Italian "BBQ"

Every year for the 4th of July, my family makes an ethnically themed meal to support the notion that America is indeed many cultures coming together. My parents represent that in their marriage with my father being Chinese, born and raised in Hawaii, and my mother Caucasian born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. As a result of that, I represent that in my personage being a child of mixed race. 

This year, I admit that I didn’t have it in me to do some of the more complicated meals we have dined-on in the past. My first love of cooking was Italian Cuisine and I returned to that for this Fourth of July meal. 

Because the 4th can often be a hot day, I wanted a meal that celebrates summer with both hot and room temperature foods as well as something hot and cold for desert. 

I settled on grilling sausages and then doing what Sicilians do: squeeze lemon over them. I have to admit, I hadn’t done this before and was blown away by the result. All sausages are made with fat; it is the pork fat that causes the emulsification of the proteins and creates sausages. As a result, sausages tend to be heavy in terms of richness, and thus spiced heavily as well. The lemon helps cut through the richness of the sausages and actually made a great accompaniment to the char that comes from grilling a sausage on an open fire. 

To go with this, I decided on a pesto tortellini salad and a combination of grilled and cold vegetable salad with mozzarella. It was a delicious meal especially when accompanied by cold white wine or beer. 

Desert was equally special: grilled peaches soaked in grand marnier; sliced and served with ice cream, topped with basil, fig vanilla balsamic, and crumbled biscotti and pistachios. This desert is a winner: hot and cold, sweet and salty, creamy and crunchy. 

Enjoy! 

Note: Obviously there is no need to list how to grill sausages and cut a lemon, squeeze it over them. I admit these are homemade sausages I had frozen. At some point, I will include my sausage recipe. The key fennel pollen. Not cheap, but oh so good. 

Ingredients: 

• Sausages

• Lemons

Pesto Pasta:

• 1 lb of tortellini fresh 

• 1 bunch of Basil

• ½ bunch of parsley

• 4 cloves of garlic

• 2 tablespoon roasted pine nuts

• 1-1 ½ cups of good olive oil

• ¼ cup of water

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• 1 cup of Parmesan cheese

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add enough salt to make it taste like the sea. Add in the tortellini and cook according to the package… or actually, cook a minute less than the instructions. They usually tell you to overcook the pasta as that is often how Americans like it. As soon as it is done, strain out and place the tortellini in an ice bath to immediately cool. Then once cold, remove them from the ice water and dry. The pasta must be cold in order to make sure it doesn’t absorb the pesto and make the salad dry. 

When ready to make the pesto, simply crush the garlic cloves and toss the pine nuts and garlic into a blender. Blend for a second. Then add both the parsley, basil, as well as water, salt, and pepper. Turn the blender on and drizzle the olive oil into the blender until the pesto becomes a smooth sauce. Turn off. Take out of the blender and mix in the Parmesan by hand. I prefer this way to prevent it from being gummy. 

Mix with the tortellini with the pesto adding a drizzle of fresh olive oil on top. Place on the counter in a cool place. It can be kept at room temperature for the better part of a day covered with plastic wrap. 

Salad:

• 1 head of radicchio

• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

• 1 teaspoon of honey

• 4 heirloom tomatoes

• 2 zucchini 

• 3 Bell peppers (each a different)

• 4 bocconcini mozzarella balls

• 4 basil leaves

• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• ¼ of red wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon of champagne vinegar

• ½ cup of olive oil

• 2 portobello mushrooms

• Plus extra olive oil for grilling

• Salt and Pepper 

Of course in this salad you can use any vegetables you wish. For this one, I have chosen something bitter (radicchio), something sweet (bell peppers), something hearty (squash in this case zucchini), something meaty (mushrooms), and something cold and fresh (tomatoes). 

Preheat and clean the grill.

In the meantime, prepare the vegetables: slice the zucchini into long slices so they do not fall through the grates of a grill easily; then for the portobello mushrooms remove the stems. You  can also use a spoon to clean out the “gills” if you wish. They can cause discolor in the salad; For the radicchio, cut the lettuce into wedges with the root attached to each wedge to keep them together and stop them from falling apart. 

To make the vinaigrette, begin by placing the mustard and vinegars in a bowl. Whisk together. Add the fresh parsley chopped, the basil leaves chopped, the dried oregano and salt and pepper. Whisk together. Then slowly whisk in ½ cup of olive oil until it is the consistency you want. Place aside. 

When you are ready to grill, the easiest are the peppers. Literally place them on the grill, dry, and turn every couple of minutes until they are charred. Take off heat and let cool slightly. Then peel the skin off and slice. 

For both the zucchini and mushrooms, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on grill and grill them until cooked and marked with grill marks and both sides. 

Finally, whisk together the balsamic and honey and drizzle in olive oil and salt and pepper. Brush that onto the radicchio and grill. This will not take long. 1-2 minutes a side until they are slightly wilted and have grill marks. 

Now that the vegetables are done, set aside. Take the heirloom tomatoes and wash them under hot water. This will cause the tomatoes to release their flavor. Cut into slices and wedges. Arrange on a platter. Then slice the mozzarella and spread on the platter. Add slices of vegetables one at a time. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and serve. 

Grilled Peaches and Ice Cream

• 3 semi ripe peaches

• 1 teaspoon of peanut or canola oil 

• 4 biscotti broken up

• ¼ cup of dry roasted pistachios

• 1 scoop of good vanilla ice cream per person

• A drizzle of Balsamic Vanilla Fig Vinegar (can be found online)

• Basil leaves

• ¼ cup grand marnier 

• ¼ cup water

• 1 lemon juiced

In a shallow dish, mix the grand mariner, water, and juice from one lemon. If you want it sweeter you could add honey or sugar. Set aside. Cut the peaches in half and remove the seed. 

When the grill is preheated, I suggest you grill the peaches first before anything else goes on. Take the halved peaches and brush with canola oil and place on the grill. Grill for a couple minutes at most until the peach is slightly soft and has grill marks. At this point, remove them from the grill and place them cut side down in the shallow dish with the marinating mixture. Cover and let sit for at least an hour. 

When ready to assemble, break the biscotti and pistachios by placing them in a zip-bag and crushing them with a mallet. Begin by slicing the peaches and placing a couple slices in the bottom of a bowl. Top with the ice cream. Then top with a few more peaches. Drizzle the Vanilla Fig Balsamic on top and top with the mixture of cookies, nuts, and basil leaves. If you want, you can also drizzle it with the marinating liquid. 

Serve immediately.