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Italian recipes: Pasta & Roses for a perfect Valentine’s dinner!

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Valentine’s day is approaching! Here you are an exclusive idea for those who would rather stay home with their lovers for a romantic dinner, instead of going to the restaurant!

Spaghetti & Roses

200 g di spaghetti
6o g thinly sliced ham
20 g butter
1 dl cream
20 g roses’ petals
salt

Choose the roses; they should be preferrably pink. Take the petals and clean them gently with a damp towel, cut them in thin slices and keep aside 6 whole petals.

Cut the ham into small cubes.

Stir fry the onion with some butter, add the ham, fry it for a while and add the cream.  When the cream starts boiling, add the cut petals and cook the sauce at medium heat for a few minutes.

Once cooked, put the spaghetti in the sauce’s pan and fry them for a while.  Serve them in a plate, decorated with the whole petals.

You will surprise your love!

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Italian Christmas Tradition: Pandoro

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

The Pandoro is a typical Christmas yeast bread, which was created in Verona. Its provenance can be found either in the Viennese pastry, in the French brioche or in a dessert of the Venice’s aristocracy (called “pane de oro”, golden bread).

The Pandoro is actually an evolution of a Veronese sweet bread, called Nadalin, and was created in 1800 by Domenico Melegatti. Its typical shape is that of a  frustum with an 8-pointed star section ideated by the artist Angelo dall’Oca Bianca.

It is usually served covered by a Vanilla-scented icing sugar, and sometimes it is filled with gelato or chantilly cream  ad it is a MUST on our Italian Christmas tables! We recommend you to try it!

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Nearby Florence: Fiesole

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

If  you are in Florence and you would like to make some nice excursions not too far away, a good choice could be to go and visit Fiesole. Easily reachable by bus  from the center of the city (it takes around 20 minutes with bus n.7), Fiesole is located upon a lovely hill from which you will see a wonderful view of Florence.

Not only a beautiful small town, Fiesole is enriched by many important artistic and historic monuments:  from the Etruscan area to many beautiful Churches, Convents and Palaces. And the view from there is always breathtaking!

Would you like to visit Fiesole with our Art History expert? Take one of our art history courses or one of our guided visits!

And if you’re more interested in a relaxing holiday combined with a cooking course in Fiesole, check out the cooking course we organize there!

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Italian recipes: rice & figs pudding

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Autumn has come! Although here in Italy is mostly mild and nice, we need something sweet to cheer up during those typical gloomy days. Let’s prepare a lovely dessert with figs!

Ingredients

  • 200gr of rice
  • 1lt of milk
  • 10 fresh figs
  • 4 eggs
  • 160gr of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of rhum
  • a little butter
  • 1 pinch of salt

Preparation

Boil the rice in the milk with a pince of salt until it will absorbe all the liquid. Remove from heat and let it cool down.

Peel the figs, dice them and put them in the rice. Add sugar, rhum and eggs. Mix well.

Pour the mixture in a greased mold, or in four individual small molds, and cook in water bath in the oven for about one hour.

Let the pudding cool down, remove from the mould and serve it decorating it with some figs or bitter chocolate sauce.

Autumn will be sweet this way!

Source: Buttalapasta

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Italian recipes: Pesto!

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Pesto is one of the most known Italian pasta sauces, with his great flavour. But not everyone knows that it is very easy to prepare. You can choose to make it with mortar and pestle, as the tradition teachs, or if you have just a few time at your disposal you can just mix all the ingredients with a blender. Here you are the recipe :)

INGREDIENTS

  • 50 g basil leaves
  • 1 small fresh garlic glove
  • a pinch of cooking salt
  • 1 tablespoon full of pine nuts
  • 15 g of grated Italian sheep’s milk cheese
  • 15 g of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
  • 4 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare the ingredients
Wash the basil leaves in cold water and put them to drain on a cloth. Clean them cutting out the stalk. Peel the garlic glove.

2. Traditional preparation with mortar and pestle
Put the basil leaves, garlic, cooking salt and pine nuts in the mortar. Crash them slowly with the pestle with circular movements. When the basil is completely crushed, add the cheeses and start to crash again until you’ll get a homogeneous blend. Now add olive oil and keep working the sauce until it becomes smooth and creamy.
3. Preparation with the blender
Put all the ingredients together in a blender and mix them slowly, so the sauce won’t overheat.
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Italian food: Cannoli siciliani

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

The “Cannoli” are probably the most famous Sicilian desserts. Their names is due to the word cannolo, which in Sicilian means “little tube”. Because of the many Italians from Sicily living there, they are very popular also in America.

Our Cannoli are made of a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet filling usually made out of ricotta cheese and chocolate chips or succade; they are produced in various sizes, from the very small ones to the huge ones you can see in the original Sicilian confectioneries.

They were created in the Palermo area, for the period around Carnival (simbolizing fertility); however, now they can be eaten all year-round and are very good in Summertime also because of their freshness.

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Italian recipes: mushroom, bacon and walnut risotto

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

A rustic recipe, perfect in any occasion. Its creamy consistance will surprise your guests! Let’s see how is it made:

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion (finely chopped)
  • 2 bacon rashers (diced)
  • 200g of mushrooms (cleaned and thickly sliced)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
  • 1/4 cup walnuts – roughly chopped
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  • ½ cup white wine
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onion for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bacon and cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the mushrooms, garlic, walnuts and rice and cook for a minute, stirring to coat the rice with oil. Add the wine, stock, salt and pepper, bring to the boil then cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently for 20 minutes without lifting the lid. Stir the reserved tablespoon of olive oil, parsley and cheese through the rice.

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Italian recipes: Easter egg bread!

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Many typical recipes are prepared in Italy for Easter; peaple are happy to go out and wellcome the sun back in the sky…try to make the easter egg bread and take it for your outdoor springtime lunches!

Ingredients:

1 package Rapid Rise yeast
1.25 cups scalded milk, cooled to room temperature
pinch of salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar

3.5 cups flour (approximate)
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
6 dyed Easter eggs
sprinkles

Indications:

In a large mixer bowl, combine yeast, warm (not hot) milk, salt, butter, eggs and sugar. Add about half the flour and beat until smooth with dough hook.   Slowly add the remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Don’t worry about how much flour it ends up being, just keep adding until the dough is not sticky anymore.  Knead until smooth with either dough hook attachment or turn out on floured board and knead. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

Punch dough down, divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece to form a 1 inch thick rope about 14 inches long and, taking two pieces, twist to form a “braid”, pinching the ends,  and loop into a circle.

Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double, about an hour again. Brush each bread with beaten egg wash. Put on the sprinkles. In the middle of each bread ring, gently place an Easter egg, making an indentation with the egg.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden – about 20 – 25 minutes. Cool on rack.

(source: http://italiandish.squarespace.com/imported-20090913150324/2008/3/19/italian-easter-bread.html)

So what are you waiting for? Cook it and surprise everyone!

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Italian recipes: Torta pasqualina!

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Easter is already approaching! We can feel it in the air…so why not surprise your guests with a special and savoury typical Italian easter recipe? Try to bake the Torta Pasqualina your own!

The Torta Pasqualina finds its origins in Liguria, a region in northeastern Italy. It is mostly made of a green mixture; the most common is swiss chard but you can also use spinaches or arugula. In Liguria they add to the mixture a slightly sour fresh cheese called prescinsena in place of the ricotta. Originally, the Torta was made with layers of filling alternated with paper-thin sheets of pastry: 33 layers of dough were used representing each year of Christ’s life. Also, 12 eggs were added to represent the apostoles. The one we propose here is an easier one,  made with 2 layers of douogh forming a top and a bottom crust. Good luck in the kitchen!

Ingredients for the dough

  • 2-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup water

Ingredients for the filling

  • 10-12 ounces Swiss chard, washed and trimmed
  • 10-12 ounces spinach, washed and trimmed
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • Pinch of ground cloves
  • 6 eggs, divided
  • 1 cup ricotta
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
  • Pinch of grated nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
  • Olive oil

To make the dough:
Combine the flour and  salt  in a large bowl. Stir in the oil and 1/2 cup water to make a smooth, non-sticky dough.   Knead just to bring the dough together. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, one three times the size of the other.  Wrap each piece with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

To make the filling:
Combine the Swiss chard and 1/2 cup water in a large pot. Cover and cook over medium heat until tender and wilted, about 10 minutes. Add the spinach and season with salt.  Cook 5 more minutes or until spinach is wilted.   Drain the greens and allow to cool. Squeeze out as much water as possible from the greens.   Place on a cutting board and finely chop.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter.  Add the onions and cloves. Cover and cook over medium heat until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes.   Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, beat 2 eggs until blended. Add the greens, onions, ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, marjoram, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Oil a 9-inch springform pan.

On a floured surface, roll out the larger piece of dough to a 15-inch circle. Place the dough into the pan, pressing it against the bottom and up the sides.   The ends will overhang the edge of the pan.
Add the filling to the pan and smooth the top. Make four evenly spaced indentations in the filling.   Carefully break on egg into one of the indentations. Repeat with the remaining 3 eggs.
Sprinkle each egg with some of the remaining tablespoon of Parmesan.

Roll out the smaller piece of dough. Cut out a 9-inch circle, using the bottom of the pan as a guide, if desired. Place the dough circle on top of the filling. Trim the overhanging dough to 1-inch.   Fold the dough inside the pan over the edge of the dough circle.   With your fingers, crimp the rolled edge to seal.  Brush the top of the dough with olive oil. Make several small slits in the top crust. Bake for 45 minutes, or until browned.   The top with puff up during baking but will relax when cooled. Cool on a wire rack about 10 minutes before removing the side of the pan. Serve hot or at room temperature.

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Italian recipes: Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Friday, February 26th, 2010

A very popular recipe, known all over the world for its tempting taste: try to cook it yourself and surprise your guests!

The strange name, “Carbonara” probably belongs to the fact that the dish was invented by the carbonari, the foresters making charchoal from the woods in the Italian Appennini. But let’s see how it is made:

For 4 serves
Preparation: 15 mins
Cooking: 10-12 mins
Difficulty: Medium

INGREDIENTS:
* 400 g (14 oz) Spaghetti (cooked “al dente”)
* 150 g (5 oz) Unsmoked streaky bacon slices (very thin – 1 mm thick)
* 50 g (2 oz) Pecorino cheese – matured (freshly grated)
* 15 ml (1tbs) Extra virgin olive oil
* 3 Egg yolks + 1 whole egg (use large size eggs, preferably free range organic)
* 80 ml (3 fl. oz) White wine
* 1 Small size onion (cut into thin rings)
* 5 g (¼ oz) Ground pepper grains (crushed in the mortar)

About the salt: Spaghetti is boiled in salted water, the bacon is salty and the Pecorino cheese is salty, so take care seasoning with salt!

DIRECTIONS:

Put 3 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg into a large bowl. While whisking, add the Pecorino cheese, but add it gradually because the cheese will dry the mixture and you need a smooth and creamy mixture. The remaining cheese can be used later for topping the pasta if you like. Take the crushed pepper you have previously prepared and add it to the bowl. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and creamy, and then leave it to rest.

Put the oil into a frying pan and when it is hot move the pan around distributing the oil all over the pan surface. Lay all the bacon slices into the pan and cook at medium heat. After a minute or so, start stirring the slices in order to cook them on both sides. When you see the first sign of browning, remove the pan from the cooker and go to the next step.
Transfer the bacon slices into a small bowl and leave them for the moment. Now, put your spaghetti into the boiling water and while boiling start cooking the onion. In the same pan you cooked the bacon slices, which is still hot, add the onion rings and cook them for a couple of minutes; then, add the wine and cook for a couple of minutes. Then, turn the heat down and gently cook the onions until caramelised. Remove the pan from the cooker and put the bacon slices back into the pan. With the pan away from the cooker (in order to avoid the bacon to overcooking), stir everything together and set aside.

When the spaghetti is ready, put the saucepan containing the bacon and the onion back on the cooker (low heat) and meanwhile drain the spaghetti (remember to leave the spaghetti a little wet). Be quick draining the spaghetti because they shouldn’t cool down. Put the drained spaghetti back into the large pan you used to boil it, which is still hot, and quickly add the bacon and onions. Stir quickly for 10 seconds and move on to the next stage.

Quickly add the egg mixture. Stir everything together for 20 seconds. The heat of the spaghetti and the heat of the pan is enough to cook the egg mixture. Do not carry out this procedure on the cooker otherwise, you will dry the spaghetti too much (I do not think you want to reach this stage to have spaghetti and scrambled eggs!). The final result should be a creamy sauce coating the spaghetti.
Serve immediately and feel free to season with more pepper if you like, or sprinkle with some of the remaining Pecorino cheese, if you have any left. You can also try garnishing the plate with some parsley (flat leaf – torn by hand), but not too much.

(source: http://www.italyum.com/italian-recipes/pasta-recipes/spaghetti-carbonara.html)

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