September 5, 2010 by Olivia
Squaquerello, Squacquerone?! What on earth is that?! Sometimes, I found this ingredient in Italian recipes and I always wondered what does this funny word stand for. Well, this creamy cheese of the Emilia-Romagna region, believe it or not, it is also available on our supermarket shelves. Not for long, I assume, since many people would not buy something which they never heard of but its usage is so simple that you I suggest you try it out! This soft cheese can be enjoyed as a spread on bread or the traditional Piadina Romagnola with some rocket and cherry tomatoes, it can be added to pasta, pizza or risotto. Since I happened to be at the supermarket which stocks it over the weekend I bought a tub and today tried the following easy recipe:
Risotto Squaquerello
Ingredients for 4 persons (as a starter):
- 300g rice for risotto (I suggest Vialone Nano or Carnaroli)
- 750ml stock
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 tblsp squaquerello
- 2 tblsp grated parmesan cheese
- a bunch of rocket leaves
- salt & pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
Cook the rice according to the packet instructions. If you are using Vialone Nano I suggest the following method of cooking the rice. Take a large pan, fry the onion in a little olive oil until transparent then pour 750ml stock and bring to boil. Throw in the rice and stir once making sure rice is totally covered in the stock. Leave to cook according to the time on packet instructions (around 15 mins generally) without stirring. Check it out every now and then to make sure water has not evaporated, if that is the case just add some boiling water. When the rice is al dente add the squaquerello, parmesan, and rocket and stir well. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes, then decorate with rocket leaves and top with some olive oil. The taste is a creamy, fresh, bitter and tangy risotto!
Risotto Squaquerello
For more information you can visit the following site: http://www.latteriamontello.com/en/nonno_nanni/squaquerello.php
Posted in Recipes | Tagged parmesan, risotto, starter, rocket, soft cheese, easy, squaquerello, squacquerone | Leave a Comment »
September 3, 2010 by Olivia
After enjoying the privilege of working 4 weeks on reduced hours it was quite a shock to start spending 8 hours again sitting at our desks, at least it always is for me! Hence, someone had to spice up our morale! My fellow colleague and avid fan of Eatmania decided to treat us with a pear & ricotta cheesecake. I must say that the cheesecake was impressively light and tasty! Melanie, our benefactor, is very cautious on healthy eating therefore she formed up her recipe paying attention to the sugar! The cheesecake, made up of ricotta and fresh cream was sweetened with icing sugar, this made the filling smoother and lighter. The base was composed of crushed biscuits and butter making the cheesecake crunchy. And finally, the topping consisted of lightly boiled pears in cinnamon and brown sugar, then sprinkled with icing sugar and some chocolate shavings. The result was light and very satisfying. Pity the dish was small since I could have eaten a large creamy portion 
For next time Melanie, please do use a wider dish – thank you.
Pear & Ricotta Cheescake
Posted in Other, Recipes | Tagged ricotta, desserts, pears, cheesecake, biscuits | Leave a Comment »
August 29, 2010 by Olivia
One of my recurrent dreams is to tour every corner of the culinary peninsula – Italy. This dream was born following my intense interest in food and wine, matters in which Italians are connoisseurs! It always fascinated me how these citizens could create a dish with the same main ingredient in a multitude of ways depending on the region and the village where it is being created. Every corner in Italy has its own gastronomic traditions, its own variety of ingredients and its unique particular method of cooking. Fascinating, isn’t it?! What fascinates me most is their creativity, which is not about being a professional chef (speaking of which would take us to another dimension) but even the ‘panineria’ on the road or the small ‘trattoria’ at the corner can provide you with the tastiest dish you crave for. Having said this, Italy is a food mine; in the sense that many ingredients are available as a natural resource. Wild mushrooms, wild fruits, herbs, borage, rocket, etc are easily available in the woods they are surrounded with, thus easy to pick up and take home to prepare any favorite dish with the freshest ingredients. Unfortunately, on our islands it is becoming less popular growing our own fruit and vegetables and most of what is available on the market is usually imported. I hope that someday we realise that local produce can give us better results in our cuisine and that with the most simple ingredients we can create a variety of dishes, what matters most is the quality of the ingredient and not the quantity!
Coming to the subject of my post… I Primi D’Italia… this is a 4 day festival which will be taking place in Foligno, Umbria from the 23rd to the 26th September. This is the 11th edition of this festival and will be a gastronomic tour of the ‘primi’ which will include pasta, rice, polenta, gnocchi, soups and whatever it takes to create a tasty primo. It will be held in the historic centre of Foligno and whilst enjoying the cultural aspects of this village one is surrounded with glorious food to taste, buy and even cook during cooking sessions with popular chefs. For more information see attached link where you can also find the programme of this festival. Luckily, and THANKS to my DAD I will be going to this festival so watch out for the blog I Primi D’Italia: The Experience. Can’t wait!
www.iprimiditalia.it
I Primi D’Italia
Posted in Events, Travel | Tagged italy, pasta, soups, I Primi D'Italia, Foligno, Umbria, Food Festivals, rice, gnocchi, polenta, primi | Leave a Comment »
August 28, 2010 by Olivia
For anyone who is wondering what are paccheri these are pasta shapes similar to cannelloni but half their size. They can be stuffed with several types of filling or served with seafood sauces or chunky meat sauces. The following recipe is one of the most traditional for paccheri.
Paccheri ricotta & basil
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 500g fresh paccheri (available at local supermarkets – can be substituted by dried ones)
- 2 cans tomato sauce
- 2 garlic cloves
- 700g ricotta
- 1 glass fresh milk
- bunch of fresh basil
- 50g grated parmesan
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Boil the paccheri for half of the time indicated on the packet. When ready, drain and pass them under cold water so that you stop them from continuing to cook. In a saucepan, prepare the tomato sauce by frying the garlic clove, remove it when brown and add the tomato sauce. Leave to simmer for around 20 minutes. Add some salt & pepper. In the meantime, place the ricotta in a bowl, add the chopped basil leaves, pour some milk until the mixture is creamy but not watery. Season with salt & pepper. Start filling the paccheri and place them in one layer in a large oven proof dish covered with baking paper. Top up with the tomato sauce and scatter the grated parmesan on top. Place in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees celsius and cook for 20 minutes.
Paccheri filled with ricotta & basil
Posted in Recipes | Tagged oven-baked, paccheri, parmesan, pasta, ricotta, tomato sauce | Leave a Comment »
August 28, 2010 by Olivia
Lightly stuffed aubergines
It’s Summer time, or rather end of Summer time! However, aubergines are easily available on the market. Many think that to cook aubergines is complicated since you need to put them under salt for a couple of hours before you cook them. I rarely do so and still get finger licking results! I found this recipe really tasty and easy and you can spice it up by adding or removing any ingredient/s you like!
Grilled Aubergines with a herb & caper stuffing
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 2 aubergines
- 50g capers, ideally those stored in salt
- 50g pine nuts
- bunch of fresh basil leaves
- bunch of fresh parsley
- 1 garlic clove
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt & pepper
Slice the aubergines in 2. Place them from the flesh side on the grill or BBQ for 5 minutes, then turn them and leave them for another 5 minutes from the other side. When cooked, take the aubergine halves and slit the flesh in a criss cross way. If as as you slit the aubergines you can feel the pulp soft then the aubergines are ready to eat, if not leave them on the grill for a few more minutes until the pulp softens. Meanwhile, roughly chop the capers, garlic, pine nuts and herbs, add some olive oil and season with salt & pepper. As soon as the aubergines are ready top with the herb & caper mixture and push the ingredients in the slits created in the aubergine. Dress with some olive oil and chili pepper. Any aubergine leftovers you can chop and add to some boiled pasta the day after, the result is fantastic!
Posted in Recipes | Tagged aubergine, pine nuts, antipasto, BBQ, parsley, low-calorie, basil, capers | Leave a Comment »
August 25, 2010 by Olivia
The sauce makes it one of my favourites!
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 4 calamari
- cherry tomatoes
- half glass balsamic vinegar
- 1 tblsp honey
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Clean the calamari and cut from one side forming rings without slicing all the way down so that the rings are still attached to the body of the calamari. Brush them with olive oil, season them with salt and place them on the grill for 3 minutes from each side. In the meantime, pour the balsamic vinegar and the honey in a saucepan and keep stirring on medium heat until it has become a dense creamy sauce. Serve the grilled calamari and the cherry tomatoes and pour over the sweet vinegar sauce.
Sweet & Sour Calamari
Posted in Recipes | Tagged antipasto, cherry tomatoes, BBQ, calamari, balsamic vinegar, honey, quick & easy | Leave a Comment »
August 22, 2010 by Olivia
After spending some time in the UK amidst fresh weather and English food I must say I deeply missed our Mediterranean diet! Not that we always ate roast beef and chips (since we visited an Italian restaurant more than once) but it still feels soothing to gurgle down some pasta with fresh cherry tomatoes or nibble on some crunchy Maltese bread! What I liked best about the English food are their desserts and the Sunday roasts served at the pub! Poached eggs were also my favourite! Hence, on our return I found myself on the way to the fishmonger and bought some fresh meaty vongole which helped me compose a finger licking plate of spaghetti… have a look!
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 400g squid-ink pasta, ideally spaghetti
- 1kg fresh vongole
- 2 thin courgettes
- 15 cherry tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- basil leaves
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- white wine
Clean the vongole by leaving them in salted water for about 2 hours until the sand is washed away. In the meantime, slice the courgettes into circles and crush the garlic. Tear the basil leaves with your fingers and slice the cherry tomatoes into halves. Bring the pasta water to boil, then add the pasta and cook until al dente. Hence, take a large saucepan, pour some olive oil and add the garlic. Fry for few minutes, add the courgettes, keep cooking until these soften. Then add the cherry tomatoes and the basil leaves. Remove from the pan and keep aside. In the same saucepan, put in the vongole, add a glass of white wine and leave on high heat until all the shells open. When done, filter the water which emanated from the vongole and keep aside. Add the tomato and courgette mixture to the vongole, mix in the cooked spaghetti (very al dente), add some vongole water and keep stirring until the sauce is blended with the pasta. Pour some olive oil and serve.
Squid-ink pasta with fresh clams
Posted in Recipes | Tagged pasta, clams, cherry tomatoes, courgettes | Leave a Comment »
Figs & More
Throughout this week we had a surplus supply of figs and mum decided to prepare some jams and chutneys. There are many ways to mess with figs in the kitchen… you just need to have some free time and creativity! Mum tried this lovely bread with bits and pieces of figs which is a delicious accompaniment to salty cheeses like pecorino, ragusano, parmesan etc. It’s easy to do… just add pieces of figs to the pizza/bread dough and bake.
Posted in Other | Tagged bread, figs | Leave a Comment »
Rabbits are usually cut in pieces and cooked according to the recipe. However, if you have the time and patience to debone a rabbit then do not think about it anymore and just do it since it’s worth all the hassle, if you can call it such! If you look for videos on youtube.com you will get a step by step guide to carry out this task which will take you around 30 minutes. Once the rabbit is boneless you can stuff it with a variety of mixtures. This is my recipe:
Ingredients for 4 persons
- 1 whole rabbit weighing 1.5 – 2 kg (including liver and kidneys)
- 1 small onion
- 100g sliced white bread
- 50g grated pecorino cheese
- 50g sultanas
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 egg yolks
- parsley
- 1 glass dry white wine
- 1 can tomato pulp
Once the rabbit is deboned and cleaned you can finely chop the onion and the liver and kidneys and fry them up with some olive oil and salt. In the meantime, start preparing the stuffing mixture. Remove the crust from the bread and crumble up the soft central part. Take a large bowl and mix well the bread, sultanas, chopped garlic and parsley, the liver mixture and the cheese. Add the egg yolks and mix well, season with salt & pepper. Now you can place the mixture in the centre of the rabbit and tie it up with thread.
Rolled rabbit
To cook the rabbit, take a large heavy based pan, add some olive oil and braise the rabbit from all sides. Then add the glass of white wine and leave to evaporate. Once the wine has evaporated, pour the tomato pulp and leave on low heat for 2 hours. You can serve with roast potatoes and sauteed mange tout.
Stuffed rabbit served with mangetout and tomato sauce
Posted in Recipes | Tagged rabbit, rolled rabbit, tomato sauce | Leave a Comment »
It’s fig time again! We’re lucky of having a ‘fresh from the tree’ fig supplier who comes knocking at our door as soon as the season starts. There’s nothing sweeter and juicer than Maltese grown figs. Having the supply in hand, I decided on a light refreshing antipasto for today’s lunch. Follow the following instructions and you cannot fail, it’s all so simple!
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 1 x 250gr buffalo mozzarella
- 8 small figs (if the figs are large you can reduce figs & all other ingredients to 4)
- 8 slices thinly sliced prosciutto San Daniele (or parma ham)
- 8 basil leaves
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt & pepper
Slice the buffalo mozzarella into 8 pieces, wash and halve the figs. Place the mozzarella slice first then top with the prosciutto, the basil leaf and finish off with the figs. Dress with some extra virgin olive oil and salt & pepper. Serve with crusty bread.
Mozzarella & fig antipasto
Posted in Recipes | Tagged vegetarian, buffalo mozzarella, antipasto, fresh figs, basil, parma ham, prosciutto San Daniele | Leave a Comment »
Older Posts »
