My new kitchen takes shape
+ a spelt tart with Nutella and apricot jam recipe
After the design phase, I entered operational mode. If you like, let's tour my new kitchen, which is taking shape.
A couple of newsletters ago, I wrote about the project and its evolution.
I told you I thought about my new kitchen in a certain way. Then, while I was looking for the materials, I had a revelation, and I realized it would be different from how I had thought it up to that point.
I love white kitchens.
My last kitchen was white with an antique dark wood table. The one at Casa Nora, a project from a few years ago, is a mix of white and light durmast.
This time, I was sure I would mix white with a solid, sturdy, dark wood countertop.
Then, as I wrote, the surprise. I was looking for materials when I came across a two-meter-long silver fir board. The first time I smelled it, its aroma reminded me of a forest.
That made me fall madly in love with that wood, which is, today, a dining table, and it pushed me to build a kitchen around it.
The kitchen
The kitchen is made by a craftsman named Petru.
I often call him Petrini, while the Calabrian-Bolognese plumber pronounces his name Pedro. Fortunately, in this melting pot of pronunciations, faces, and lives, there is mutual respect, and things proceed.
I filled a notebook with sketches and inspirations and will keep it as a memory. In the meanwhile, drawing after drawing, the kitchen began to take shape.
The first piece of furniture to be born was the table.
Then came the time for the island: no departure to exotic destinations.
This is about the cabinet I will put in front of the stove.
My first real excitement came when I saw the third of the four wooden pieces placed. In fact, it is already finished (apart from the Polar White quartz top, which is not yet ready).
Finally, it was the turn of the sink stand.
After completing the skeleton of all the pieces, Petru built the two drawers of the large island. They, too, are enormous. And looking at them reminded me of an old Bolognese story.
Before the story, do you like my space?
These days mark the first anniversary of the passing of Bolognese painter Alberto Colliva. My friend was also an extraordinary storytelling voice and historical memory of anecdotes of an old Bologna that no longer exists.
Anyway, the story of the woman in drawer is this.
There was an innkeeper who had a sick wife. To not leave her alone, he had set up one of the large drawers on the counter as if it were a bed, and there he kept her. Customers never failed to ask about the lady, and the innkeeper always answered, in dialect, "She is in the drawer."
One evening, a guy asked about her, and the good man replied, again in dialect, "I closed the drawer." The wife was no longer there.
Recipe.
Spelt tart with Nutella and apricots
I was at the worksite when my mom called to tell me that Oriella had passed away the previous evening.
I sighed as I thought about how many memories tied me to her memory. She and her mom were immense cooks and, for me, masters of cooking. I owe them the magnificence of so many Christmas lunches and family events made unforgettable by an admirable sequence of dancing flavors.
In their kitchen, I snacked and learned to cook many preparations. I still remember Oriella's patience in teaching me how to make mayonnaise and many other things that tended to go crazy in my hands. I inherited so many recipes from them that I would need at least three lifetimes to share that huge repertoire.
However, after learning the news, I did the only thing possible. I came back home and greeted her in our own way by cooking.
20 cm mold
Ingredients
Base
170 g spelt flour
1 pinch of salt
80 g brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder for cake
100 g butter in chunks
1 whole egg
Filling
400 g apricots
50 g brown sugar
filtered juice of ½ lemon
200 g of Nutella
Method
Base
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the egg and butter.
Knead the ingredients by hand or in a planetary mixer until you form a smooth dough ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or, even better, until the next day.
Filling
Wash and dry the apricots. Cut the fruit in half and remove the inner stone.
Arrange apricots in a saucepan, add sugar, and strain lemon juice. Cook on a small stove over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is soft and the juice is reduced. Let cool completely.
If you make the tart the next day, store it in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven, to 180C degrees (356F).
Roll the shortcrust pastry into a thin base. Set aside a piece of dough to make strips to decorate the tart.
Arrange the base in the baking pan covered with baking paper, creating the edges, then prick the bottom with the tines of a fork.
Spread Nutella on the shortcrust base and top with the fruit compote.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
Mid-cooking, arrange on the tart the shortcrust stripes. In this way, you prevent them from becoming too dark.
Let cool before cutting.
Store out of the refrigerator for two days and in the fridge for several days.
Food Tip
Shortcrust pastry with butter is influenced by heat. For this reason, always let it rest in the refrigerator after 1) kneading, 2) rolling out, and 3) filling (or already filling) it. If you are in a hurry, put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
I'll wait for you next Friday with Via Emilia. I'll take you to discover another little-known piece of my beautiful region!
Let's keep the conversation going! Please write to me at tortellinico@gmail or follow me on Instagram.
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