Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore, the husband-wife team behind top-ranked Osteria Francescana and other restaurants in and around Modena, recently published a stunning book, Slow Food Fast Cars. It’s a celebration of the Emilia-Romagna region, home to not only their restaurants but the location behind some of the world’s best-known foods and car brands, including Parmigiano Reggiano, tortellini, Balsamic vinegar, and prosciutto, as well as Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini. The book features recipes and stories from Casa Maria Luigia, the guest house that Bottura and Gilmore have opened in the Emila Romagna countryside. The art-filled villa has picturesque grounds and, of course, incredible food, prepared under the watch of Jessica Rosval, the head chef who trained under Bottura at Francescana. Here, she introduces the chocolate chip cookies shared with guests at Casa Maria Luigia, which you can also make at home!
Italians are known for eating very sweet breakfasts, usually comprising coffee with a pastry or cookies. Alongside the more traditional Italian sweets, this tried-and-true recipe for North American chocolate chip cookies found its place on our breakfast buffet and never left. The reason could be because I am Canadian and Lara is American but most likely it is because Lara and Massimo’s son, Charlie, loves these cookies and we just can’t let him down. Enjoy!
Excerpted from SLOW FOOD FAST CARS© 2023 by MASSIMO BOTTURA and LARA GILMORE. Photography by Michael Gardenia (Fusillo Lab). Reproduced by permission of Phaidon. All rights reserved.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
10*
servings45
minutes10
minutesIngredients
1 1 stick (115 g) salted butter, at room temperature
½ cup packed plus 1 tablespoon (110 g) muscovado sugar
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 1 egg, at room temperature
1 2/3 cups 1 2/3 (200 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
½ teaspoon kosher (flaky) salt
2/3 cup 2/3 (150 g) dark chocolate chips
Directions
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream the butter and both sugars. Mix in the vanilla seeds and egg.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), and salt.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter until well incorporated. By hand, fold in the chocolate chips. Let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas Mark 4). Line two baking sheets with parchment (baking) paper. Portion the dough into 30 balls of about 1 ounce (25 g) each and arrange on the lined baking sheets, about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. (Alternatively, the raw dough balls can be stored in an airtight container and frozen for up to 1 month.) Bake until the edges become slightly toasted—the cookies will flatten out, but the centers still seem slightly raw—about 8 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack.
- These cookies are best eaten as soon as possible but can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Notes
- Recipe yield is 30 cookies
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