Every time, the temptation to innovate the New Year's Eve dinner at least a little is shattered by the desire for tradition. And so every time, at least in Italy, we end up opting for a classic menu. This is demonstrated by the preferences recorded by Coldiretti during the last New Year's Eve dinner, with lentils finally present in 82% of cases, cotechino and zampone in 67%, smoked salmon on 63% of tables, important meats and great variety of national fish (prawns, anchovies, clams, sole, mullet, cuttlefish) to enrich everything. For this reason we have chosen five recipes that are not exactly innovative – but tested and certainly effective – to properly celebrate the arrival of 2024.
Smoked salmon cream puff
Ingredients for 10 people: 100 g of butter, 4 eggs, 200 g of flour, 150 g of fresh Philadelpia cheese, 100 g of ricotta, 150 g of smoked salmon, a spoonful of chopped chives, water and salt to taste.
Method: put the water, butter and a pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil, remove from the heat and pour in the flour, stirring so that no lumps form. Once it has incorporated into the mixture, place it back on the heat (low), stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon. When it comes away from the walls it is ready: put the pan aside, let it rest for about ten minutes, then add the eggs one at a time. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and form well-spaced cream puffs on a baking tray lined with baking paper, greased with butter. Bake in a heated oven at 180° C for approximately 20/25 minutes, remove the cream puffs and leave them to cool, taking care to make a small hole in the bottom so that no moisture remains inside. Prepare the filling: mix the two cheeses with the chives, add adequate salt, cut the salmon into cubes and fill the cream puffs, after removing the caps. Serve at room temperature.
Veal with tuna sauce
Ingredients for 6-8 people: 1 kg of veal (Magatello or Girello), 6 anchovies, 2 yolks of hard-boiled eggs, 300 g of tuna in oil, 30 g of capers, 1 l of dry white wine, 2 sage leaves, 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves, 1 stalk of celery, ½ glass of extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar.
Method: Place the meat in a pan with the white wine, bay leaf, sage, cloves and diced celery. Cover with cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge for 12 hours. Transfer it to another pan, filter the marinade and add it. Cover with water, salt sparingly and leave to boil over very low heat for about an hour. The veal must remain pink inside. Reserve two ladles of the cooking water, drain the meat and let it cool. To make the sauce: blend the drained tuna with the hard-boiled egg yolks, capers, anchovies, oil and a spoonful of vinegar. Add the two ladles of cooking water kept aside and blend again until you obtain a smooth, velvety, fluid but not liquid cream. Cut the meat into very thin slices, arrange it on individual plates or on a serving plate and cover with the sauce.
Pasta with pesto and prawns
Ingredients for 8 people: 620 g linguine, 800 g prawns, 60 g extra virgin olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 100 g brandy. For the pesto: 200 g of extra virgin olive oil, 100 g basil, 140 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano, 200 g grated pecorino, 30 g pine nuts.
Method: clean the basil with a slightly damp cloth and, if you really aren't a fan of the mortar, cool the blender blades in the refrigerator to avoid/reduce oxidation of the leaves during processing. Combine all the ingredients in the bowl and blend until you obtain a creamy mixture. Season with salt and keep aside. Put the water for the pasta on the heat and, in the meantime, clean the prawns; then sear them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a clove of garlic, salt, pepper and add the brandy, then turn off the heat. Cook the pasta al dente, drain it – keeping two ladles of cooking water aside – pour it into the pan with the prawns and cook for a few more minutes over a low heat, adding a little of the reserved water. Turn off the heat, add the pesto, mix and serve.
Cotechino with lentils
Ingredients for 8 people: 600 g pre-cooked cotechino, 600 g dried lentils, 2 sticks of celery, 2 carrots, 2 white onions, 500 ml tomato puree, 4 bay leaves, 2 l vegetable broth, to taste extra virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper.
Method: rinse and drain the lentils. Prepare the chopped celery, carrot and onion and fry with a little oil in a pan. Add the lentils, cook over high heat for a few minutes then add the tomato puree, lower the heat and mix. After a few minutes, add the bay leaf and two ladles of hot broth, topping up as the lentils have absorbed it. Cook over medium heat, stirring often but delicately, for about 40-50 minutes: the lentils should be soft, but without falling apart. Season with salt and pepper 5 minutes before finishing cooking. Serve hot accompanied with the cotechino, cooked separately in a pan of water following the instructions on the package.
Roast veal with apples and potatoes
Ingredients for 6-8 people: 1 kg of veal breast, 50 g of raw ham in strips, 30 g of butter, 2 red apples, 2 potatoes, 2 onions, 6 sage leaves, 2 sprigs of rosemary, 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoons of oil Evo, 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon of honey, 2 glasses of Brandy, salt to taste and hot vegetable broth.
Method: rinse and dry the meat. Sprinkle it with flour and salt, without exceeding, splint it with the ham, rosemary and sage tied with kitchen twine. Grease a pan and brown on all sides, then add the butter. Bake at 180 degrees for half an hour. Mix the brandy in a bowl with the honey and balsamic vinegar. Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks, peel the onions and cut them into slices. Wash the apples, dry them and cut them into slices. Add everything to the pan with the meat, sprinkle with the brandy-based mixture and bake for another hour, seasoning with salt and pepper and making sure the meat does not dry out too much (if necessary, add more brandy mixture). Transfer to a cutting board, slice and serve together with the potatoes, onion and apples, sprinkled with the cooking juices.
Source: Vanity Fair
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