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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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!

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

One of the special pasta we got is this tart-like shaped pasta which today Chris prepared with one of his spontaneous recipes. Have a look!

Sausage & cauliflower filled pasta

Pasta filled with sausage and cauliflower mixture

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 4 pasta shapes (you can fill in lumachoni instead)
• 1 small onion
• half a glass red wine
• 2 Maltese sausages
• 1kg fresh tomatoes
• 150g lentils (I used tinned ones)
• dried oregano
• half a cauliflower
• 2 eggs
• 60g grated parmesan
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

Finely chop the onion and add to a saucepan in some extra virgin olive oil. Then remove the skin from the sausage and add to the pan crumbled into small pieces. Pour in the red wine and leave to evaporate. Meanwhile, place the fresh tomatoes in boiling water, peel them, remove seeds and chop them. When the wine has evaporated add the tomatoes to the pan, the oregano, salt & pepper and leave to simmer for around 20 minutes. Separately, boil the cauliflower florets until tender and then finely chop. Add 2 beaten eggs and some grated parmesan and leave the mixture aside.

In a pan of boiling water, throw the pasta and cook for half the time indicated on the packet instructions. Drain and fill in with the tomato and sausage sauce. Top with the cauliflower and egg mixture and sprinkle with grated parmesan and olive oil. Place the filled pasta in an ovenproof dish, add some water in the base and cook in a pre-heated oven of 180 degress celsius until the pasta is browned on top.

Lampuki parmigiana

Lampuki parmigiana

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 4 small lampuki, cleaned and filleted
• 1 large aubergine
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tins peeled tomatoes
• 50g grated parmesan
• 250g mozzarella di bufala, chopped (trick: leave mozzarella to drain in a colander so that moisture is removed and the parmigiana will not be too liquid)
• a bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Start by preparing the tomato sauce. Pour a glug of extra virgin olive oil, add the chopped onion and fry for a few minutes; then throw in the tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar and leave to simmer for around 20 minutes. Make sure the tomatoes liquid is well absorbed. In the meantime, thinly slice the aubergine and start grilling each slice. When these are ready keep aside until required. Hence, take the cleaned lampuki, fillet them, making sure to remove all bones. You can always ask your fishmonger to do this job for you! Then, rub each fillet with some olive oil, season with salt & pepper from both sides and grill them very quickly on a hot grill for around 1 minute from each side. Handle the fillets delicately since they might easily crumble down. Now, you can start forming the parmigiana. Take an ovenproof rectangular dish, heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius and start preparing the layers. First lay some tomato sauce at the bottom of your dish, lay 4 of the lampuki fillets on top, scatter with chopped parsley and grated parmesan. Then, place a layer of grilled aubergines and the mozzarella cubes. Repeat the same layer once again and finish off with tomato sauce, parmesan cheese and drizzle with olive oil. Cook for around 20 minutes and serve warm with crusty bread. As in the traditional parmigiana usually this dish is more tasty if you indulge in it the next day!