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"Scoprire un altare per ricoprirne un altro." (To rob Peter to pay Paul.) Welcome to another recipe edition from Angela's Organic Oregano Farm!

This week's Italian recipes:
  -Shiitake Mushrooms with Pecorino Cheese
  -Tortellini with Porcini Mushroom Sauce
  -Chicken Parmigiano

"Buona sera..." All of us at the farm are grateful for your participation with us through this newsletter. Thanks for everything you're doing and we'll continue to find recipes to help your kitchen become incredible. Please share this newsletter, if you found it useful. Enjoy this week's recipes.

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Angela Reina       

Shiitake Mushrooms with Pecorino Cheese
Funghi Shiitake con Pecorino

Ingredients:

7 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
8 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 lemon, peel cut into long thin slivers (yellow part only)
Coarse kosher salt
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, cut into 1/2-inch wide slices or left whole if smaller than 1 and
1/2 inches in diameter
1 garlic clove, peeled, flattened
6 ounces young Pecorino cheese (Pecorino fresco), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions:

Whisk 5 teaspoons lemon juice and mustard in small bowl.

Gradually whisk in 6 tablespoons olive oil.

Stir in lemon peel slivers.

Season dressing to taste with coarse salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Toss mushrooms, remaining 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in large bowl.

Transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Sprinkle mushrooms with coarse salt and pepper.

Roast 15 minutes.

Using spatula, turn mushrooms over and roast until soft and beginning to brown around edges, about 10 minutes longer.

Pour half of dressing over hot mushrooms on sheet.

Add garlic and toss to coat.

Let cool on sheet.

Combine mushrooms, cheese, parsley, and remaining dressing in medium bowl.

Let marinate at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours.

Discard garlic clove.

Serve mushrooms and cheese with toothpicks, if desired. Makes 6 servings.

That's it!

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Tortellini with Porcini Mushroom Sauce
Tortellini con Salsa di Funghi Porcini

Ingredients:

1 ounce dried Porcini mushrooms
Two 8-ounce packages dried three-cheese tortellini
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 cup sliced shallots
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
1/2 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano cheese, divided

Directions:

Place porcini mushrooms in 2-cup measuring cup; add enough hot water to measure 2 cups. Let stand until mushrooms are soft, about 20 minutes.

Drain mushrooms, reserving soaking liquid.

Coarsely chop porcini mushrooms.

Cook tortellini in large pot of boiling salted water until 'al dente', stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add shallots; saute until golden and tender, about 4 minutes.

Add mushrooms and 3 teaspoons thyme; saute 2 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup mushroom soaking liquid and cream; boil until thickened to light sauce consistency, about 3 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Drain tortellini; return to same pot.

Add mushroom mixture and toss to coat.

Stir in 1/2 cup cheese.

Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer tortellini to bowl; sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese and 1 teaspoon thyme. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

That's it!

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Chicken Parmigiano
Pollo Parmigiano

Ingredients:

For the Tomato Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 and 3/4 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup coarsely grated peeled carrots
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Two 28-ounce cans peeled whole tomatoes in juice

For the Chicken:
10 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
3 cups fresh breadcrumbs (from crustless French bread ground in processor)
2 large eggs
1 cup (about) all purpose flour
6 tablespoons (or more) extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 cups coarsely grated well-drained fresh water-packed mozzarella, divided
1 and 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmigiano cheese, divided
1 and 1/4 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram

Directions:

Prepare the Tomato Sauce:
Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add onions and garlic; saute until onions are soft and golden, about 10 minutes.

Add carrots and thyme; saute until carrots are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes with juice; bring to boil, coarsely crushing tomatoes with potato masher or fork.

Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to generous 5 cups, about 1 hour.

Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Prepare the Chicken:
Place chicken breast halves between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.

Using meat mallet or rolling pin, pound chicken breasts to 1/3-inch thickness.

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.

Spread breadcrumbs on plate.

Whisk eggs to blend in medium bowl.

Spread flour on another plate.

Coat both sides of chicken with flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Working in batches, add chicken to skillet and cook until brown, about 2 minutes per side, adding more olive oil as needed (chicken will not be cooked through).

Transfer chicken to platter.

Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish.

Arrange 1 layer of chicken over sauce.

Spoon 2 cups sauce over.

Sprinkle half of mozzarella, Parmigiano, and Pecorino cheeses over.

Repeat with remaining chicken, sauce, mozzarella, Parmigiano, and Pecorino cheese.

Bake until cheeses melt and chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with parsley and marjoram and serve. Serves 10.

That's it!

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"Only In Italy" is a daily news column that translates & reports on funny but true news items from legitimate Italian news resources in Italy. Each story is slapped with our wild, often ironic, and sometimes rather opinionated comments. And now, for your reading pleasure, a sample of today's edition:

Italian Cardinal: "Kidnapped Naples Businessman Surprisingly Found Alive"

Naples - September 14, 2010 - A businessman with alleged ties to the mafia who was kidnapped Sunday night outside Nola, near Naples, was found Tuesday morning by Carabinieri police.

Antonio Buglione, 54, who with his brother Carmine runs a private security firm in Nola, 20 km (12.4 miles) east of Naples, was found by police chained up in Marigliano, near Nola. Another brother, Carlo, was said to have received a ransom demand Monday for five million euros ($6.4 million).

After combing the countryside around Nola, Carabinieri found Antonio Buglione's abandoned car. Buglione is also the brother of Rosa Buglione, the mayor of a town near Nola called Saviano where the firm has another base.

The security entrepreneur is said to have had past ties with the Neapolitan Camorra mafia and has also been involved in probes involving local politicians.

According to prosecutors, for several years from the late 1990s top Camorra boss Carmine Alfieri used Buglione's security guards and private surveillance patrols to keep tabs on police movements. In 2008 Buglione was accused with a regional councilor of the center-left Democratic Party, Roberto Conte, of fraudulently inflating rents in the Naples area.

In 2010 the businessman was placed under investigation along with a Senator of the center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party on suspicion of money laundering and fraudulent bankruptcy.

Buglione's first brush with the law came in 1993 when he was wounded in the face in an ambush. Two years later, in 1995, he was arrested in a probe into alleged irregularities in the concession of licenses for security firms. Ex-Naples police chief Umberto Improta was also involved while a PDL MP, university medicine professor Carmine Mensorio, committed suicide after being named in the probe.

It was at this time that Buglione's alleged links with the Alfieri clan first came to light and the security manager was accused of attempted extortion.

WARNING: If you are a proud Napolitano and get easily offended, please, do NOT read and go listen to a Nino D'Angelo CD.

We're going to say it again...There is no law in the land of Naples. It’s 'Spartacus' with bad Napolitano music and people should come to terms with it. How can one live in a city where people say, "Eh, excuse me. I'm going out to get some fresh fruit and red peppers...cover me!"

If you run a business in Naples, happen to get kidnapped, and then you're miraculously found alive...you're not going to encounter the most sympathetic Italian law enforcement officials. A typical question a victim should receive is, "Antonio, who were these criminals and what did they want?"

No no, not in Naples...prepare yourself to be humiliated:

"Antonio, you were really asking for it, weren't you?
"Antonio, what did YOU do to deserve this?"
"Antonio, why didn't they shoot you? Ah, they ran out of bullets, right?"

What if your Naples business needs protection and security? Well, you can do two things:

You could hire the extraordinary services of the "Buglione Brothers", Antonio, Carmine and Carlo. Try to disregard their alleged ties to the mafia, the ransom requests, the occasional kidnapping, investigations on suspicion of money laundering and fraudulent bankruptcy, and the sister who's a mayor in a nearby town and happens to have a face that could stop a sundial.

Or you could take your cars and circle your company like covered wagons in order to avoid being attacked by savage Naples Indians.

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