Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti for Valentines Day

Why not try something different for Valentines Day and give your love ones a real double chocolate treat. These biscotti are perfect and wrapped in a pretty red box with ribbons will be a real surprise when opened. Add your favorite hot chocolate mix and your gift will be complete for a triple chocolate treat. Or maybe add Crème de Chocolat liquor for the adults that may appreciate a little more of a chocolate infusion.

These biscotti are double baked and have a hard texture, crispy, but filled with soft chocolate and walnuts inside. There is no need for frosting because this is an all in one biscotti. This recipe makes about 30 biscotti.

Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti
Servings: Makes about 30 biscotti.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling on top of the logs

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined well. Stir in the flour mixture to form stiff dense dough. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

Prepared the baking sheet by buttering and sprinkle flour on it. But if you have a silicone mat of parchment paper this won’t be necessary. With floured hands form the dough into two slightly flattened logs, each 12 inches long and 2 inches wide, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Bake the logs 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool biscotti on baking sheet 5 minutes.

On a cutting board cut the biscotti diagonally into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange the biscotti; cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool them on a rack.

The biscotti will keep in airtight containers for 1 week and frozen, 1 month.

Super bowl Sunday Soup - Sausage Soup With Rosemary & Ditalini

A friend asked me for a soup recipe for a Super Bowl Sunday party. Since she lives in New England and expects that it will be snowy, she wanted to make a big pot of hot soup for everyone to enjoy by the fire while watching the game.  I wanted to give her a really hearty soup that would satisfy everyone and yet be different.

While I was studying Italian in Bologna Italy, I took a course in cooking in the evenings. Monica was a child physiologist and taught the class with her husband who was an antiquities architect. They were serious food lovers. Their kitchen had one small stove and refrigerator with a huge country kitchen table in the middle where we rolled out dough to almost half the size of the table. It was tight trying to move between large credenzas on each side of the table and in the corner was a small table with a large basket filled with squash, artichokes and other assorted vegetables. Their home was filled with art bought at the art market held each Sunday in Bologna. We cooked and had long conversations in Italian late into the evening. I walked two miles back to my apartment after these evenings under the beautiful arched walkways of Bologna hoping to wear off the large meals that we consumed with complete satisfaction. This soup was one of the recipes we made and I have passed it around to my friends and have gotten rave reviews. If you also want something warm for your guests, enjoy this recipe.

Zuppa di salsiccia e pomodoro e rosmarino con Ditalini
Monica di Bologna, Italia
Cook Time: 50 minutes, Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 Italian sweet sausages cut into 1/2” sections

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup pureed tomatoes (Passata di Pomodoro)

2 tablespoons butter

2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary

6 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup of white wine

3 whole cloves garlic

1/2 lb. of Ditalini pasta or other small pasta

Sauté the garlic in olive oil. Sauté the sausage and rosemary for 10 minutes in the olive oil and butter.  Add the wine, passata (pureed tomatoes) and the broth and cook for 45 minutes. 

Cook the Ditalini pasta in salted boiling water. Drain and add the pasta to the soup. I like to put a scoop of pasta in the bowl and add the soup over it. Not mixing it in the soup will keep the pasta from getting too soft.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

Bruschetta

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

8 slices of good quality Italian or French bread

2 large cloves of garlic

Extra virgin olive oil

Toast the bread and when still hot rub it thoroughly with the garlic which you have cut in half.  Sprinkle olive oil over the top.