Cin Cin Wood-Fired Cucina

Cin Cin Wood-Fired Cucina by Andrew Richardson celebrates the 25th anniversary of the famous Cin Cin Ristorante + Bar in Vancouver. The restaurant and cookbook both focus on fresh, local ingredients that are allowed to shine in recipes.

Showcasing wood-oven cooking techniques and filled with spectacular photographs, each ingredient is highlighted by section. With recipes for Fried Zucchini Blossoms – Montasio, Goat Cheese and Parmesan with Arugula and Red Radish; Spaghetti al Ragu – 6-hour Bolognese, Veal and Pork with Pancetta, Parmesan; and Red-wine-braised Short Rib of Beef – Braised Carrots and Cannellini Beans – this is elevated restaurant cuisine that has been crafted for our home kitchens.

Is Cin Cin a little fancy? Yes. Is it approachable? Definitely. This book is for anyone who enjoys cooking although a culinary degree is not necessary to recreate the elegant dishes in this book. Tuesday, while writing up this post – I  made the recipe we are sharing below – and my house smells amazing (see my photo below). This dish is perfect for a relatively quick weeknight meal and delicious enough for company. Of note, the recipe calls for three pounds of chorizo – I used two pounds. The sauce becomes like a bolognese and even though the author states that this recipe makes four servings – it is more like eight servings for mere mortals – so it can easily be halved or follow the recipe exactly for a dinner party. It is even better the next day.

Can we talk dolci for a moment? The dolci chapter will make make you sing – from Warm Dark Chocolate Fondant Caramélia Gelato and Fresh Berries to CinCin Tiramisù. The sweet dishes in this chapter will take some time committment but will impress a pastry chef. 

Special thanks to Figure 1 and the author for sharing this stellar recipe with us today. Be sure to head over to our contest page to enter the giveaway for this title – one winner in the US and one winner in Canada. 

Casarecce with Spicy Chorizo Sausage – Tomato, Chili, Rosemary and Parmesan  
Serves 4

2 Tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
1 small red onion, minced
3 lbs (1.4 kg) chorizo sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled
1 1/2 Tbsp (22 mL) chopped fresh rosemary
2 fresh or dried bay leaves
Pinch of dried chili flakes
One 28 oz (796 mL) can peeled Roma tomatoes, drained and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups (500 mL) dried casarecce pasta (9 oz/250 g)
1/2 cup (125 mL) heavy cream
4 1/2 oz (125 g) freshly grated Parmesan (1 1/4 cups/310 mL), divided
 
In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and fry the onion until golden brown.
Add the sausage, rosemary, bay leaves and chili, and cook over high heat, breaking down the sausage as it cooks. As the fat appears, remove all but 1 Tbsp (15 mL) of it, and continue to cook for 20 minutes.
 
When the sausage meat is broken down and browned, add the tomatoes, and stir while the mixture returns to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring and breaking up the tomatoes. Remove from the heat.
 
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente and drain, allowing a little water to cling to the pasta.
 
Add the pasta to the chorizo mixture in the frying pan. Stir in the cream and half the Parmesan.
 
Divide between 4 bowls. Serve with the remaining Parmesan on the side.

Photo of recipe by Jenny Hartin and contents therein eaten by Jenny Hartin. 

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24 Comments

  • lgroom  on  April 19, 2017

    I love nice restaurant cookbooks. That meal does look so good.

  • Kristjudy  on  April 19, 2017

    The picture of this recipe looks spectacular!!!

  • monique.potel  on  April 19, 2017

    i love wood fired cooking and this book is filled with the smell of the wood burning

  • jr0717  on  April 19, 2017

    This book is made for my mother's palate and cooking preference. It'd be a wonderful Mother's Day Gift!

  • lebarron2001  on  April 19, 2017

    my favorite wood fired dish is pizza.

  • pandapotamus  on  April 20, 2017

    pizza!

  • trudys_person  on  April 21, 2017

    My favourite wood-fired dish is bread – anything bread, like focaccia, pizza, naan, flatbread … and I had an amazing tandoori lingcod once …

  • earthnfire  on  April 22, 2017

    pizza!

  • RSW  on  April 22, 2017

    My favorite wood fired dish would be pizza.

  • edyenicole  on  April 22, 2017

    Probably pizza or potatoes.

  • sgump  on  April 22, 2017

    Kentucky burgoo is my favorite wood-fired dish.

  • fiarose  on  April 23, 2017

    literally any seafood or vegetable woodfired is fantastic–i recently had a delicious shrimp-and-scallop stuffed woodfired octopus, though, that might take the top prize!

  • ampsmom  on  April 25, 2017

    pizza

  • Siegal  on  April 29, 2017

    I love wood fried pizza!

  • imaluckyducky  on  April 29, 2017

    pizza, bread, and paella

  • JenJoLa  on  May 1, 2017

    I think my favorite wood fired food has to be pizza.

  • AnnaZed  on  May 5, 2017

    I wish I were creative and knowledgeable enough to say something besides PIZZA! (but I don't have this book yet, so I'm not)

  • vickiec  on  May 6, 2017

    No pizza for me. Instead…a gorgeous pasta satisfies and delights.

  • j_h  on  May 6, 2017

    This looks amazing! Has anyone made it yet? That's a LOT of chorizo for four people.

  • meggan  on  May 8, 2017

    flat breads

  • t.t  on  May 13, 2017

    pizza!

  • Uhmandanicole  on  May 13, 2017

    Anything warm and bready is my favorite thing out of a wood fired oven

  • artmarcia  on  May 19, 2017

    Pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and rosemary

  • patois68  on  May 23, 2017

    Buffalo Mozzarella with Meyer lemon, Three Endives, Parmesan and Olive Oil

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