bottom of the pan.

And of course, some good red wine.

And this is going to wash all those sticky,

tasty little bits off the bottom of the pan

and add another depth of flavour.

And already its' starting to look good.

Tomato puree.

And some seasoning.

And finally, some milk.

The lactic acid

helps tenderise the meat,

lightens the sauce,

and gives it that unmistakable

slightly orange hue to it.

Lid on, gentle simmer,

and let all those flavours come together

for the perfect ragu bolognese.

(Italian opera playing)

♪

And of course, parmigiano reggiano,

the only cheese for this ragu.

And eating pasta with a long noodle like this,

it has to have a little italian flair,

it has to have a little panache.

You mix it up,

you take a little on your fork and spoon.

This is going to be a little taste of heaven on a fork.

You know, a really great bolognese,

it is a perfect primo for any meal.

I have to save a little room for my secondo,

a balsamic braised chicken...

With grilled radicchio.

♪

The emilia-romagna region of italy

is known as "the food valley,"

because a lot of the great italian ingredients

originate in this area,

like balsamic vinegar,

as in this balsamic chicken,

pollo all'aceto balsamico.

And i'm serving it with

a side dish of grilled radicchio,

radicchio alla griglia.

And these chicken thighs have been marinating

in a special ingredient:

That sweet, slightly acidic balsamic vinegar.

(Splashing)

A balsamic glaze as thick and viscous as this is,

is packed full with even more intense depth of flavours.

An amazing product that's been made in

the emilia-romagna region for centuries.

Now, these chickens have taken on wonderful,

deep dark colour.

And the reason i pat them dry is because i want to

take the excess vinegar off,

that way, when they hit a good hot pan,

that skin on the chicken is going come brown, crispy,

and render out some real flavourful chicken fat.

(Sizzling)

And i wouldn't get that sizzle if i didn't pat them dry.

(Sizzling)

♪

(Sizzling)

My chicken has really crisped up nicely

and that dark colour from the balsamic vinegar

has become intensified.

I tell you, i can almost smell toffee in this chicken.

This was the marinade the chicken was sitting in.

Shallots, garlic, there's still lots of good flavour in this

and i'm putting it to good use.

Along with some red wine.

Now i'll let that simmer for a while,

but halfway through cooking, i'll add a little chicken broth

just to round things out.

Shouldn't take too long.

My chicken is nicely cooked,

so it's time for these legs to come out,

that sauce to reduce,

and just thicken up a touch.

The preparation to grill these beautiful heads of radicchio

is really quite simple.

If you cut these in half

you can see all the wonderful leaves

and those little pockets there

will capture a little of this olive oil,

and the seasoning.

♪

Whilst my radicchio is grilling,

add just a little butter to my sauce.

This gives it a nice sheen,

rounds out the flavour and enrichens it.

A classic french technic called monter au beurre.

Chicken can go back into the pot to stay nice and hot.

♪

Really nicely charred up.

Some of that beautiful balsamic glaze drizzled

over that wonderful charred radicchio.

And some roasted hazelnuts add a wonderful crunch.

And the bitterness from the radicchio meets

the wonderful sweet balsamic vinegar.

And of course, a dish like this would not be complete

without a little more parmigiano.

♪

Look at that sauce.

So dark and rich,

glistening and shining.

All coated in that sauce that is just the right constancy.

I'm going to have a taste.

♪

You know, there was so much balsamic vinegar in there

you'd almost think it's too overpowering,

but far from it.

It has mellowed out, become deep and rich.

And i little grilled radicchio,

tasty hazelnuts and shaved parmigiano.

That radicchio has that background of a bitter note

which i love in a crisp salad like this,

but then that glaze just sweetens things up.

And for my dolce,

pampepato, which is a rich, dense chocolate cake.

(Singing in italian)

♪

Every bakery in the town of ferrara

in emilia-romagna,

are busy come christmas holidays making one thing:

Pampepato.

A delicious, dark, rich chocolate cake.

And it all starts off with flour,

salt, and some dark coco.

Then we introduce lovely warm spices.

Warm cinnamon.

Fragrant nutmeg.

And pungent clove.

Sugar adds sweetness,

but what adds a nice chewy texture is good old honey.

Fresh zingy zest of orange.

And often in a cake like this,

where you find orange

goes a little lemon.

For some really great crunch,

roasted hazelnuts.

Tucked in behind the hazelnuts,

sweet tasting pine nuts

and beautiful crunchy almonds.

Got to throw some walnuts in there.

And these have all been roasted off to heighten

their nutty flavour.

Just give that a little mix up,

bring all those flavours together.

And this is where things could get a little tricky.

Over here i've got some dark chocolate that i've tempered.

This goes into my nut mixture with the honey and sugar.

A thorough, quick mixing.

And then all of this mixture,

add it to my dry ingredients.

So moving a little fast is number one

because i don't want it to cool down too quick

before i get it all mixed together.

Wish me luck.

And that smells good already.

It is all about the density,

the richness of it.

The chocolate, the spice.

♪

Now that everything's mixed up

i can start to shape...

..The pampepato.

There's no cake pan needed,

it's all shaped by hand.

I'm pretty happy with that shape.

Off to the oven.

♪

This truly is a decadent dolce.

And now that it's cooled

it's about to become even more indulgent.

And this chocolate i've had melting on a bain-Marie

to the perfect consistency.

And a bain-marie is nothing more than a pot of water

at the right temperature so the chocolate melts.

You can see the way this chocolate is just running

all the way over and covering this pampepato.

I can hardly wait.

(Singing in italian)

♪

It's dense and decadent,

and a wonderful aroma.

It truly has a very unique and distinct flavour.

It's the texture of the nuts,

the hint of orange,

a little sweetness.

It is dense and rich.

It is really a unique dessert

that i thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy.

I started with an antipasto of

erbazzone, stuffed savoury pie.

A primo of pasta with a classic bolognese sauce.

A secondo of balsamic chicken

with a side of grilled radicchio.

And a dolce of dense chocolate flavours.

These are a few of my favourite recipes from emilia-romagna,

an entire meal.

Buon appetito.

(Man singing in italian)

♪