A Father's Day feast at home

Posted 4 years ago by Clarissa Amaro and Executive Chef Vincent Stufano

Mouthwatering food and mountain adventures go hand in hand, so to celebrate all the dads in our lives we reached out to our Executive Chef Vincent Stufano to get his take on the perfect Father’s Day three course menu that you can make at home.

The recipes below are some of his favourites, especially the orecchiette;

"One of my fondest childhood memories is this dish. My Nonna in Italy would make orecchiette by hand and mail it to my family each Christmas, packaged in brown paper with a Christmas card, tied with string."

If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Chef Stufano yet, you’ll find him in the kitchen of Alto, our newest restaurant which opened December 2019, where he crafts the delicious menus for all of Panorama’s establishments. Born and bred in Montreal to a passionate Italian and French family, Chef Stufano’s love of deliciously fresh, down-to-earth food and locally sourced ingredients was instilled in him at a young age and has influenced his renowned culinary career. That same love is now infused into each menu at Panorama, including the decadent Italian fare at Alto Kitchen & Bar.

Buon Appetito!

Chef Stufano and part of his culinary team in the kitchen of Alto.

This menu serves four people

Summer Heirloom Tomato Salad with Grilled Focaccia

5 medium organic heirloom tomatoes in a variety of colors

3 tbsp high quality extra virgin olive oil

4 tsp high quality aged balsamic vinegar

Basil leaves

Focaccia loaf

To taste Fleur del Sel and toasted cracked black pepper

Fresh basil leaves

Shaved Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

Focaccia bread (charred on a grill)

Method
Wash and pat dry the heirloom tomatoes. Remove the stems and cut the tomatoes into bite sized wedges. Place cut tomatoes on a serving platter. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Season with Fleur del Sel and cracked black pepper, top with fresh basil leaves and serve with grilled focaccia bread.

Orecchiette

4 tbsp olive oil

4 cups orecchiette noodles

1 shallot, finely diced

2 garlic clove, finely diced

20 grape tomatoes

20 young spinach leaves

20 basil leaves, small

4 cups chicken stock

To taste sea salt and cracked black pepper

Method
Simmer chicken stock until reduced by ¼ of its volume. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta until al dente. In a saucepan over medium heat, place olive oil and add tomatoes, shallots and garlic, sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add cooked pasta, fold in spinach and basil. Add hot chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat immediately and serve.

Summer Gratin of Fruit

8 egg yolks

¼ cup white wine

1/8 cup Grand Marnier

1/8 cup icing sugar

¼ cup raspberry coulis (puree)

4 scoops raspberry sorbet

12 raspberries, fresh

12 blackberries, fresh

12 strawberries, fresh

24 blueberries, fresh

12 slices kiwi

12 segments orange

12 mint leaves

1 orange peel, sliced thinly and blanched

Method
Over a double boiler combine the egg yolks, white wine, Grand Marnier and sugar. Whisk vigorously until it has tripled in size and you have a custard consistency. If you become tired, remove from heat and slow down.

To serve, spoon the custard equally on four plates, divide and arrange the fruit on each plate. Drizzle the raspberry coulis around the custard. Sprinkle the icing sugar and place under the broiler until golden brown or use a hand torch to brûlée. Add a scoop of raspberry sorbet, orange zest and mint leaves.

The above recipes can also be found in Chef Stufano's cookbook Seasons for Cooking which he wrote for the Fairmont Chateau Whistler where he worked for 18 years and became Executive Chef.

Tagged culinary, recipe, at home