Rice, Salami and Cheese Casserole

Hide your bathroom scales if you decide to make this one – it’s loaded with cheese, salami and eggs, but it’s oh so worth it. Just make sure to invite a lot of people over. Even after serving it to my Italian chit-chat group (and there were 16 of us at the table that day), I still had enough left over to share with two different neighbors, and for my own dinner. The recipe comes from my friend Milena, who hails from La Spezia, and who is part of that Italian chit-chat group. You can make it without the meat if you choose, but the salami gives it a nice, spicy accent. I used a mixture of a basic Genoa-type salami, and one that was coated with black pepper. You could skip the salami and use cubed ham instead if you prefer.

Here is the pile of cheeses that went into it – mozzarella, pecorino and parmesan. Milena’s original recipe also called for cheddar cheese, but I don’t think it needs it, so I left it out.

You mix the rice, cheeses and salami with some beaten eggs and milk and press it into a casserole.Then poke holes all around the casserole and pour in more of the eggs and milk mixture.

Sprinkle some bread crumbs and paprika on top and bake for about 45 minutes.

It’s hard not to keep eating it, but with bathing suit season right around the corner, I had to control myself.

But not for long. Guess what was mid-morning snack the next day?

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Rice, Salami and Cheese Casserole

Author: Ciao Chow Linda

printable recipe here

Serves: 12-16 servings

Ingredients

• 3 cups rice (I used arborio but long grain white rice is fine.)
• 7 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 lb. diced Genoa salami
• 1/2 lb. cubed or shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated cheese (I used a mixture of parmesan and pecorino)
• 2 cups milk

Instructions

1. Cook rice in water and salt.
2. Add the butter and mix well.
3. Add the cheeses and salami and mix well.
4. Beat the eggs and milk, and add half to the cooked rice mixture.
5. Put the rice mixture into a greased, ovenproof casserole. (mine was 9 1/2 inches by 12 inches)
6. With a fork, poke holes on the top and pour the rest of the milk-egg mixture over the rice.
7. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika.
8. Bake at 350 degrees, covered for 45 minutes.
9. Let it rest for five minutes before serving.

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Chocolate Salami

Looking for an easy treat for Valentine’s Day? You’ve got plenty of time to make this chocolate “salami” that requires no cooking, and comes together lickety-split, using ingredients you may already have in the house. I used amaretti cookies to simulate the bits of fat running through a real salami, but you could use graham crackers, digestive biscuits or even chocolate chip cookies.Crumple them up and mix them in a bowl with nuts and dried fruit of your choice. I used pistachios, hazelnuts and dried cherries and it was a winning combination. But if you like almonds or walnuts instead, or dried cranberries or dried apricots, those would be delicious too.Melt some chocolate. You could use milk chocolate, but I prefer dark chocolate and used Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate. If you want to spring for a more expensive chocolate, go for it, but Hershey’s Special Dark won a blind taste test on America’s Test Kitchen years ago and I’ve been using it since then for nearly all my recipes requiring dark chocolate. It costs a lot less than the specialty brands, so that’s a nice plus too. Mix the melted chocolate with all the above ingredients and add some liqueur. It’s not strictly necessary, but it does add another layer of flavor.

Some recipes for chocolate salami ask you to add raw eggs, but I thought I’d try it without, since so many people have health concerns about using raw eggs in recipes. The risk is miniscule, but still, why take any risk, I thought. Next, dish out the chocolate into a log shape. It will be too soft to shape at this point, so put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, or until it firms.

Once firm, roll it into a log shape to make it more “solid.”Then roll into confectioner’s sugar to simulate the white “bloom” that appears on aged salami.

If you have some butcher’s string, tie it across the chocolate salami to mimic a real salami.

Slice it and watch the surprise when people realize it’s not really cured meat, but a delightful chocolate treat. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Chocolate Salami

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• 12 oz. chocolate, melted (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
• 1 stick (8 ounces) butter
• 1/2 cup crumpled amaretti cookies (or graham crackers or “digestive” biscuits)
• 1/2 cup pistachios
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped (or other nuts you prefer
• 1/4 cup dried cherries
• 1 T. Cherry Marnier (or any liqueur you like)
• powdered sugar for exterior
• twine (optional)

Instructions

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
2. When it is nearly melted, add the butter in pieces and melt it.
3. Chop the amaretti cookies and nuts (I left the pistachios whole) and put in a bowl with the cherries.
4. Pour the melted chocolate over the nuts and cookies and add the liqueur.
5. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes until it firms up, but keep checking because you don’t want it so firm that it’s too hard to roll.
6. Dish out the chocolate onto a piece of plastic or waxed paper.
7. Roll into a log and place it back in the refrigerator until very firm, maybe an hour or so.
8. When it’s firm, sprinkle powdered sugar all over.
9. Tie up with butcher’s string if desired, and slice to serve.

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