Three Generations share Silvertron Café’s kitchen.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
The kitchen is the heart of each Italian home. And in The Silvertron Café’s kitchen, we get a taste of what it is like to be part of an Italian family. Cooking with chef Marco Morosini today are his daughter, Nora and his mother, Pinuccia Invernizzi—who is here on a visit from Lecco, on Lake Como in Northern Italy. And cooking with his mother makes more than a marvelous meal. It also stirs up some precious memories. “Every Sunday, right after breakfast, Mom started cooking. She cooked all morning long for a meal that wouldn't last more than 20 minutes!” he recalls. “It wasn't until I left home for the first time and moved to Paris that I realized what I had left behind. Then I started to really appreciate the time I had spent watching my mom and my grandmother in the kitchen.”
Risotto Ingredients: 1 Cup of Arborio rice
2 Cans of broth
1 Small onion, minced
2 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil
½ Cup dry red wine
½ Cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Rice Procedure: Warm broth until hot in a pot on stove, keeping it hot until it is needed. Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Pour in olive oil. Add onions. Cook until translucent. Add rice and stir constantly until rice changes color slightly and is well coated with oil. Continue stirring while adding the wine. Let it evaporate. Ladle in the hot broth, stirring constantly. This will take about 15 to 18 minutes. Do not leave unattended. Once your rice is creamy and soft it is ready. Remove from heat. Add butter and cheese. Let it sit for two to three minutes. Stir it for a second or two until butter and cheese are incorporated.
Ossobuco Ingredients:
1 Cup carrots, cut into medium size pieces
1 Cup celery, cut into medium size pieces
1 Cup white onion, cut into medium size pieces
1 Cup broth
1 Cup tomato sauce
2 Beef or veal shanks
2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Cup dry red wine
Ossobuco Procedure: In a medium sauté pan add oil and heat on medium heat on stove. Salt both sides of the meat and put in the pan. Cook each side for a few minutes. Add half of the wine, and let the alcohol burn off. Remove the shanks and set aside. Add the celery, carrots, onion and salt. Sauté for a few minutes. Add remaining red wine. Return the shanks to the pan. Pour in tomato sauce and broth. Reduce heat to low. Place a lid on the pan, and let simmer for a couple of hours until the meat is falling off the bone. Mound risotto on the plate, add the shank and spoon the sauce over the dish. Makes two servings.
Published, B-Metro magazine, May 2015