Ristorante Il Moderno
Via del Carmine 1, Perugia
At Il Moderno diners can sample home-style cooking in a warm atmosphere that feels like a welcoming living room. Livia, whose mother was French, discovered her passion for cooking when she was little thanks to her boulanger-patissier grandfather, and over the years has learned the skill of combining the traditional cuisines of France and Italy. A search for flavor, wholesomeness and sustainability underpins her philosophy. She uses only locally sourced or fair-trade ingredients and the menu varies depending on the season as well as what’s on offer at the farmers’ market.
(Valentano solco dritto chickpea (Slow Food Presisium) blinis with creamed salt cod, Alife onion caramelized with Ratafià Abruzzese and Ispica sesame seeds (Presidium) and Onano lentil (Ark of Taste) blinis with cinnamon-flavored sheep’s ricotta and Viterbo susianella liver salami)
Valentano solco dritto chickpea flour and Onano lentil flour are not available commercially. I make them by putting the seeds through a coffee-grinder.
Serves: 4
For the blinis
80 g chickpea/lentil flour
40 g soft wheat flour
1 egg
200 ml milk
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 pinch bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp instant yeast
For the creamed salt cod
150 g salt cod, soaked
100 ml milk
30 g butter
1 pinch pepper
Ispica sesame seeds, to garnish
For the caramelized onion
1 Alife onion, finely sliced
1 small glass of Ratafià Abruzzese
1 pinch salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
For the ricotta cream
150 g sheep’s ricotta
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch salt
In a processor, or using a hand-held mixer and a bowl, blend flours, egg, milk and all the rest of the blini ingredients to form a thickish batter. Spoon into a plastic dispenser bottle. Use the same quantities of chickpea and lentil flour batter. Heat a special blini pan (easily available commercially) over a burner cap, and pour in the batter, being careful not to let it run over the rim. When each blini is cooked, leave to rest on a plate.
Flash-fry salt cod in a skillet with butter and a twist of pepper. Add milk and cook, stirring occasionally until all the milk has been absorbed. Heat oil in another skillet and lightly sauté onion. Add a small glass of ratafià, a twist of pepper and a pinch of salt, and cook until alcohol has almost evaporated. Take ricotta and work with a whisk, amalgamating cinnamon, pepper and a pinch of salt. Spoon into a sac à poche and leave to rest. Cut the Viterbo susianella salami, first into slices, then into small dice. Now garnish the blinis, the chickpea version with creamed salt cod, onion and sesame seeds, the lentil version with ricotta cream and susianella. Place the blinis on a serving tray and serve with Birra Antoniana La Torlonga, made with Solina wheat.
