Ingredients for 4 people:

• 320g Carnaroli rice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 shallots
• Approx. 800ml prawn stock
• 150g portobello mushrooms
• 8 slices speck
• 160g peeled prawns
• 120g Parmesan cheese, grated
• 60g buttter
• Truffle oil
• Red chard leaves, to decorate (optional)

Prawn stock

• 800g prawn shells
• 100g Carrots, finely chopped
• 100g Onions, finely chopped
• 80g Celery, finely chopped
• 80g Fennel, finely chopped
• 20g Garlic, crushed
• 40g Tomato paste
• 200ml White wine
• 2 ltr Water
• 500ml Tomato juice
• Bouquet garni
• Pepper corns

To prepare the prawn stock:

1. Sweat the prawn shells in olive oil until golden. Remove shells and drain the fat.
2. In the same pan sweat the celery, onion, fennel and carrots in some olive oil and butter. Add the garlic and sweat for about 5 mins, add the tomato paste. Cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, add the white wine and reduce by half.
3. Add the shells, bouquet garni, water, and tomato juice, bring to boil and skim any fat from surface.
4. Simmer for 45 minutes. When ready pass well through a fine sieve.
5. Place the stock back on the stove on low heat, and skim the remaining impurities, taste and season with salt, sugar and fresh lemon juice. Keep boiling for the risotto.

Risotto Mare e Monti

To prepare the risotto:

1. In a thick bottom pan, pour a few tablespoons of cooking oil. Add the rice, lightly toast. After a minute add 700 ml of boiling stock at once. Mix gently and simmer on low heat for approximately 13 minutes.
2. In a separate pan pour some oil, when the pan is hot add the garlic and shallots, toss occasionally, add the Portobello mushrooms, until lightly brown. Add the prawns and sauté.
3. When the rice is ready. Add the butter and Parmesan. Add ½ a ladle of stock to make it as runny as you like. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This stage is very important when making a good risotto. Taste and season. The risotto should be creamy.
4. Fold in the prawns and mushrooms mixture and plate.
5. Garnish with the speck a drizzle of truffle oil and leaves of red chard.

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Our first contribution comes from Chef James Schiavone from Tartarun Restaurant in Marsaxlokk, a vegetarian risotto recipe hailing the sweetness of carrots and the earthy flavour of mushrooms using the Vialone Nano rice type.

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 320g  Vialone nano rice
• 300g carrot puree
• 60g butter
• 150g Parmesan shavings
• Approx. 800ml of vegetable stock
• 4 baby carrots peeled, cut in four
• 160g oyster mushrooms, cleaned
• Thyme flowers

Carrot puree

• 1 white onion
• ½ a leek
• 8 carrots
• Knob of butter
• Extra virgin olive oil

To prepare the carrot puree:

1. Chop up the onion, leek and carrots.
2. Pour the oil in a pan and sweat the vegetables without browning them.
3. Add enough water just to cover the vegetables.
4. Bring to boil and keep simmering until carrots are cooked.
5. Add the butter.
6. Blend and pass through a fine strainer to form a puree.

Vegetable stock

• 1 fennel bulb
• 2 white onions
• 1 leek
• 6 carrots
• ½ head of garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• Thyme
• Flat parsley
• Peppercorns

To prepare the vegetable stock:

1. Roughly chop the vegetables and put them in a large pot.
2. Pour cold water just enough to cover the vegetables.
3. Bring to boil and simmer for about 20 minutes
4. Pass through a fine strainer and keep the stock aside.
5. Any leftover stock can be frozen.

Carrot and parmesan risotto with roasted baby carrots and oyster mushrooms

To prepare the risotto:

1. In a thick bottom pan, pour a few tablespoons of cooking oil. Add the rice, toast lightly, and after a minute it will look slightly translucent. Then pour a ladle of the boiling stock. Lower heat and simmer for a minute.
2. Add the carrot puree, stir well, and then add another ladle of stock. Keep adding a ladle of stock at a time, stirring and letting the creamy starch ooze out of the rice. Allow each ladle of stock to be absorbed before adding the next.
3. Place the baby carrots in a dish, season with olive oil, salt and pepper and put in a hot oven until nicely roasted.
4. In a separate pan pour some oil, when the pan is hot add the roughly chopped oyster mushrooms. Toss the mushrooms and season with salt and fresh thyme.
5. Taste the rice. It should be soft but with a slight bite. When ready remove from the heat. I like my risotto slightly runny so when the rice is ready I add an extra ½ ladle of stock. Add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well and taste for seasoning. Risotto should be nice and creamy.
6. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This stage is very important to make a good risotto.
7. Plate the risotto and garnish with the roasted baby carrots, oyster mushrooms, some parmesan shavings and radish leaves.

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Pea fritters

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 350g frozen peas
• 100ml milk
• 40g flour
• 2 eggs
• 40g grated parmsean
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

Blanch the peas for 5 minutes in salted boiling water, then drain well.

Blend 2/3 of the peas with the eggs, milk, and flour. Add the grated parmesan, season with salt & pepper. Mix the remaining 1/3 of whole peas .

Heat some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and pour a tablespoon of the pea mixture to form flat fritters. Cook from one side until brown then flip on the other side. When ready serve immediately with some lemon wedges and mayonnaise.

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Pizzette with bacon and courgettes

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 1 packet ready to use shortcrust pastry (250g)
• 200g small courgettes
• 100g bacon, thinly sliced
• 60g grated parmesan
• pepper

Wash the courgettes and slice thinly then cut into 1cm fingers. In a mixing bowl, combine the courgettes and grated parmesan. Season with pepper and mix well.

Open the shortcrust pastry and cut circles of 6-8 cm diameter with a pastry cutter. Leave pastry on the baking sheet provided with the packet.

Place a bacon slice on each of the pastry discs leaving the borders free. Add the courgettes mixture and cook in a pre-heated oven of 220°  Celsius and cook for around 15 – 20 minutes depending on the packet instructions. Serve warm.

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Broad beans can be cooked in a multitude of ways, used in salads, added to soups and as an accompaniment to other dishes. Here is my suggested recipe:

Carbonara with broad beans

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 400g spaghetti
• 300g broad beans, double podded
• 100g prosciutto crudo, whole piece
• 80g grated parmesan
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tblsp of milk
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

Pasta carbonara with broad beans

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Salami & potato mash

Potato & salami baked mash

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 600g unpeeled potatoes
• 100g grated parmesan
• 50g butter
• 1 egg
• 150g salami, thinly sliced
• nutmeg
• breadcrumbs
• knob of butter
• salt

Wash the potatoes and put into a pan of boiling water, unpeeled. When they start to soften remove from heat, rinse with cold water and peel. Mash the potatoes together with parmesan, butter, nutmeg, salt and lightly beaten egg.

Butter a small oven-proof dish, sprinkle the base and sides with breadcrumbs. Layer 1/3 of the mashed potatoes mixture and top with the sliced salami, repeat the layers finishing off with the potato mash. Sprinkle some extra parmesan on top and add few knobs of butter.

Cook in pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celsius for 30 – 40 minutes.

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Italian variety artichokes

At the moment artichokes are in full season and relatively cheap. We bought 4 lovely artichokes for just €1! Artichokes come in a variety. The most commonly found are the classic green globe artichokes which are quite meaty and the oblong Italian bred artichokes which are purplish and have a tender heart.

For this recipe we used the Italian purple artichokes.

Mozzarella & anchovy stuffed artichokes

Artichokes with buffalo mozzarella and anchovies

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 8 artichokes
• 200g buffalo mozzarella
• 25g grated parmesan
• 1 egg
• 1 lemon
• fresh parsley
• 8 anchovy fillets
• breadcrumbs
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

Clean the artichokes, by removing the hard outer leaves. Put the artichokes into a bowl of water with lemon juice. Mix together the chopped mozzarella, egg, grated parmesan, minced anchovies, chopped parsley, salt & pepper.  Open the artichokes, season with salt & pepper and stuff with the mozzarella mixture. Put in an oiled baking dish sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, add some olive oil and water. Cook in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celsius for around 30 minutes adding more water as necessary.

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Paccheri pasta are just one of the large selection of artisan pasta Eatmania is presently importing directly from Italy. What makes artisan pasta so special is their preparation method. If you would like to become a pasta ‘connoisseur’ pay attention to these details: if there is a note on the packet - trafilatura al bronzo - this means that the producers extrude their pasta through bronze dies which create a more rugged surface on the pasta. This helps the pasta to capture and hold the sauce better. Also ideal to note are the hours the producer leaves the pasta to dry before packing.  The longer they leave the pasta to dry the better the taste and this happens because the fermentation of the wheat helps to preserve the fine flavours of the wheat. A longer cooking time is also a high quality index. The Tuscan Farm paccheri are synonymous with these methods and thus guarantee a unique taste.

So, if you are really into pasta and would like to savour the non-commercial, artisan kind just contact us for more details. In the meantime, here is a suggested recipe with Eatmania’s paccheri.

Filled paccheri ready to bake

Bis di paccheri

Ingredients for 8 persons:

• 500g paccheri

Pumpkin & amaretti filling

• 250g ricotta
• 300g pumpkin, puréed
• 30g amaretti, finely crushed
• 50g parmesan, grated

Sausage & pancetta filling

• 250g ricotta
• 2 fresh pork sausages
• 80g pancetta

Cheese sauce

• 1x250ml single cream
• 80g parmesan cheese, grated
• 150g emmenthal cheese, thinly sliced
• sage leaves, finely chopped
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

Prepare the fillings separately. Bake the pumpkin slices in a pre-heated 180 degrees celsius oven for around 20 minutes. Leave to cool and bring to a puree. Add the crushed amaretti, ricotta, parmesan, salt & pepper. Put mixture in a colander so excess liquid can drain from the pumpkin.

In a large saucepan, brown the sausage meat and pancetta then add the ricotta. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to boil and cook the paccheri for 1/3 of the time indicated on the packet. Drain the pasta and toss in cold water so that you halt the cooking process. Fill in half of the paccheri with the pumpkin mixture and the remaining ones with the sausage mixture.

Take an oven-proof dish, grease it with some olive oil and place the paccheri in one layer alternating the rows: one pumkin and one sausage until you use up all the pasta.

Now prepare the sauce by pouring the cream in a jug, add the grated parmesan, finely chopped sage leaves, salt & pepper. Pour on top of the paccheri add some warm water and top with sliced emmenthal cheese. Bake in a hot oven for around 20 minutes until pasta is tender.

Ready to serve paccheri

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Ingredients for 4/6 portions of pasta:

• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 100g pine nuts
• 1 small garlic clove
• 8 tblsp grated parmesan
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

In a mixing bowl put the rosemary leaves, garlic, parmesan, pine nuts, and olive oil. Process everything with an electric blender and add olive oil as necessary until the pesto becomes creamy. Season with salt & pepper. Alternatively, you can use the pestle and mortar to process the ingredients and transform them into a pesto.

You can use the pesto to dress boiled plain pasta. However, if you want to spice up the dish you can simply cook some Maltese sausage and add it to the rosemary pasta, or even fry 150gr pancetta cubes together with some cherry tomatoes and mix with the pasta with rosemary pesto. Let your cooking fantasy rule your mind and enjoy!

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Prepare 1kg of bread dough – my method is as follows:

• 1kg flour (i use farina di grano duro)
• 2 sachets instant yeast
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 400ml tiepid water

Blend ingredients all together in the mixer however add water little at a time until the mixture turns into a dough. Knead with your palms on a floured surface and leave to rest for more than an hour until it doubles in size.

Bread filled with speck, fontina & pistachios

For the filling you need:

• 200g sliced speck
• 200g fontina
• 50g pistachios
• pepper
• 50g parmesan cheese, grated

Put the pistachios in boiling water, peel and roughly chop. Open the dough into a large circle of 1cm thickness, and scatter the pistachios, fontina cheese cut into cubes and the slices of speck. Season with pepper and roll the dough into a sausage. Attach the ends of the dough to form a ring, put onto a baking sheet and in a baking try and leave to rest for around 30 minutes. Make slits with a knife on top of the dough ring as if you’re cutting it into slices but do not keep cutting right through. Scatter the grated parmesan and bake in a pre-heated oven of 200 degrees celsius for around 40 minutes.  Serve warm or cold.

Filled bread ring

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