Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas Executive Chef, Josh Bernstein, wants to help us to impress friends and family with unique and delicious Christmas morning brunch recipes he serves at both the Clifton, NJ and the Westbury, NY locations.

Egg White Fritatta

Egg White Frittata

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup Clarified Butter
• ½ cup Spanish Onion, diced
• ½ lb Chicken Sausage, cooked and diced
• ½ bunch Rainbow Swiss Chard, cleaned and chopped
• 8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 2 cups Egg whites
• Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat a 10 inch, nonstick sauté pan over medium high heat. 
2. Add the clarified butter. 
3. After about 30 seconds, add the onions, sausage, Swiss chard and tomatoes. 
4. Cook for 2-3 minutes. 
5. Season to taste with the sea salt and ground black pepper. 
6. Mix in the egg whites and stir with a rubber spatula. 
7. Smooth the mixture out and place into a 400° oven for 5-7 minutes.  (The eggs should be fully set and slightly browned on top.) 
8. Slide the frittata out of the pan onto a round plate.  Cut into 8 wedges.

Pane Francese

Pane Francese alla Spuntino

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Pane Spuntino:

• ¼ cup Clarified Butter
• 1 each Crusty Baguette, cut into 1” bias slices
• 2 cups Buttermilk
• 8 eggs
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• ¼ tsp Sea Salt
• 2 Cups Maple Syrup
• Powdered Sugar for dusting

Warm Berry Compote:

• 1 lb Strawberries, de-stemmed
• 1 ls Blueberries
• ¼ cup Honey
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tbsp Mint, chiffonade

Method:

Warm Berry Compote:

1. Cut the strawberries into quarters. 
2. Combine the strawberries, blueberries, honey, vanilla and sea salt in a sauce pan. 
3. Slowly bring to a boil over low heat to allow the berries to release their liquid.
4. Let the mixture cook for 30 minutes to reduce the liquid by at least half. 
5. Fold in the mint.  Set aside for service.

Pane Spuntino:

1. In a bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. 
2. Whisk for 1 minute to combine well. 
3. Dip the baguette slices into the egg mixture.  Allow to sit for one minute to absorb the batter.
4. Heat the clarified butter in a large non-stick sauté pan. 
5. Add the battered bread to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes per side. 
6. Remove baguettes from the pan and dip into the bowl of maple syrup.  Coat on both sides and place into a baking dish. 
7. Put the pane spuntino into a 450° oven for 4 -5 minutes.  The pane spuntino will puff slightly.
8. Remove from the oven.  Serve on top of the warm berry compote.  Dust the top with the powdered sugar.

Spuntino’s philosophy, which emphasizes fresh, locally sourced ingredients for their chef-driven made-from-scratch menu, is demonstrated in these dishes.

For more information, visit www.SpuntintoWineBar.com or at Facebook.

Cheers,

Veronique