We put the courgettes in the croque monsieur
Chef Aurora Mazzucchelli shared a day of work with our chefs, giving them valuable advice for developing new recipes.
- 250 g latte
- 170 g Fontina Dop
- 150 g cooked ham
- 30 g parsley
- 20 g butter
- 20 g flour
- 3 courgettes
- 4 slices of maxi bread
- garlic
- peanut oil
- extra virgin olive oil
- vinegar
- sale
- baby
- Clean the zucchini and slice them lengthwise. Fry them in hot peanut oil, drain them on paper towels, then season them with salt and a little vinegar and a small piece of garlic. Let them absorb the flavors.
- Wash the parsley, remove the stems, then blanch the leaves in boiling water for a few seconds. Cool in very cold water, then drain, pat dry, and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Add a splash of water if necessary.
- Make a béchamel sauce by mixing the butter and flour in a saucepan until it becomes a sizzling cream. Add the milk, season with salt, and cook until the béchamel thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Let the béchamel cool (covering it with cling film to prevent a skin from forming) then mix it with the parsley puree to obtain a bright green béchamel.
- Cut 130 g of fontina into slices.
- Spread 2 slices of bread with the béchamel sauce, then add the slices of fontina, then the ham and finally the courgettes, drained from the vinegar.
- Cover with the other slice of bread, spread a spoonful of béchamel sauce on top, and top with the remaining grated fontina cheese.
- Bake the two rolls at 180°C, in the upper part of the oven, or under the grill, and leave to brown on the surface.
- Cut them in half and serve them accompanied with slices of raw courgette, seasoned with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
Croque monsieur, the recipe with scapece courgettes and aromatic béchamel sauce
The chef has perfected the recipe for these Croque Monsieur with Scapece Zucchini and Aromatic Béchamel, a reinterpretation of the famous French sandwich, as follows: "Rather than blending the parsley with the béchamel, as originally called for, I would suggest blanching the clean parsley leaves, then cooling them in ice water, and then blending them until you obtain a bright green cream. Then we'll add it to the béchamel, stirring it so as not to over-emulsify it. Also, instead of marinating or grilling the zucchini, I would give them an extra boost by frying them and then soaking them in vinegar, like scapece."
At her Casa Mazzucchelli in Sasso Marconi (Bologna), which includes the eponymous restaurant (with a Michelin star) and the Mollica bakery, where she expresses her love of leavened products, Aurora, along with her family, offers guests her vision of cooking, founded on a few firm values: simplicity, affection, courage, and a touch of madness: "My parents taught me the basics, traditional recipes. This is very important, because it's from there that you can then take a leap: tradition gives you a structure, a solidity, a foundation that you can then adapt to your own personality. That's what my dad did, and that's what I do too."