2.22.2014

Easy frittelle

1 cup milk
2 eggs
6 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 cup of cake flour (sifted)
1 Tbsp baking powder
Zest of 2 oranges
Oil to fry (vegetable, sunflower or canola)
Sugar and cinnamon


In a bowl mix all the ingredients until creamy consistency.  With a help of a spoon drop the dough into hot oil (350F). Fry until golden brown.  Remove promptly onto a plate with some paper towels to absorb the oil.  Roll the frittelle in desired amounts of sugar and cinnamon.



2.20.2014

Castagnole For Carnivale (Frittelle)

Castagnole For Carnivale  

Frittelle recipe

Yield: Makes 30
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Some of the fried sweets most popular across Italy during Carnivale are frittelle, cenci, chiacchiere and these little fried balls of dough called Castagnole.

Ingredients:

8 Ounces All-purpose Flour
2 Ounces Melted Butter
2 Whole Eggs
4 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Amaretto
Oil For Frying
For Serving:
Powdered Sugar

Directions:

Mix together the flour, butter, eggs, sugar and liqueur until blended.
Heat up the oil in a heavy saucepan to 350 degrees F.
Take a small spoonful of the dough (size of a large olive or 1 1/2 inches) and gently roll into a ball and drop into the hot oil.
Fry until golden brown on all sides and then remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined tray to remove any excess oil.
Dust liberly with powdered sugar and serve warm.

2.19.2014

Chestnut ravioli filled with Guinea fowl


For the pasta dough: 

120gr (½cup - 4oz) chestnut flour  
180gr (0.8cup - 6.4oz) Semolina
3 eggs

Mix together chestnut and hard wheat flour and eggs and leave the dough to rest about half an hour. Roll out the dough with the pasta machine or the rolling pin, then cut it with the fettuccine accessory if you use the pasta machine, otherwise do like this: roll the sheet of dough up into a tube, then slice the tube into rounds of 1cm wide and shake the skeet out with your hands to free the strands; set them to dry on a rack for few hours.

For the Guinea Fowl filling:

1 Guinea Fowl
1 onion
1 carrot
4 cloves of Garlic
1 Smal potato
1 tea spoon of smoked paprika

In a big pan, cook all the ingredients expect the paprika.  Once the meat is cooked, pull out of the bones and add to the food processor the meat, potatoes, garlic and the carrot.

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of pine nuts
8 leafs of sage
Salt & Pepper

Serve with Parmiggiano cheese on the top. 

Black ravioli with Smoked salmon and lemon sauce

Black dough

4 oz (1/2 cup) of Semolina flour
1 egg
1 sachet of squid ink 

Using a fork begging mixing in the egg and the squid ink with the flour.  Once egg has been mixed in enough, begin using your hands to work the dough.  Continues until reaches a smooth consistency, adding a light dust of flour if necessary.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap to protect from drying.  For best results, let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes.

Smoked salmon fill

Smoked salmon
1/2 cup of mashed potatoes
1 tea spoon of nutmeg
Salt & Pepper

Mix all the ingredients and meme into a paste with a help or a mortar or food processor.

Dill and Lemon sauce 


1/2 box of cream (panna)

1 chopped onion
3 Tbls of olive oil
1 juicy lemon
1 tbls of dill
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan, sauté the onions until lightly browned.  Add the cream (Panna), the lemon juice, the dill and add salt and pepper to taste.  If the sauce is too thick, add small spoons of the water from the pasta that is cooking.  Add the al dente pasta to the sauce and sauté for a minute.  The pasta is ready to be served.


2.03.2014

Broccoli with almonds and garlic

1 head of Broccoli 
1 hand full of almonds (Crushed or sliced)
3 cloves of garlic (Sliced)
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Wash and clean the broccoli, steam for not more than 5 minutes.
2. In a frying pan, add the olive oil, garlic and almond until brown (be careful to don't burn the garlic!).
3. Sauté the broccoli with the olive oil, garlic and almond. Add salt & pepper if necessary.

Benefits of Broccoli:
Broccoli is high in vitamin C and dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such asdiindolylmethane and small amounts of selenium. A single serving provides more than 30 mg of vitamin C and a half-cup provides 52 mg of vitamin C. The 3,3'-Diindolylmethane found in broccoli is a potent modulator of the innate immune response system with anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity. Broccoli also contains the compound glucoraphanin, which can be processed into an anti-cancer compound sulforaphane, though the anti-cancer benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled. Broccoli is also an excellent source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells.
Boiling broccoli reduces the levels of suspected anti-carcinogenic compounds, such as sulforaphane, with losses of 20–30% after five minutes, 40–50% after ten minutes, and 77% after thirty minutes. However, other preparation methods such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying had no significant effect on the compounds.
Broccoli has the highest levels of carotenoids in the brassica family. It is particularly rich in lutein and also provides a modest amount of beta-carotene.
(Wikipedia)