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Artichoke lasagna, mozzarella and Prague ham the recipe of chef Marco Bottega, a starred suggestion for Easter lunch

Marco Bottega, one Michelin star chef at the Aminta restaurant immersed in a 50-hectare estate and forest, in the countryside of Genazzano where everything brings you back to the unspoilt nature of the place, offers an easy-to-make dish to get together at the table or on an Easter outing.

Artichoke lasagna, mozzarella and Prague ham the recipe of chef Marco Bottega, a starred suggestion for Easter lunch

Never was a more appropriate name. Inspired by the famous by Torquato Tassor, that through love heartbreaking of the young shepherd Aminta for the nymph Silvia praises the golden age, when man lived in contact with nature, free from the complications of subsequent civilization, the refined Aminta resort, in Genazzano, aoasis of peace and relaxation immersed in the greenery of the Roman countryside on the border with the Ciociaria behind the Arcinazzo plateau, it is an invitation to forget the frenetic and distorting rhythms of everyday life to enter an Arcadian dimension of inner well-being.

The resort and restaurant develop around the two nineteenth-century farmhouses that form the core of the resort 50 hectares of uncontaminated woods populated by wild boars, sheep and goats, while within the same estate there are numerous farmyard animals: ducks, geese, chickens, hens and pigs.

It is the kingdom of a nice and frank big man, Marco Bottega, third generation of restaurateurs, who claims to have "nourished since childhood on the love of cooking, sacrifice and quality". Obeying these three watchwords he decided from a young age to grow up with important experiences in Italy and abroad. Among the first from Salvatore Tassa in the Ciociare Hills, from Davide Scabin to Combal. Zero, from Massimo Bottura to Ostaria Francescana, from Alfonso Caputo to Taverna del Capitano, from Antony Genovese to Pagliaccio, in short, the top of the top,  between the latter Alain Passard, the everlasting chef of the Michelin-guided deities, which has awarded him 3 stars since 1997, considered in France as a divinity, thanks to his charisma and his virtuosity with vegetables, for Alain Ducasse the most starred chef in the world, with 21 stars received in his career and holder of an absolute record, having simultaneously conquered three stars in three restaurants located in different countries. As if to say sidereal spaces.

With this exceptional wealth of experience and knowledge, the young Marco decides in 2009 to return to Italy and take over the reins of the family business starting a progressive improvement of Aminta in terms of management, structure and human resources, which will lead him to conquer a position of absolute importance at regional and national level. Nothing is left to chance and every detail is carefully taken care of.

  The farm's crops are governed by the close link with local peasant traditions, with the seasonality of each plant and with the arcane wisdom of the lunar phases that have marked the life of a millenary agriculture. Furthermore, no pesticides are used. The main objective of the kitchen becomes that of enhancing the raw materials of the territory, which in this case are the 50 hectares of the farm owned and the surrounding forest. And the cuisine becomes an expression of true and authentic flavours, in which the culture of the local tradition blends with a careful and respectful dose of creativity and inventiveness.

The turning point impressed by the young Marco soon bears fruit. In a few years the Michelin star arrives. He becomes a recurring guest television star of "la prova del fuoco" on Raiuno, he is called to cook for various internationally renowned personalities. In 2009 he cooks for Pope Benedict XVI and in 2014 for Pope Francis. The Michelin Guide rewards the restaurant with a flattering opinion: "Among hills dotted with olive trees and agricultural products, along a beautiful route that leads from the borders of Ciociaria to the suggestive plateaus of Arcinazzo, the nineteenth-century farmhouse is the home of one of the most interesting cooks in the Roman countryside: Marco Bottega. In addition to the possibility of staying overnight in comfortable rooms, Aminta Resort is the main supplier of fruit, vegetables and poultry thanks to the fifty hectares of its own farm cultivated without any trace of pesticides. And from the land to the table, the ingredients go to feed a Lazio cuisine open to digressions of all kinds, always under the banner of authentic and tasty dishes in three tasting menus: vegetable with products from their own estate, seasonal, and a third with only names of the main ingredient elaborated according to the chef's imagination. The wine list is also interesting with a particular emphasis on champagne; the chef has in fact created a tasting area in a building separate from the body of the structure, for aperitifs and oenological itineraries”.

In short, it is understandable why Aminta appears to be a very appropriate name for this gastronomic experience in Genazzano. The proposed recipe this week for Mondo Food readers is a refined and stellar suggestion for Easter lunch, capturing the most genuine flavor of artichokes which are recurring on tables in the Roman countryside at Easter.

Artichoke mozzarella and Prague ham lasagna recipe

Ingredients

500 g sheets for lasagna,

500 g fiordilatte mozzarella,

300 g sliced ​​Prague ham,

10 violet artichokes,

3 cloves of garlic, 180 g flour,

 1 l milk,

80 g butter,

its sale,

nutmeg,

parsley,

oil

Method

We clean the artichokes, depriving them of the outer leaves, the hardest part and part of the stem. We cut them into slices and cook them in a pan with oil, garlic, parsley and minced mint.

We prepare the pasta following the classic procedure with flour and eggs, leaving it to rest for about half an hour.

Let's prepare the béchamel. Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour. Let it toast for a few moments, then add the milk and, stirring constantly, let it thicken. We finish with salt and nutmeg.

At the base of a baking dish, spread a little béchamel. We arrange the egg pasta on top. Cover with a layer of béchamel and arrange the thickly sliced ​​mozzarella on top. We continue with the sliced ​​Prague ham (smoked), the sautéed artichokes and the chopped parsley. We repeat the layer. We finish with egg pasta, béchamel and Prague cooked ham curls. Sprinkle with parsley and bake at 180 degrees until golden brown, about 35 minutes.

We serve with slices of floured and fried artichokes.

Aminta Resort

 Via Trovano, 5,

00030 Genazzano RM

Phone06 957 8661

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