Spaghetti omelette with rocket leaves and parmesan shavings

Serves 6

• 500g spaghetti
• 1 garlic clove
• 250g tomato sauce
• 2 eggs
• 40g Parmesan cheese, grated
• 60g Parmesan cheese, shavings
• a bunch of fresh rocket leaves
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

Spaghetti omelette - Photo by David Caruana

Boil the spaghetti for half of the minutes indicated on the packet instructions. In the meantime, pour some olive oil into a saucepan, add the garlic clove and remove when browned. Add the tomato sauce, season with salt & pepper and leave to simmer on low heat for around 20 minutes.

When the pasta is ready drain, rinse with cold water and leave in colander. Beat the eggs with the grated Parmesan, season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss the spaghetti with the tomato sauce, add the egg mixture and mix well. Take a non-stick frying pan, pour 3 tblsp olive oil and pour in the pasta leveling it with a wooden spoon. If the mixture is too large you can fry it in two separate batches.

Cook the omelette on medium heat until its golden. Then flip on the other side adding some more olive oil in the frying pan to avoid sticking. When it’s ready serve with the rocket leaves and Parmesan shavings on top.

Well, this recipe has no meat and since we need to eat more vegetables for whatever moral, health or environmental reasons I suggest that you try this out. And if you are a read-the-recipe-but-do-not-follow-it type, please feel free to change vegetables to what’s in season like artichoke hearts, spinach, pumpkin or courgettes.

The no-meat meal

Vegetable bake - Photo by David Caruana

Serves 6

• 300g aubergine
• 250g yellow or red pepper
• 300g ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 2 tblsp breadcrumbs
• 40g grated pecorino cheese
• milk
• 8 basil leaves
• 4 mint leaves
• a bunch of parsley
• 1 garlic clove
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

Clean and cut the aubergine and pepper into small cubes. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic clove and when it starts to brown remove it from the pan.

Add the chopped vegetables and leave to saute for 10 minutes on low heat. Season with salt & pepper. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the pecorino cheese, ricotta, breadcrumbs and chopped herbs; add the cooked vegetables. If the mixture is too dry add some milk. Season with salt.

Line an oven proof dish of 22cm diameter with baking paper. Transfer the mixture into dish; smooth the surface and drizzle with olive oil. Cook in a preheated oven of 180 degrees Celsius for around 40 minutes.

You can serve this dish cold or warm with crusty bread.

So to satisfy his enthusiasm I had bought him the book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: The River Cottage Meat Book. It’s a must read for all meat lovers and a source of information for anyone who wants to know if the butcher you are buying from is a good one, and it can help you recognize good meat and identify the best methods to cook different types and cuts of meat. Here are some tips I have seized from the section about beef.

Beef fillet or Undercut

If you are ever wondering why the beef fillet is an expensive cut well it’s because in a whole, average sized beef carcass there is only 2 to 2.5kg of fillet. Moreover, its tenderness is coming from the fact that it is the muscle which is exercised least. What you might also need to know is that the fillet is the less flavorsome from all other cuts therefore for your taste-buds’ sake do not overcook fillet. I suggest you buy fresh beef fillet and serve it rare or medium that should make a tastier dish.

Recipe: Beef fillet al cartoccio

Beef fillet al cartoccio - Photo by David Caruana

Serves 4

• 4 beef fillet medallions (3cm thick)
• 4 potatoes
• a large bunch of fresh thyme & chives
• 1 garlic clove
• 50g butter
• 4 tblsp white wine
• chopped chilli pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• 100g green olives
• salt & pepper

Peel, wash and pat dry the potatoes, then cut them into wedges. Place the potato wedges in a frying pan with some olive oil, season with salt and cook them on a moderately high heat for around 10 minutes, until they become golden. Remove the wedges from the pan and keep them aside. In the same frying pan, put the butter and when this melts add the beef medallions. Fry for a couple of minutes from each side on a high flame to seal the meat.

Take the herbs, wash and pat them dry, finely chop herbs together with the garlic clove. Distribute the mixture on each side of the beef fillets covering them well. Transfer the medallions individually in a sheet of foil, add the potatoes, olives, some chilli pepper, and a tablespoon of white wine to each of the parcels. Season with salt & pepper, seal parcels and place in the oven, preheated to 200C, for around 15 minutes.

Serve with a glass of Chianti Classico.

My first words for the New Year could not be about food. For these last 9 days I only thought about my parted old-time friend Duncan. Food did not inspire me, my fervour to cook dwindled and every time I sat down to write about food words failed me.

Oh Duncan, why were you taken away so brutally from our world? I keep picturing your smiling, radiant face and your birdlike brown eyes; hearing your voice as you glamorously shared our joys and successes and feeling your hug as you understood our disappointments. You pampered us with your gentleness and your stylish way of doing things. You treated us like precious ladies, handled us with care and made sure that we were predominantly smiling. At that tender age you were our gentleman!

Your catering work experience taught us dining etiquette, with your expertise we organised lavish dinners and cooked four-course meals to celebrate special occasions. We followed you in restaurants you were working in and stuck to your menu suggestions. I will always think of you when I mix olive oil with balsamic vinegar and dip my bread in it, or eat, very rarely now, bread with butter and Twistees.

We met you at the Junior College and lived you and your zest for life for years. Our memories are endless and with your parting we all grieved in our own ways and nostalgically, sadly, we recalled the many episodes, adventures and occasions we shared with you during the years we spent honoured by your friendship.

When the time came to chose different paths our friendship became silent and distant yet it remained harboured in our hearts. I was lucky enough to have been in touch these last couple of years and I was flattered to be invited to your wedding and to hear your jubilation as you became Dad for the first time. We exchanged birthday and festive greetings but this time just before I was going to send you my wishes for the New Year I realised that you were gone… harshly… suddenly… defensively…

And this Saturday we had to come to bid you goodbye, without a handshake, a hug or a kiss but surrounded by the odour of chrysanthemums and stunned by the heart-wringing sound of the mourning bells saluting you.

Farewell my friend… part of what I am today I owe it to you! So, regardless of where you are or where I will be, you will remain in a corner of my heart dedicated to you.

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 1 whole chicken breast
• 24 pancetta slices
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red apple unpeeled, cut into cubes
• 20 roasted chestnuts, peeled
• ½ glass white wine
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh thyme sprigs
• Salt & pepper

1. Cut the chicken breast horizontally into 4 pieces. Season with salt and pepper and wrap each piece in the pancetta slices.
2. In a frying pan, pour a little olive oil and fry the chicken breast from both sides until cooked through. Remove from pan and keep warm.
3. In the same frying pan, cook the chopped onion in a tablespoon of olive oil for 5 minutes adding some water. Add the chestnuts and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Pour the wine and allow it to evaporate. Add the apple cubes, season with salt and keep cooking for a further 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring continuously.
4. Finish off with the freshly grinded pepper and thyme leaves. Serve warm with the chicken breasts wrapped in pancetta.

Ingredients:

• 500g dried chestnuts
• Rind of 1 orange, in strips
• Rind of 2 tangerines, in strips
• 3 tblsp cocoa powder
• 100g dark chocolate (60% minimum cocoa)
• 5tblsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice

Leave the chestnuts to soak in cold water for 2 hours. Wash well and place in a saucepan covering them with cold water. Boil until slightly tender.

Add all the remaining ingredients, stir gently to dissolve the chocolate and cook on low heat until the chestnuts are soft. Serve warm.

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 400g Vialone Nano (Riseria Ferron) rice*
• 800ml vegetable stock (I make my own with 2 carrots, 1 celery, 1 onion and 2 litres of water – simmer for 30 minutes)
• 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 150g Maltese sausage
• 150g pumpkin, cut into small cubes
• 100g chestnuts, roasted and peeled
• 30g grated parmesan cheese
• 30g butter
• Extra virgin olive oil

*Ferron rice is a product imported from Verona exclusively by Eatmania

1. Finely chop one onion and celery stick. Pour some extra virgin olive oil into a casserole and cook the onion and celery for 5 minutes together with the bay leaf. Add the pumpkin cubes, crumbled sausage meat and the chestnuts and cook for a further 10 minutes.
2. In a large deep pan, pour 2 tablespoons olive oil and cook the other finely chopped onion until soft. Add the rice until heated through and pour all the boiling stock at one go. Lower heat and simmer rice for 10 minutes or as indicated on the packet instructions. Add the chestnut and sausage mixture to the risotto. Mix well.
3. Remove from heat, add butter and parmesan and stir. Cover pan with lid and leave to rest for 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

There are few people around me who understand the passion I have for food, or as my husband says, the obsession with food.

I have recently read the book ‘Creating a meal you’ll love’ which groups a collection of memorable dining experiences of various food writers and chefs. This book inspired my post of today.

Some cook purely to satisfy hunger, so maybe any kind of food will do for them. Others cook since it is their duty to do so and end up repeating boring dishes from week to week. I cook and have fun. I get excited when I see appetizing recipes. My shopping therapy is for food items rather than clothes. My heart throbs when I need to prepare a special meal for a particular occasion or person. I get euphoric when I sense good food in a restaurant. I am in love with food as much as I am in love with my husband, family and friends. That’s why when I cook for these precious beings I want to prepare delectable food. Because through food I feel I can express my love, appreciation and respect!

It was Lauren’s turn to sit down at the glass dining table of my new home. My friendship with Lauren is hard to describe. We do not meet frequently, we do not communicate regularly, we do not update each other with our lives all the time. We just exchange emails occasionally and meet for a lengthy dinner 4 or 5 times a year. And then we say it all in between courses and flowing glasses of wine.

As soon as I found the right time for some ladies quality talk, that is when the husband is away, I invited Lauren over. I thought of the menu some weeks before, bought the necessary ingredients and transformed them into:

• Toasted baguette slices with grilled aubergines dressed with pinzimonio (extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, crushed sea-salt and spices)
• A selection of cheeses from Chianti
• Spinach and ricotta gnocchi served with sage butter
• Turkey drumsticks with chicken liver pate
• Chocolate & prune tarts

The pace of the dinner was a languid one, we paused between one bite and the next, we chatted about our lives, our interests, our worries.  Yeah we gossiped as well! We sipped on a decanted Saint-Emilion Grand Cru of 2004 which Lauren proudly brought for the occasion. I have very limited awareness of French wines but we were both impressed with the ameliorated tastes of the wine as it sat undisturbed in the decanter.

We only looked at our watches when we heard my husband’s key unlocking the door. As we concluded our pleasant evening with a caffè and a home-made limoncello I could sense that our dinner was, not only a flavorsome experience, but a comforting moment which can only be conceived when two honest friends open their hearts and minds to each other.

Recipe: Gnocchi ricotta and spinach

Serves 4:

• 500g fresh spinach
• 500g ricotta
• 80g flour
• 80g grated parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• nutmeg
• sage leaves
• 40g butter
• salt

Clean well the fresh spinach leaves and cook them in a casserole with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes. No need to add water since spinach looses a lot of moisture when cooked. Put the spinach under running water to cool, drain well and finely chop.

In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, spinach and 50g parmesan, the eggs, a pinch of nutmeg and salt, and 50g flour. Work the mixture with your hands to obtain a soft homogeneous dough. Form gnocchi the size of a walnut.

Roll the gnocchi in the remaining flour and throw them in salted boiling water. In the meantime, soften the butter in a pan add the sage and cook until the butter turns golden.

As soon as the gnocchi start to come to the surface pick them up with a slotted spoon and serve them with the sage butter and the rest of the grated parmesan cheese.

TIP: You can also serve these gnocchi with a plain tomato & garlic sauce.

Photo by Clint Scerri Harkins (http://www.scerriharkins.com/)

As my brother introduced me to the products of Riseria Ferron I immediately recognized a new level of quality – that resulting from the use of rice flour. Having said that, it is not only the rice flour per se but also the way it is milled that contributes to its classification as a high quality product. The old mill and machinery which is used at Riseria Ferron to mill rice and rice flour guarantees a natural and delicate process to pound rice.

Following various experiments this rice flour was transformed by Gabriele Ferron into these delicate and crunchy, bite-size bruschette called Dorette di riso. The rice flour, combined with wheat flour, makes them lighter and easily digestible and they can be used in the kitchen in a multitude of ways. Whether you are looking for an amuse-bouche, hors d’oevures, finger food or accompaniments to platters the dorette di riso are my recommendation, especially if you’re tight with time.

Photo by Clint Scerri Harkins (http://www.scerriharkins.com/)

How do you serve them? Well, I wouldn’t want to limit your culinary fantasies by suggesting one recipe but here are some ideas:

• simply dressed with a fruity, intense extra virgin olive oil
• spread with an artichoke pate
• topped with sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella and basil
• as an accompaniment to black olive dip
• covered with white fig jam and scattered with parmesan shavings

These golden bruschette will unmistakably impress your guests!

Contact us for more information.

Attention food lovers: block Sunday 4th December on your calendars!

Eatmania will be participating in the Malta Artisan Christmas Fair which will be held at the Phoenicia Hotel in Floriana. For this special event Eatmania is proud to provide you with an array of traditional specialties synonymous with the Christmas season. Everything is prepared home-made with local, genuine and high-quality ingredients.

We will tantalize your taste buds with one of the typical Christmas Eve’s dishes – the imbuljuta – dried chestnuts cooked in dark chocolate, flavoured with orange and tangerine rinds and spiced up with cloves, nutmeg and mixed spice. If you are in for something savory pick your portion of ross il-forn - baked rice. We use superfine carnaroli rice, which we import directly from Riseria Ferron in Verona. The rice is slightly toasted and then combined with a tomato-based sauce made with Maltese sausage meat, Majjal ta’ Malta bacon, onions, herbs and spices. Everything is blended together with cheese and oven-baked until a soft crust is formed. Also on our menu is hobz bil-majjal - Maltese ftajjar spread with our home-made apple chutney and filled with rosemary and fennel roasted pork slices. Last but not least, the sfineg ta’ l-irkotta - soft balls of deep-fried dough with sweet ricotta and topped with honey and chopped almonds.

We will also be displaying a selection of preserves and chutneys, prepared for us by Katy in the Kitchen, which make ideal accompaniments to your Christmas menus.

Did we tease your appetite enough?

Don’t miss to visit our stand at the Malta Artisan Christmas Fair on Sunday 4th December between 100 and 1700 hours!