Vermicelli pasticcio

A recipe from The Silver Spoon

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking: 25 minutes

Serves: 6 people

Ingredients:

25g (1oz) (2 tablespoons) butter, plus extra for greasing

6 tablespoons breadcrumbs

350g (12oz) vermicelli

250g (9oz) mozzarella cheese, diced

100g (3½oz) prosciutto, cut into strips

1 egg

25g (1oz) (⅓ cup) Parmesan cheese, grated

salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.

Grease an ovenproof dish with butter and sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs.

Cook the vermicelli in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, return to the pan and stir in half the butter.

Tip half the vermicelli into the prepared dish and top with a layer of mozzarella and prosciutto, then cover with the remaining vermicelli.

Beat the egg with the grated Parmesan in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and pour over the pasta.

Sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs and dot with the remaining butter. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, leave to stand for 5 minutes and serve.

The Silver SpoonThe Silver Spoon Kitchen

Price AUD$74.95 | Phaidon 100 Price £39.95 | Phaidon 100 Price €49.95 | Phaidon 100

The Silver Spoon, the most influential and successful Italian cookbook of the last 50 years, is now available in a brand new revised edition. Originally published in 1950, it became an instant classic, selling over one million copies in eight editions. Considered essential in every household, it is still one of the most popular wedding presents today.

The Silver Spoon was conceived and first published by Domus, the design and architectural magazine famously directed by Giò Ponti from the 1920s to the 70s. A select group of cooking experts was commissioned to collect hundreds of traditional Italian recipes and make them available for the first time to a wider modern audience. In the process, they updated ingredients, quantities and methods to suit contemporary tastes and customs, at the same time preserving the memory of ancient recipes for future generations. They furthermore included modern recipes from some of the most famous Italian chefs, resulting in a style of cooking that appeals to the gourmet chef and the amateur enthusiast alike.

A comprehensive and lively book, its uniquely stylish and user-friendly format makes it accessible and a pleasure to read. The new edition features new introductory material covering culinary matters such as how to compose a traditional Italian meal, typical food traditions of the different regions, and how to set the table. It is also illustrated with twice as many newly commissioned photographs and contains a new section of menus by celebrated chefs cooking traditional Italian food.

This is a monumental and unsurpassably prestigious cookbook that will share the bookshelves with classic titles such as The Joy of Cooking and Larousse Gastronomique. With over 2,000 recipes illustrated with specially commissioned art work and photography, the book is destined to become a fresh and definitive classic in the Italian cuisine booklist.

Specifications:

Format: Hardback
Size: 270 × 180 mm (10 5/8 × 7 1/8 in)
Pages: 1505 pp
Illustrations: 400 illustrations
ISBN: 9780714862453

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