Brigantessa

It's been open only a month and they're packing them in every night. The widely anticipated opening last month of Brigantessa, on Philly's East Passyunk Ave., - a hot-spot in the city's restaurant scene - lives up to every bit of expectations. And why wouldn't it, when you've got a talented, three-time James Beard nominated chef (Joe Cicala) and visionary owners of the hugely successful Le Virtù (Francis Cratil Cretarola and Cathy Lee) backing it.  What Le Virtù does exceedingly well for Abruzzese cuisine, Brigantessa does for Southern Italian cuisine in general. 

It calls itself a "forneria meridionale," meaning a place that features Southern Italian wood oven cooking. Living up to its name, the back of the house is dominated by a monster wood-fired oven imported from Naples used for cranking out delicious pizza. Joe spent time there to learn Neapolitan pizza making techniques and earn his "pizza verace" certificate. His attention to detail has paid off. But Brigantessa is more than just another pizza joint. 

Brigantessa - whose name comes from the female brigands who fought against Northern Italian domination in the late 1800s - features a very reasonably priced menu with inventive selections not typically found at Italian restaurants in the U.S. When was the last time you ate smoky-infused broccoli romanesco served over a bed of polenta or wood-grilled beans and octopus? Exactly. 

The second, wood-fired oven in the back of the house, (this time square-shaped) is used to impart a charred, smoky flavor to many of the restaurant's offerings. And in a word, they're all fabulous.

The space has been totally renovated and looks fresh and modern, yet welcoming and homey at the same time. The front of the house features a bar and high top tables, ideal when you just want to pop in for a drink and some spuntini. There's a huge selection of Italian and local craft beers and a wide variety of Italian wines to accompany the food.

Upstairs is a large dining room, with beautifully gripping photographs of Southern Italian subjects lining the walls, taken by Le Virtù employee Kateri Likoudis. 

Earlier this week, I was privileged to eat at Brigantessa with Domenica Marchetti and Helen Free, good friends who came up from the D.C. area, and were as eager as I to try the new restaurant's offerings. 

Here's a sampling of some of the dishes we ate, but the menu is far more expansive and so were the plates on our table. Unfortunately, some of my photos were just too blurry to include here.

These tangy "long hots" stuffed with house-made sausage and sprinkled with cheese were a delicious and different take on the ubiquitous peppers and sausage.

 Braised artichoke hearts served with bread crumbs and crispy fried capers never tasted so good.

 Don't miss the sarde "in saor" with fennel and onions - sardines in a sweet and sour treatment.

 Of course we had to sample the pizza and the one we ordered was just what you'd expect of the best Neapolitan pizza - a soft, pliable crust charred a bit on the outside and chewy around the edges. Add house-made fior di latte mozzarella, fragrant prosciutto and bits of arugula and you've got a concoction that you can't stop eating. 

 The pastas we sampled were equally tempting, including these cappellaci dei briganti, served with a rich meat ragu and pecorino cheese. 

 Sorry for the poor photo, but this pasta was not just delicious, it was sensational. It's pappardelle made from black chick pea flour and served with a sauce from whey-braised lamb (After making the mozzarella, Joe puts the whey to good use) and sprinkled with fennel pollen. Forget any preconceptions linking Italian food to only red sauce. If ever you could taste Southern Italy in one perfect mouthful, it was this dish, redolent of rosemary and the flavors of Abruzzo.

 The pièce di resistance (or should I say "pezzo di resistenza") was this dreamy dish of ricotta gnudi, showered with a shaving of white truffles. The ethereal pillows just melted in your mouth and made you wish that truffle season was 12 months a year. But the beauty of eating here is what's so great about eating at the best trattorie in Italy - you taste what's in season, at the height of its freshness.

Full as we were, we couldn't leave without sampling some desserts. I would say this was overload, but then again, how could you not be tempted by these sweets prepared by pastry chef Angela Ranalli (Joe's wife). From right to left you're looking at crunchy Moorish-style Cannoli with a fragrant filling made with ricotta, and flavored with rosewater, pistachio, and orange blossom water; tortino al rhum - an Italian rum cake in a terrine; an assortment of Italian cookies and candies, including a crunchy Sardinian almond candy, and candied rose petals; and last but not least, house made gelato covered in white truffles (you heard me right!). 

We left there totally sated but looking forward to our next visit. 

In the meantime, I can make one of Joe's pasta dishes at home to remind me of the wonderful evening spent at Brigantessa. For those of you who live far from Philadelphia and can't get to the restaurant, try this recipe at home. It might be a little tough getting the whey, but don't let that stop you from using milk to marinate the lamb. Black chick pea flour is nearly impossible to find in the U.S., but Bob's Red Mill makes regular chick pea flour that you could substitute.

Buon Appetito.

Black Chick Pea Pappardelle, Whey-Braised Lamb, fennel pollen

Recipe from Joe Cicala at Brigantessa

printable recipe here

Pasta Ingredients:

3/4 cup black of chickpea/garbanzo flour

1 cup of “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

3 extra large eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Using
the “well” method, place the flours on a work surface, and create a
volcano in the center. Add the eggs and oil, and mix with a fork, slowly
incorporating the flour.

Once the mixture is somewhat
homogenous, kneed for five minutes by hand until the dough becomes firm
and smooth. Let rest for one hour covered in the refrigerator. Using a
pasta machine, roll out the dough from the largest setting to the second
to smallest. Cut the dough into 1-inch strips approximately 6-inches
long. Cook in salted boiling water for three minutes or until tender.
Add the cooked pasta to a pan with the ragu and toss. Serve with
pecorino cheese, and dust with fennel pollen.

Ragu Ingredients:

1⁄4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1 rib of celery, finely chopped

1⁄2 Medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1⁄2 Medium carrot, finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 pounds of lamb shoulder cubed

1 cup of dry white wine

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of rosemary

1/2 gallon of whey or 1 percent milk

Directions:



In
a large pot, sweat the vegetables in the olive oil and butter over
medium heat until translucent. Add the lamb cubes, and turn the heat up
to medium-high in order to slightly brown the meat. Deglaze the pan with
white wine and add the herbs. Reduce the wine until nearly dry, and add
the whey. Simmer for one hour or until the lamb is tender enough to
shred with a wooden spoon. ■

Domenica Marchetti at Le Virtù

Sometimes there is a confluence of all things good and right in the universe and one of those things happened last week, when Le Virtù, my favorite Philadelphia restaurant organized a special evening featuring foods from Domenica Marchetti's latest cookbook, "The Glorious Vegetables of Italy." 

Each course was accompanied by wines that complemented the food perfectly - mostly from Abruzzo, but also from the regions of Le Marche and Puglia. The bread service included a cherry tomato and red onion focaccia; pizza bianca with roasted fennel and assorted grilled flatbreads (sorry, I forgot to take a photo.) The breads were terrific alongside this chicory salad, made more savory with the addition of anchovies in the dressing - similar to the flavor in a Caesar salad.

On a cold winter's night, Domenica's ribollita satisfies both body and soul.

The winter risotto was a perfect blend of sweet butternut squash and bitter Tuscan kale, held together with a swirl of Parmesan cheese.

Chef Joe Cicala deviated from Domenica's recipes for the main course - whole roasted suckling pig. The crackling outer skin was irresistible, along with the tender meat flavored with garlic and rosemary.

Vegetables followed, including my favorite, broccoli romano -  hard to find in my neck of the woods. It  too, was prepared with anchovy sauce, but as with many recipes that include anchovies, you'd never know it. The anchovies just heighten the flavors without overpowering the vegetable.

 Served at room temperature, a winter salad of cauliflower had a fiery kick to it.

 Fennel with sultana raisins and chili pepper offered a balance of sweet and spicy.

And speaking of sweet, the evening ended on a high note with a pumpkin semifreddo and sweet potato fritelle resting atop a mocha sauce, with toasted pumpkin seeds, prepared by pastry chef Angela Ranalli Cicala.

If you missed the evening with Domenica, there are still plenty of reasons to come down to this gem of a Philly restaurant.  The restaurant, owned by Francis Cratil and Cathy Lee, offers one of the most authentic and delicious menus featuring the food of Abruzzo. Their new fall menu is now available here.

Winter Risotto with butternut squash and Tuscan kale

from "The Glorious Vegetables of Italy" by Domenica Marchetti

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion


• 1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice


• 8 ounces Tuscan kale, coarsely shredded


• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt


• 2 cups Arborio rice


• 1 cup dry white wine


• 5 to 6 cups vegetable or chicken broth, heated


• 1 tablespoon butter


• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving


• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Warm the olive oil and the onion in a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring often, for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the onion is softened and translucent. Add the squash and kale and toss to coat them with the oil. Sprinkle in the salt. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the kale is completely wilted and the cubes of squash are just tender.

Pour in the rice and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the grains are shiny and glassy-looking. Raise the heat to medium-high and pour in the wine. Let it bubble for a minute or so, until it is almost absorbed. Reduce the heat to medium-low and begin to add the broth, a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently, until the liquid is almost absorbed. You do not need to stir the risotto constantly, but be sure that you do stir it often, and take care that the rice grains do not stick to the bottom of the pot.

Continue to cook the risotto and add broth, 1 or 2 ladlefuls at a time, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the rice is almost but not completely cooked. It should be al dente--still rather firm and chalky at the center. Check by tasting a few grains. Stir in the butter and cheese. Then stir in a final ladleful of broth to achieve a creamy texture. The risotto should not be stiff or runny; it should mound softly on a spoon. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if you like.

Spoon the risotto into shallow rimmed bowls and serve immediately, with additional Parmigiano cheese on the side.